To make the education system transparent and pro-people, the Delhi government on Wednesday ordered private schools to scrap the management quota and also struck down 62 debatable criteria, against which some schools had been awarding seats to the prospective students. This means that there will be no reservation for children of VIP, VVIP, police, MLA and MP in private schools of Delhi.
Mr Arvind Kejriwal said it was important to remove the management quota, calling it “the biggest scam” in India’s education system. Only 25% reservation for economically weaker sections is sanctioned; the rest 75% will have to be made available to the general public. Earlier a few schools had made only 25% seats available for the general public. This move shall open 50% more seats to the general public.
According to Mr Kejriwal, criteria adopted by the private schools for admission were arbitrary and discriminatory. 62 unjust criteria such as – joint family, government employee, vegetarianism, first time admission seekers, non-smoker parent, school transport, working parents, parents with proficiency in music, sports and national awardee as well as parents having transferable jobs have been declared null and void. Following the Cabinet decision, Directorate of Education issued an order directing all the private unaided recognised schools to “develop and adopt criteria for admissions for the 75 percent Open seats to entry level classes for session 2016-17 which shall be clear, well defined, equitable, non-discriminatory, unambiguous and transparent.” All these criteria and their points are to be uploaded on the departmental website.
The government said in case of no admission criteria, the schools have to now follow the admission schedule of the department. If the number of applications is more than the seats available then draw of lots may be conducted and admissions should be done as per schedule. Such logical and reasonable policy changes, contribute in carving a path for a better and more evolved society. In the hope of a more organised India this is definitely good news.
News Source: India Today, First Post, Times of India, Live Mint, NDTV
Image Source: One India
