The last date for nursery admission under EWS in March 31. (Archive)
When a message on his phone on March 15 assured that his son has been allotted a private school under the 25 per cent Economically Weaker Section/ Disadvantaged Group (EWS/DG) category, Parwez Hasan from northeast Delhi’s Nangla Dairy area couldn’t contain his elation. His happiness, however, was short-lived. His ordeal started when he went to the allotted school to get his son admitted.
Four days after receiving the message from the Directorate of Education (DoE), when Hasan went to the school, Anu Public School in Old Seelampur, he was asked to return on March 31 – the last date for admissions under the category. “I knew March 31 is the last day to get admission under the category. They asked me to come with a certain amount of money so that I could get my son admitted. I told them I belong to the disadvantaged category but they continued to refuse. I don’t know what to do now,” said Hasan. The principal could not be reached for a comment.
Unaware who to file a complaint with, Hasan has written to Ekramul Haque from Mission Taleem — an NGO that helps parents trying to put their wards to school under the EWS/DG category to fill out online forms — to help him out.
But Hasan’s is not the only such case. Many parents from Najafgarh, Seelampur, and places across the Yamuna – who want to admit their children in private schools under the category — have complained that schools are turning them away. “Moreover, the SMSes that have been sent to parents are causing confusion. It says parents have to get their wards admitted ‘by March 31’. Many of the parents are thinking that they have to go to the schools after March 31. It is sad that the schools are turning away these parents. The education department should take up the issue and do something about it,” alleged Haque.
Some parents have also complained that they are being turned away because they do not have a ration card in their child’s name. The DoE had, on March 16, clarified that admission is allowed as long as the parents have a ration card.”
Abdul Kayyum, whose daughter secured admission in the KG class at a Yamuna Vihar school, alleged, “The school is saying that it is mandatory for the applicant to have a ration card. I do not know what to do now. It will take me at least three months to make one for her. Worried that his daughter would be refused admission, he refused to divulge the name of the school.
Similarly, Rashid Ahmad, a resident of Nehru Vihar, said he has been running from pillar to post as the school where his child secured admission has been asking him to come with a volley of documents. “The school asked me to come with my electricity bills for the past three months. Then they asked me to come with the child’s Aadhaar card. Again, when I went to the school, I was told that the spellings on the birth certificate and online form are different. Who do I go to now?” asked Ahmad. His son has got admission in Class I at Sunrise Public School at Bhajanpura. The school could not be reached for comment.
The DoE circular to the school on March 16 states, “It should also be ensured by school authorities that the admission to EWS/DG category successful candidates shall not be denied on frivolous grounds e.g. one or two letters are different in any name in some document. Absence of Aadhaar is also not a ground to deny admission to the successful candidates.”