While private schools have slammed the city government’s decision to scrap 62 criteria including the contentious management quota on Wednesday, child rights activists have welcomed the move saying it will enhance transparency in nursery admissions for 2015-16 academic session.

Action Committee Unaided Recognised Private Schools, an umbrella organisation of nine private schools association said that the Delhi High Court has upheld the autonomy of institutions in forming their own admission criteria.

“Private schools enjoy autonomy in forming admission criterion. The government’s decision is controversial as the matter is pending the High Court. The next date of hearing is January 22,” said S K Bhattacharya President Action Committee Unaided Recognised Private Schools.

The 20 per cent management quota has been a bone of contention.
“We did not ask for the management quota. It was given to us by the Ganguly Committee formed by the Delhi High Court. The government’s quashing of management quota is totally against the judgement of High Court,” he added.

Some school organisations are mulling to move court against the city government’s move to scrap 62 criterion including sports, siblings and others.

But advocates said that the city government has the right to cancel the nursery admission criterion.

“The nursery admission case whose next date of hearing is January 22 deals with 2013 nursery admission criterion,” said Khagesh Jha, an advocate and child rights activist.

“The government can quash any criteria as it pertains to nursery admission, academic session 2015-16,” added Jha, who is a member of Social Jurist, an NGO that had filed a petition with the High Court in 2013 saying that the guidelines were not in accordance with the Right to Education Act.

The Aam Aadmi Party government on Wednesday scrapped the management quota saying, “Schools do not adopt standard procedure to admit students under this criterion. There are widespread allegations that this quota is misused by the schools by collecting capitation fee from the parents”.

The government has asked schools to “replace them with the criteria which shall be clear, well defined, equitable, non-discriminatory, unambiguous and transparent”.

The management quota was quashed in 2013 when the Lieutenant Governor had issued nursery admission guidelines giving much needed relief to the parents.