Students seeking admission to entry-level classes in private schools under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Disadvantaged Group (DG) and Children with Special Needs (CWSN) category will now be able to choose an institution within a three km radius of their residence instead of the earlier one kilometre as first preference.
According to the Officials of Directorate of Education, it came to the government's notice that candidates residing in a neighbourhood within one kilometre of a particular school are usually selected in the computerised draw of lots and chances of those residing between one and three kilometres get minimised as most of the seats gets filled. "In order to ensure uniform opportunity to more and more desirous parents to seek admission of their wards under EWS, DG and Children With Special Needs (CWSN) category at entry-level classes in private unaided recognised school of their choice of nearby locality, a measure is being adopted by the DoE for making 0 to 3 km as first preference instead of 0 to 1 km in the interest of deserving eligible candidates," Education Director Himanshu Gupta said.
According to the provisions of the Right to Education Act 2009, all private schools in Delhi (except the minorities schools) are required to reserve 25 per cent of seats for EWS and DG students during admissions at the entry level, and compulsorily provide them free education.
Last month, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has directed the Delhi government to take immediate legal action to ensure that 18,000 children who have not been provided admission to private schools in the national capital in the last two years are provided with uninterrupted education.