The deadline for filling forms for nursery admissions for EWS category has been extended till February 5 by the Delhi government. The development came as a relief for parents and organisations helping the government with the process and had urged the government for the same.
The filling of application forms for both Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and general category was to end on Friday. While the deadline is over for the latter, it has been extended for the EWS category by 14 days.
“There have been requests from a large number of parents that they are still in the process of getting the necessary documents required for the EWS application. Thus, the Directorate of Education (DoE) has decided to extend the deadline. The decision will facilitate thousands of families in enrolling their children to schools of their choice,” a statement by the government said.
The government had for the first time launched an online centralised system for admissions to EWS category to check malpractices by school management and harassment of parents, but, the process was marred by glitches like software flaws. Also, since the computerised lottery is only for schools recognised under the Delhi School Education Act Rules, 1973 and those under RTE Act continue to follow the offline process, confusion prevailed among parents who thought they have a choice between both.
Till date, the government has received nearly 70,000 applications for the 25,000 seats it has. Many NGOs and activists like Sumit Vohra had written to Education Minister Manish Sisodia to extend the deadline to give more time to parents to familiarise themself with the online system. The first list for both the categories will be out on February 15, followed by another on February 29.
Published 23 January 2016, 01:58 IST