Action committee to move court over admission guidelines

Action committee — a group of private schools that have come up on DDA land — is planning to move Delhi High Court on Wednesday against the government’s imposition of neighbourhood criteria on 298 schools for nursery admissions.

Action committee — a group of private schools that have come up on DDA land — is planning to move Delhi High Court on Wednesday against the government’s imposition of neighbourhood criteria on 298 schools for nursery admissions.

One of the major problems action committee has with the new guidelines is that private schools allegedly can no longer deny admission to anyone who seeks admission from their neighbourhood. (Saumya Khandelwal/HT)

“We have decided to file a petition against the new guidelines tomorrow (Wednesday),” said Bharat Arora, a member of action committee.

He added that advocate Kamal Gupta will represent the action committee, which has 450 private unaided schools under its aegis. One of the major problems action committee has with the new guidelines is that private schools allegedly can no longer deny admission to anyone who seeks admission from their neighbourhood.

“Private schools have been rendered powerless. They say that schools cannot deny admission if anyone from their locality asks for it. So, in that case, there will be no seats left for children who may not be from the same neighbourhood. People will be forced to study in their own localities,” said Gupta.

Gupta also cited an earlier Delhi High Court judgment which said that the Lieutenant General (L-G) or the Directorate of Education, cannot interfere in the admission process of private schools. “The land allotment done to private unaided schools was never concessional. They did not get any grants from the government. These schools have paid the DDA full amount for the land. Then why the interference?” asked Gupta.