Parents out of nursery system

It’s official. Parents’ profession or educational background cannot decide a child’s admission. And schools that follow this “discriminatory” criterion for nursery admission will have to revise their points system.

It’s official. Parents’ profession or educational background cannot decide a child’s admission. And schools that follow this “discriminatory” criterion for nursery admission will have to revise their points system.

HT Image

State Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely made this clear while speaking to Hindustan Times on Thursday. “How can a child’s admission be based on how much his or her parents have studied or where they work? This is discrimination,” he said.

The government has already cracked down on some city schools, which have had to revise their points system just a few days before the first list.

Bluebells School International and Gyan Bharti School in south Delhi are among those who have deleted the profession and education criteria and reshuffled points.

Under the 100-points system, schools have to compulsorily disclose their admission criteria and distribute 100 points among them. Alumni, siblings and distance are among factors on which Delhi schools admit children.

The government’s tougher stand could mean sought-after institutions such as Sanskriti School, Delhi Public School, Mathura Road and Alhcon International School will also have revise their points system.

“We can’t comment about changing the criteria as we haven’t heard anything from the Directorate of Education yet,” said Abha Sahgal, principal, Sanskriti School, which has accorded 40 points for parents’ profession.

“This action has come a little too late. It should have been done when schools were still accepting application forms,” said Sumit Vohra, who runs admissionsnursery.com, a website to guide parents.