The Delhi Government on Wednesday withdrew the criteria of “five” transfer points allocated for nursery admissions in the capital. The city administration told the Delhi High Court that the decision had been taken in the wake of complaints about the widespread misuse of the benefit.
The Department of Education informed Justice Manmohan that it had carried out a survey in 58 leading private schools and found massive misuse of the inter-State transfer points. A notification in this regard will come on Thursday. The l-G’s submission could impact the ongoing admission process as it could result in draw of lots for nursery admissions all over again in unaided private schools in Delhi.
The division Bench of Acting Chief Justice BD Ahmed and Justice S Mridul on Tuesday had questioned the logic behind awarding of transfer points and had said the practice could lead to “malpractices.” “Why should there be points for transferIJ What is the logic behind itIJ You know it’s open to malpracticesIJ” the Bench had asked while directing the Delhi Government to submit a report by Friday.
The court was hearing a PIl by advocate Rohit Nagpal, who challenged the benefit of five points under the head of inter-State transfers in the nursery admission guidelines issued by the l-G. Nagpal also sought directions to the l-G to issue a fresh set of guidelines with regard to admission to nursery in school during 2014-2015. Under the current guidelines, out of total 100 points, 70 are given if the kid lives in the six-km radius of the school, 20 if a sibling is studying there, five points if either parent is an alumni and five points if it’s a inter-State transfer case, the petition said.
Only those having 75 points are considered for draw of lots while those have 90 points are automatically admitted, the petition said. Nagpal has also challenged the awarding of 20 points if a sibling is studying in the school, saying it “creates a class which is assured of admission even without being subject to lottery system” and contended “the present selection criteria are arbitrary”.