MLAs to rope in volunteers to help EWS parents

The Aam Aadmi Party government has advised its MLAs to rope in volunteers to assist parents in filling up online forms under the Economically Weaker Sections category for nursery admissions.

Also, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia will meet such parents in Connaught Place area on Sunday, an Education Department official said.

The MLAs will make sure the volunteers are present in their offices to help those who are having a hard time filling online forms.

“We have been asked by the Education Minister to assist parents filling up online forms under the EWS category for nursery admission,” Chandni Chowk MLA Alka Lamba told Deccan Herald. “We have been told that parents flock to area MLAs’ offices during the nursery admission process. We have been told to be prepared,” she added.

The city government, in a first-of-its-kind initiative, has launched a centralised system for admissions to nursery classes under the EWS category to check malpractices by school managements and harassment of parents.

The Directorate of Education (DoE) said that admissions to nursery classes under the EWS category in private unaided schools (non-minority) recognised under Delhi School Education Act Rules, 1973 will be made through a computerised lottery system, against the 25 per cent reserved seats for them. The EWS admission process at institutions recognised by the Right to Education Act, 2009 will continue to be offline.

Sources in the Education Department said that MLAs have welcomed the city government’s move. “They are happy that EWS nursery admissions have been made online because they have been swamped by queries related to nursery admissions,” an official said.

But educationalists said that the online process is marred by glitches. “The government’s software has many flaws like the location of schools are not accurate and one has to have a mobile number to initiate the process of EWS nursery admission,” said Ashok Agarwal, national president of All India Parents Association.

“Even the list of schools uploaded by the government is not clear as to which schools are recognised under Delhi School Education Act Rules, 1973, and those under the Right to Education Act, 2009,” he added. “It makes it all the more difficult for the EWS parents to approach schools and fill in forms as they couldn’t make out which schools require online forms and those with offline applications.”

The Education Department acknowledged there were glitches with the software but said a team was working to set them right.

The nursery admission process started on January 1 and the filling of forms will continue till January 22. The first list of shortlisted candidates will be out on February 15, and the admissions to the entry-level classes end by March 31.