letter to Delhi Chief Minister - Mrs. Shiela Dixit.

From: Eshwar Natarajan 
To: Delhi Chief Minister cmdelhi@nic.in
Sent: Friday, February 3, 2012 10:58 AM
Subject: Online Grievance Redressal - No action taken 
Respected Madam,

I am a father of 3 year old daughter and this year struggling to get her admitted in a good school. I have been trying to be fair in all terms and following the guidelines set by Directorate of Education, however since the seats are scarce resource the schools seems to take parents for ride. I had registered complaint through Delhi Government Portal - Aap ki Sunwai regarding irregularities in admission process of 3 schools. The complaint was registered on 19th and 24th of January and so far no action has been taken.
However, my primary complaints are:

1· Irrespective of the guidelines laid down by DOE, only few schools in Delhi adhere to it as they do not have fear of de-recognition due to absence of action in past.

2· DOE mandates that the forms must not be more than Rs. 25/-,however, most of the schools that I had applied sold prospectus and some infact refused to accept form without prospectus being purchased. These schools give receipt for Rs. 25 only and pocketing rest. On an average, each school must have made over Rs. 2-4 Lac just by selling prospectus.

3· The point systems really do not ensure admission on neighbourhood criteria and preference is given to Alumini and/or Sibling, which I feel itself is discriminatory and accounts to screening of Child on basis of Parents status. I am saying this because School gets a fair idea of the parents profile in case of Alumini and Sibling.

4· The school should not have been given free hand in setting up criteria and government should have provided them the standard. I have seen schools where there are additional points for Transferrable Jobs of parents for which parents have to produce proof, this again allows school to screen child on basis of parents employment and gives undue advantage to some parents who are really staying in Delhi for last several years but their employee has just put a transferrable clause in the employment terms.

5· DOE guidelines forbids formal and informal interview of parents but school still manages to bypass it by calling parents and their child for Counseling or interaction session or verification of documents.

6· DOE guidelines forbids points on basis of Parents Education and monetary status. Most of the school have complied to this and it is not included in point system however the details are sought as part of the form and leaves the school in suspect as they can screen the form itself in the first place.

7· Schools are not transparent and some of them do not disclose the list of points awarded to the candidate. Ideally, they should provide breakup of points awarded to all candidates – selected or otherwise.

8· Few schools demanded cash donation to ensure name in the list and few of them did a first come first basis admission.

The following schools, I would like to highlight here specifically:

· Vivekanand School, D Block, Anand Vihar – The form was not available separately and they sold the prospectus for Rs. 200 without any receipt. They did not disclose Point System, the forms had asked for details of parents education and profession. I was called for interaction session with my wife and daughter against the DOE guidelines. The released list of selected candidates – around 300-400 and in one hour announced that admission is completed and they have filled seats in First-come-first basis. If they had to do this, why it was not communicated anywhere? The school has been exposed by Media also (CNN-IBN, IBN-LIVE, Amar Ujala).

· Arwachin Bharti School, Vivek Vihar – They demanded Rs. 7200 as cash donation to ensure my daughter’s name is in first list.

· Sneh International School, Preet Vihar – Their point system included criteria for parents achievement – again discriminatory. This was arbitrarily used to assign points to some candidates and making them eligible for admission. The school also forced parents to buy prospectus for Rs. 250 and infact refused to entertain forms only on payment of Rs. 25.

As a first girl child, I could not get admission for my daughter anywhere so far – around 11 schools as most schools have preference to Alumni and Sibling. Probably, I have to let her continue in Play school and wait for alternatives. Seems like, I have to pay that cash donation to get admission for my child in Delhi.

Year after year, the same schools take parents for ride. Our honorable Education minister promises action but the subsequent year, the situation remains the same. As a citizen of Delhi, I have started feeling insecure about my child's future and infact about my future as well. Looking up to you for action.

Regards,
Eshwar Natarajan