Left out of nursery list, EWS parents cling to hope

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 2011

Left out of nursery list, EWS parents cling to hope

Dharmendra Singh has one dream — to see his three-year-old daughter Lakshita attend an “English-medium school”. The recent pre-school admission result, however, has threatened to shatter it. He had applied for her admission under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category at five private unaided schools in his neighbourhood, Jwalapuri, but none of the final lists had his daughter’s name, leaving him thoroughly disappointed.

“I am a security guard. I am poor. My parents could not afford education for me but I want my daughter to speak English and become somebody in life,” he says. “I do not know what these schools do to select children but I am not happy with the method.”

Private unaided schools in the Capital conducted a draw of lots to select students for the 25 per cent seats reserved for the EWS category. Under the Right to Education (RTE) Act, schools have to reserve at least 25 per cent of the total number of seats for the EWS. For the general category, schools went with the 100-point system adopted in earlier years. For the EWS seats, the schools resorted to random selection.

There are many like Singh. Options are few for them, since many schools say there is very little possibility of a second list of selected candidates for the EWS section being released. Principals maintain that “there is small chance of selected candidates in the EWS section dropping out”.

Some parents have even alleged foul play on the part of the schools. Raghubir Singh, also from the Jwalapuri JJ cluster, said, “Some schools did not even let us enter the school on the day of the draw of lots. I think the schools had already made up their minds about the children they wanted to admit.”

While parents in the general category, whose wards did not get through a school this year, can allow their child to continue in the playschool, EWS parents have no such options available. “All I can do is hope for another list,” said Amit Malhotra, another parent. “I will apply to a government school. What else can I do?”