Only 608 admissions under MCD’s EWS scheme

Even after the date of admission was extended thrice, the EWS scheme in private schools recognised by the MCD received a lukewarm response. Neelam Pandey reports.

Even after the date of admission was extended thrice, the EWS scheme in private schools recognised by the MCD received a lukewarm response.

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The civic agency was expecting nearly 10,000 students under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category. However, this year only 608 students have taken admission.

There are a total of 783 primary private schools in the city that are recognised by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD).

Under the EWS scheme, all these private schools have to allocate 25% of the seats to EWS category.

Sources say, the civic agency is planning to extend the date of admission once again as the 25% criteria has to be met.

“We are quite shocked ourselves. We didn’t expect such a poor response from the schools. Though we had extended the last date of admission thrice, but the response was very poor,” said Mahender Nagpal, chairman of MCD’s education committee.

Giving reasons for the poor response, MCD officials say most schools have shown lack of interest in giving admission to students belonging to the economically weaker sections. “Most of the schools didn’t advertise EWS scheme properly. Majority of the parents didn’t know about the schools where this quota was available. This was a major hindrance in getting their child admitted to these schools,” said a senior MCD official.

This is the first time, after Right to Education Act came into force last year that the MCD is implementing 25% EWS quota in its aided schools.

As per the date released by the MCD, the maximum number of admissions were reported from west zone (172) followed by Narela (137). The worst response was, surprisingly, from the Sadar Paharganj zone. “Only five students took admission under the scheme there. It is surprising as the area has a large number of people belonging to the economically weaker section,” the MCD official said.

However, Nagpal attributed the poor response to lack of information provided by the Delhi government. He said the schools are not clear about the funding procedure and documentation required for admission.

“Most schools didn’t show much interest in advertising about the scheme as they were not sure about the funding process. The Delhi government had not given any clarity on the issue of funds. Not only this, most parents could not furnish documents like residential proof, ration card and BPL certificate at the time of admission,” added Nagpal.