School allotment gets delayed, no clarity on EWS admissions

According to the initial schedule, the draw of lots for admissions was supposed to take place between April 15 and April 19. Parents have now been told allocation of schools for admission has been deferred till April 27.

With the education department delaying allotment of schools, parents seeking admission of their wards in private schools under the economically weaker section (EWS) category are running from pillar to post.

With the education department delaying allotment of schools, parents seeking admission of their wards in private schools under the economically weaker section (EWS) category are running from pillar to post. (Yogendra Kumar/HT PHOTO)

According to the initial schedule, the draw of lots for admissions was supposed to take place between April 15 and April 19. Parents have now been told allocation of schools for admission has been deferred till April 27.

The department of education had issued the schedule for admissions under the EWS category last month. Under the category, admission to students in Class 1 will be given under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, and admission to students between classes 2 and 12 will be given under section 134-A of the Haryana School Education Rules(HSER), 2003. Under RTE Act, 25% of class 1 seats in private schools are for EWS candidates. As per rule 134-A of HSER, 2003, all private schools need to reserve 10% seats from classes 2-8 under the category.

Rekha, a parent, has been making rounds of the department office to get some clarity on the admission of her daughter Aashi Sehrawat, currently a student of class 1 at a small private school as a general category student. “We were initially told a school would be allotted by last week. However, I didn’t get any clarity from the department. I kept asking the officials for a response but they simply asked us to come again, and later said that the allocation had been postponed,” she said.

Rekha said her daughter faces the prospect of getting expelled from the current school. “My daughter has been waiting at home for the last one month. We received 10-15 calls from her school. They will cancel her admission if we do not resume her classes. The government doesn’t understand our predicament,” she said.

Pawan, another parent, said that officials from the department had told her that allocation of schools was getting delayed from the schools’ end. She is seeking admission for her daughter who studies in class 4. “We are hoping there is some progress in the next few days so that we get clarity. We have been told that schools haven’t shared the list of vacancies. Till then, our only option is to wait,” she said.

Education department officials, however, said schools would be allocated soon. “We are waiting for all schools to share the number of seats available. Once our database is updated, we will allocate schools to children. The process should get over by April 27-30,” block education officer Sushil Gaur said.