North Delhi girl denied admission, even though her name appeared in initial list

Three-year-old Ruhani's educational journey seems to have hit a roadblock even before it has started. She was first selected for admission to nursery at Delhi Public School's Rohini branch but later denied admission on a flimsy ground.


School time? Ruhani's name had appeared in the list of selected ones
in the general category. Pic/Mid Day

In January, when the admission process was on, Ruhani's father Rahul Arora, a resident of Vijay Nagar in North-West Delhi, filled her admission form online in general category at Delhi Public School, (Rohini Branch). He also sent a demand draft of Rs 25 that was mandatory as per the admission guidelines.u00a0 Satisfied that he had completed all the formalities, he waited for the list to come out.

The school came out with its list of selected candidates and it had Ruhani's name in it in general category. According to school website, the list was prepared after a draw of lots was held on school premises. Following this, the school asked all the parents whose children's names were short-listed, to come to school on February 2 for the verification of documents.

Rahul then went to the school with the relevant documents only to be told by school official to go back. "They denied admission to my girl. I told them that my daughter's name was in selected candidates' list, so what was the reason for denying her the admission. The official told me that the form I had submitted was not correct, so my daughter can't get the admission," said Rahul. He further stated that when he tried to meet the school principal, he was not allowed to do so by the staff.

Getting no response from the school authorities, Rahul lodged a complaint against the school with deputy director of education, north-west zone. "We will take action if injustice has been done to any parent," said deputy director Devi Singh when asked about Rahul's complaint. Meanwhile, speaking with MiD DAY, Amod Kanth, chief of Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights said that they will do whatever they can if the complainant approaches them."If my form was incorrect, they need not have send it for the draw of lots," said Rahul. MiD DAY tried to contact Rita Sen, the principal of the school but she did not pick up the call.

The controversy over nursery admissions this year started when all the schools in the Capital were made to fall in the line with the Right Education (RTE) which makes it compulsory for them to reserve 25 per cent of the total seats for children from Economically Weaker Sections (EWS). So, schools were not allowed to follow the same selection criteria as last year because that would have mean defying the RTE.
The government then came up with the guidelines saying that barring parents' qualifications and their income, schools were free to include all relevant criteria like proximity of school to students' residence, single parents, siblings who are alumni, etc in their admission criteria.
The admission process began from January 1, 2011 and will have to be completed by March 31. As per government guideline, 25 per cent of the total seats will have to be reserved for students belonging to Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) as per RTE Act and rest of the seats would be open to general category students.