Point system skews sex ratio in nursery admissions first list

One school selects 67 girls and 9 boys

The first list of children being admitted to the nursery class in G D Goeka Public School, Vasant Kunj reveals an astonishingly skewed sex ratio - out of 76 students listed there, only nine are boys.

The point system  for admissions is being blamed for similar, girl-dominated lists at some other popular schools as well.

Saurabh from Vasant Kunj, who had applied for his child’s admission in over 18 schools in Delhi, expressed amazement at this disparity. “Every school is defining its own rules. I understand that girls have to be educated but boys have an equal right,” he said. Saurabh’s son has got admission in two schools in Saket but he would have preferred a school near his house in Vasant Kunj.

A teacher from G D Goenka said: “We have followed the Directorate of Education’s guidelines. The selections have been done in tandem with the point system followed by all schools.”

However, experts say there is no guideline given by the DoE which states that preference should be given to only girls. “This is a wrong perception. The directive has given guidelines which will help maintain an equal ratio. How will a class with more than 90 per cent girls and few boys function?” asked Khagesh Jha, an advocate and member of Social Jurist.

Other schools which have listed more girls include Heritage and Birla Vidya Niketan both in Vasant Kunj. Birla Vidya Niketan has more than 70 girls out of 119 children and Heritage has 29 girls out of 40 students in the first list. Heritage has given special privilege to single parents as well.

Most of the private schools in Delhi followed the 100-point system and draw of lots for selection of nursery candidates this year. Under the point system, minimum of 10 and maximum of 30 points are allotted to siblings, wards of alumni, candidates who live in schools’ neighbourhood, special children, girl child, first born, parent’s education qualification and school specific parameters.

Sumit Vohra, founder of the parents forum, www.admissionnursery.com laments that this has skewed the girl-boy ratio in many schools. “Girls have been given points meant for both girl child and first born when the schools were supposed to consider only one option. It is important to address this issue as equal education is imperative. The point system will work well in remote areas rather than in metros, where girls are not discriminated.”

Several popular schools in Delhi such as Modern, Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Delhi Public School, Mother’s International, Vasant Valley, Laxman Public, Sanskriti and others, released the first nursery list on Wednesday where siblings and alumni took away most of the seats leaving behind only a few for the general category. Moreover, the Delhi HC’s recent order of distance criteria for admission under the EWS has created more confusion.