Amid mounting complaints, Sisodia orders private schools to admit EWS students

Acting on the complaints of parents from economically weaker sections (EWS), deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia on Wednesday said the private schools in the city will have to admit EWS students even if there are no general category admissions in the schools this year.

Under the Right to Education Act, 25% of the seats in entry-level classes — nursery, kindergarten (KG) and Class 1 — in all private schools are reserved for students from the EWS/ disadvantaged group. Private schools declare the seats to the directorate of education every year and the education department conducts a draw of lots to allot EWS seats to the eligible students.

Many parents have complained that private schools have denied admission to their children despite securing a seat under the EWS category. This is due to the practice under which schools admit one EWS student from the government’s allotted list for every three general category students admitted by them. Many private schools have claimed to have little to no admission of students under the general category so far this year.

“The pandemic has derailed the entire admission process. Even the admission for the general category students has been deferred. The Delhi government has now decided that regardless of admitting students under general category or not, private schools will have to admit students under EWS category, based on the allotted list sent by the government,” said Sisodia during a press conference on Wednesday.

According to the education department, around 32,500 students have been allotted seats in private schools under the EWS category out of the 126,000 applications received this year. The draw of lots was conducted on June 15 and parents seeking admission under EWS seats can do so till July 31.

EWS students are also entitled to free textbooks, writing material, and uniforms till Class 8, for which the government reimburses a fixed amount. Sisodia, who also holds the education portfolio in the Delhi government , said, “ The government provides ₹2,260 per month to the private schools for each EWS student towards their fee and other expenses. We are ordering schools to conduct EWS admissions even if there have been no general category admissions. The government will reimburse them accordingly,” he said.

The development has evoked mixed responses from stakeholders. Chandrakant Singh, general secretary of Private Land Public Schools Trust, an association of around 2,000 budget schools in the Capital, welcomed the order. “The directive is in favour of the common people who want to get their children educated at a minimal cost. Many of our general category students are unable to pay the fee but since the government will reimburse us for EWS students, the move will benefit budget private schools, which are struggling to survive during the pandemic.”

Refusing to comment on Sisodia’s announcement, S K Bhattacharya, president of the action committee of unaided recognised private schools, which has around 450 schools under its umbrella, said, “We will only follow RTE provisions, which state that on the basis of the children from general category, 25% children shall be from EWS category. That is the rule.”

The principals of at least five top private schools that HT contacted on Wednesday declined to comment until a circular is issued on the matter detailing the guidelines.

Parents and activists, however, applauded the move. Ekramul Haque, who runs NGO Mission Taleem, said, “We have received hundreds of complaints from parents, who said they were unable to secure admission due to various reasons. While the government intervention is welcome, ground-level implementation of schemes for EWS students is poor and efforts must be taken to ensure that this is carried out properly.”

Sunil Kumar, who works as a salesperson at an apparel store in Uttam Nagar, said, “My daughter’s name had appeared on the EWS list. Yet, the allotted school denied admission to her citing that there have been no admissions in the (EWS) category for over a year now. My daughter is three and has started talking. I want to start her schooling as early as possible.”