Schools reject Ganguly’s new admissions criteria

The Capital’s private schools raise serious objections in the HC to the Ganguly Committee's revised 100-point criteria on nursery admissions, reports Harish V Nair.

The Capital’s private schools on Thursday raised serious objections in the Delhi High Court to the Ganguly Committee's revised 100-point criteria on nursery admissions.

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The revised criteria are expected to be implemented in the next academic year. With consensus on the issue still a far cry, this is bad news for parents of many 3-year-olds who did not get admission to schools of their choice in the current academic year.

The panel had submitted its “fine-tuned” recommendations to the high court on July 13, incorporating suggestions from schools. For instance, it had tried to balance the uneven distribution of schools in certain areas by increasing the distance in the neighbourhood criteria.

Lawyers representing various schools raised objections on several issues, including the recommendation that SC/ST students be awarded 5 additional points. Rakesh Khanna, counsel for the Association of Unaided Private Schools, said: “The reservation rule has been thrust upon us. It can only be said to be populist. We find it difficult to implement.”

AJ Bhambani, counsel for Sri Ram School, said: “We have serious objections to the neighbourhood criteria, which does not make any sense without an equal distribution of good schools in the city.”

The court has set September 5 as the date for schools to submit their affidavits listing all their objections.