It came as a shock to two parents who found out that the admissions of their sons, under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category, were only virtual admissions. It was informed to them that the actual admission test for their wards will be held later. Alas, it has been five months since then, and there has been no such test. The children had been allocated the DAV Public School in Pushpanjali Enclave, Delhi, after landing seats in the draw of lots conducted by the Directorate of Education (DoE). This is conducted for admissions in the entry-level classes under the 25% EWS category. Once it was done, their ‘virtual admissions’ were completed by visiting the said school.
“The school said that the formality of virtual admission has been completed and requested us to wait until they call for actual admission…We approached the school and the Deputy Director, but nothing has happened,” said one of the parents, to the Indian Express. The parents were informed by the school that the admissions in question were for the carried forward seats from the 2017-18 academic year. Also, they were told that they could admit their sons once the admissions for the general category commence, although the 2018-19 admission for the general category had already ended by then.
The parents, extremely concerned, have new approached the Delhi Court via a petition, asking for permission for the kids to attend school. Sanjay Goel, Director, DoE, said that private schools come up with different reasons to not complete the EWS admission.
Khagesh Jha, the lawyer for the parents, said to the Indian Express, “…Last year the school had notified the vacancy and the DoE conducted draw of lots without inviting applications…when a petition was moved by others on denial of admission, the DoE and even the school acknowledged that the vacant seats will be carried forward for 2018-19. But now, they are denying admission.”
“Some claim that their general seats have not been filled and come up with different excuses. But the Directorate’s stand is very clear: the backlog seats will be filled and the schools will be asked to add to their existing seats. The DoE’s stand is that these backlogs will be cleared. If the schools are facing any genuine problems, they should come to us,” he said.
