'Every child will get admission this year'

Delhi Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely speaks to Sandeep Yadav.

It's the same old story for the nursery admissions this year...

See, Delhi is the only state in the whole country where there is some criterion that is being followed by schools with regards to nursery admission. No other place has it. It is a clear-cut point system and parents can calculate it easily and know where their child has the best chance of getting admission. There is no confusion about it.

But are the schools following it?

Show me if there is any violation of rules anywhere. I am yet to receive any complaint against any school so far and if we get one, we are going to take action against them. However, one can not hypothetically conclude that schools are not following the prescribed norms.

And are the schools also following the norms related to the EWS  (Economically Weaker Section) quota?

To my knowledge they are being followed. There is 25 per cent quota for EWS children and schools know it. Every school will send the list of students they have admitted under EWS quota to the Directorate of Education by March. If anybody is found wanting on this front, action will be taken.

Despite everything, why are there long queues outside schools every year?

The only reason I can think is that everybody wants to send their children to the most prestigious school as per their thinking. I am sure there are many schools where you must have not seen any lines. If parents calculate the points their children score, they would know which school they have the best chances in and they should just concentrate their effort there instead of filling 10 or 15 forms at different schools.

So can you assure that every kid would get admission?

I can assure admission to every kid but I cannot guarantee the school of his or her parents' choice. Everybody does get admission finally, isn't it?