Delhi govt to discuss today if distance can be only criterion for nursery admissions

The Delhi government will hold a meeting of stakeholders, including private unaided schools, on Monday to discuss the implementation of the neighbourhood criterion in the nursery admission policy.

The Delhi government will hold a meeting with private unaided schools on Monday to discuss if neighbourhood can be fixed as the only criterion for nursery admission this year.

Typically, Delhi schools follow a point system and “neighbourhood” is one of the parameters that decide the school a child will go to. But if it is made a sole parameter, schools will not be able to score applicants on other parameters like alumni, sibling, transfer cases. (Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times)

The government is planning to make distance between home and school as the eligibility criterion in 285 private schools built on DDA land. These include some of Delhi’s prominent schools that receive thousands of applications every year for a few hundred seats.

Typically, Delhi schools follow a point system and “neighbourhood” is one of the parameters that decide the school a child will go to. But if it is made a sole parameter, schools will not be able to score applicants on other parameters like alumni, sibling, transfer cases.

Government says schools, however, will be free to determine the distance but in keeping with the right to education guidelines. Lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung had last week asked the government to discuss the proposal with all stakeholders.

The guidelines, which is expected to be released within two weeks, officials said. The admission process will begin in January.

With parents keen on children starting out in good schools, there is always a scramble for seats in the city’s top private institutions. Last few years have been chaotic, with parents dragging schools and government to court over norms that were changed several times.