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NEW DELHI: In a breather for the state government, the Delhi high court on Friday refused to tinker with the existing nursery admission process in the capital's private unaided schools, allowing them to admit children aged three-plus. It said that nursery (pre-school) would continue to be treated as the entry level for all such schools which have nursery as well as higher classes. Kids admitted at the age of three-plus will get promotion to pre-primary in the next year so that parents don't have to undertake the admission process again, said the court. "We don't find any proper reason or rationale to keep pre-school apart and segregated by those regular schools where pre-school facilities exist and admission starts from that stage. It is in interest of all stakeholders that in such schools, pre-school is treated as entry level," a bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Shah Endlaw said. "However, in those schools where there is no pre-school level, pre-primary which would be treated as the entry level where admission is to be given to the children at the age of 4-plus," it added, dismissing a PIL filed by NGO Social Jurist challenging the current admission process. The bench relied on the Right to Education Act instead of the findings of Ganguly Committee which had said that children below the age of four years should not be burdened with the schooling process. "We do not agree with the findings of Ganguly Committee as even the Right to Education Act provides for the inclusive elementary education for all the children since their conception to eight years of age," it observed, pointing out that RTE specifically mandates 25% quota for poor kids even at the pre-school level and the Act would be violated if kids from the economically weaker section are provided pre-school facility while those under general category are denied the same. Social Jurist, through advocate Ashok Agarwal, had referred to the inconsistent age criteria and admission process adopted by different private schools and had pointed out that some schools have been admitting children over three years of age, while others have been taking in only four-plus children. This has led to the creation of two entry levels. It had sought a "stay of the order dated Dec 16, 2011, of the Delhi government, to the extent that it permits unaided recognized private schools of Delhi to conduct admissions to pre-school as entry level class in the academic session 2012-13". |
| SOURCE: The Times of India |
