Gurgaon: Three who took admission under economically weaker section turned away by school
On Monday morning, Gaurav left his home in Mohammadpur village in Gurgaon, donning a brand new uniform and carrying a bag that had newly purchased books and a tiffin box — only to be turned away by the school authorities along with two others.
Gaurav’s parents, Pinky and Billu, had enrolled him in Euro International School in the city’s Sector 10 last week under Section 134 (A) of the Haryana School Education Rules, 2003, which mandates that 10 per cent of admissions in private schools be saved for meritorious children from economically weaker sections of society and education be provided to them for free. However, they were met with disappointment when they were turned away, with officials allegedly claiming that Gaurav was never granted admission.
“We had gone to the school on Friday and completed all formalities for our son’s admission. The teachers had directed us to purchase books from them, and gave us the address of a shop from where we could purchase the uniform. In addition, they even allotted sections to the children,” said Pinky.
Gaurav, however, was not the only child to be denied admission. Parents claim a total of seven children had approached the school last week for admission. Four of them were denied admission last Friday, with officials allegedly claiming they did not have enough staff to cater to them. Parents of the other three, including Gaurav’s, claimed their kids were granted admission, but were told on Monday that they (school authorities) never admitted them. However, principal of the school, Nidhi Kapoor, said: “I have enrolled seven students who approached us for admission.”
The Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon, Vinay Pratap Singh, also said that admission has “now been granted by almost all schools”. “If schools will not admit recommended EWS students, we will take action by de-recognition,” he added. Parents, however, alleged that the principal told them their children have only secured admission on a “temporary basis”.
“When the school refused to let our children study, we approached the Deputy Commissioner. On Tuesday, we approached the school again, and the principal told us that she could give our children admission on a temporary basis,” alleged Pushkar Singh, whose daughter had enrolled in Class IV.
“We have already withdrawn our children from their earlier schools to secure admission into this one. I have paid Rs 4,000 for the books and another Rs 1,600 for the uniform. What is the point if they can remove my child from the school whenever they want?” Singh said. On Wednesday afternoon, parents claimed they went to meet the District Education Officer (DEO), who reassured them that the school had been contacted and directed to accept their children’s admission.