Govt asks schools to put nursery admissions on hold

The Delhi government has directed 105 schools in the national capital to put on hold their nursery admission process as they failed to make their criteria public within the prescribed deadline.

The application process for admissions to entry-level classes in over 1,600 private schools began on Saturday.

The Directorate of Education (DoE) has also advised the parents to not approach these schools till the department issues further order to avoid any inconvenience to them in case any penal action is initiated against defaulter schools.

"In order to maintain transparency and uniformity in admission, the admission process of these 105 schools at the entry level for session 2019-20 shall be on hold till further orders," a senior DoE official said.

"If it is found that the said schools are taking admission despite being prevented to do so, necessary action as per norms will be taken without any further notice," the official added.

The distance of student's residence from the school, sibling quota, parents being alumni of the school, single child, first child are some of the criteria listed by schools for admissions to the entry-level classes.

According to the schedule released by the DoE, the application window will be open from Saturday and the last date of submitting application forms for nursery class admission for 2019-20 session is January 7.

The first list of selected children, along with marks secured by them, will be out on February 4. The second list will be out on February 21 and the nursery admission process will conclude on March 31.

Twenty-five per cent seats in pre-school, pre-primary and class 1 will be reserved for economically weaker sections/disadvantaged groups.

The directorate had instructed all private schools to upload their criteria -- with points for each criterion -- for admission in open seats, on its official website by December 14.

There is, however, no clarity yet on the schedule of the EWS admissions.

The government has also set an upper age limit of less than four years to be eligible for nursery, less than five years for kindergarten, and less than six years for admission to class 1.

The proposal for an upper age limit was challenged in the court last year. Though a Delhi High Court order last year had allowed the imposition of the upper age limit, the DoE had decided that the order will be applicable only from 2019 academic session.

Apart from the abolished criteria, the schools have been given autonomy to come up with their own points system.