The Delhi Government on Thursday directed all private schools in the Capital to admit all children under Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) list.
The direction was issued by Delhi Government after it came to light that some private schools were denying admissions to EWS students claiming general seats had not been filled.
“We have issued a fresh order to all private schools making it clear that every child, whose name has appeared under the EWS quota mandated by the Right to Education Act (RTE), must be granted admission,” a senior official of the Directorate of Education (DoE) said.
It would be pertinent to mention here that Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had received multiple reports of schools denying admission to children under EWS category claiming that their seats under General category had been filled and therefore.
“A similar issue had cropped up last year as well… However, after raids conducted by DoE it was found that some schools had concealed actual enrolment in order to deny admissions to children under EWS,” said a Delhi government official.
Incidentally, the Delhi High Court also has clarified the legal positions on this matter through orders issued in W.P.(c) No 3358 of 2013 and W.P.(c) No 5172 of 2013. 25% of all seats of the Entry-level class strength have to be reserved as EWS quota.
The court has upheld the Delhi Government's definition of class strength: it shall not be less than the highest number of seats in the entry level class in the previous three academic years.
The caveat added by the HC is that the Director Education (DE) has discretionary power to grant relief to a school if the DE has verified that the school has made every effort possible to fill all general category seats.
In the absence of the Director's certification from, the schools must admit all the children whose names have appeared in the EWS list through the computerised draw. The circular issued by the Delhi government to this effect is expected to reduce the problems parents are facing because of wrongful denial of admission. The Government is committed to ensure that the Right to Education Act is complied with by all schools in Delhi.