Parents of EWS kids daunted by online process...

The biggest issue seems to be the way the education department has mapped out schools, leaving out entire neighbourhoods and sub-localities, and incorrectly marked out distances from schools to neighbourhoods.

When Nasser Ahmed, a resident of a slum cluster in Patparganj’s Madhu Vihar area, went to the nearest cyber cafe to fill the online form for nursery admissions for his child, he was stumped. Not only did the portal fail to show his locality in the list of neighbourhoods, but it kept directing him to schools in Dwarka. “I kept trying to refill the form to no avail. I really don’t know what to do now because schools are not accepting offline forms,” said Ahmed, whose child falls under the EWS (economically weaker section) category.

Ahmed is among the many EWS/DG (disadvantaged group) parents who are struggling with the gaping holes in the online admission system. The Delhi government had decided to make nursery admissions completely online from this session. The biggest issue seems to be the way the education department has mapped out schools, leaving out entire neighbourhoods and sub-localities, and incorrectly marked out distances from schools to neighbourhoods. So, while Ahmed gets directed to Dwarka every time he types Madhu Vihar, a parent submitting an application for Budh Vihar gets directed to AIIMS in South Delhi. Schools within a kilometre of Joshi Colony, a locality in IP Extension, are missing. Dhaula Kuan is shown in Samaypur Badli, while Rohini Sector 17 shows no schools in the vicinity despite the area having plenty of them. Distance is a crucial marker for nursery admissions, as the Right to Education Act mandates that schools have to admit children living within a kilometer first, followed by those living three and six kilometers away. With locations marked incorrectly, many parents will have a hard time even entering the system. After shelling out money on cybercafes — to the tune of Rs 50 to Rs 200 per hour — parents belonging to the EWS category are then faced with the daunting task of completing the six-step admission process. It doesn’t help matters that they are unable to complete the process without filling mandatory mobile number or that pages get locked when an applicant navigates beyond it. “I don’t have a mobile phone. I also don’t have the money to buy one. I can give my neighbour’s number, but I’m sure that it will create problems during admissions,” said Raju, a parent from Shahbad Dairy. NGOs roped in to help parents are also facing problems in figuring out the details. “Even if an applicant has all documents, issues still remain. For instance, only caste certificates issued by the Delhi government are being accepted, so we don’t know what to do for migrants,” a volunteer told The Indian Express. “In view of the many issues being faced, we have written to the Directorate to discontinue the process this year and start again next year after sorting out all issues,” said Khagesh Jha, an advocate with the Delhi High Court.

source: indianexpress.com

Management quota scrapped in nursery admissions.....

Arvind Kejriwal said that a major decision has been taken to make the admission process in private schools transparent and pro-people.

In a landmark announcement which will perhaps solve school admission woes in the city, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said that a major decision has been taken to make the admission process in private schools transparent and pro-people.

"There will be only 25 per cent of EWS and 75 per cent of seats will have to be made available for general public," Kejriwal said.

Arvind Kejriwal also said that the management quota is a scandal and his government is totally against it. He also said that his government is planning to set up a monitoring committee to keep an eye on private school admissions.

"Management quota is biggest scandal which deprives common people. Delhi government is passing order to abandon management quota. We have scrapped 62 criteria of admission process in private schools that were unreasonable and discriminatory," he said. 

The Aam Aadmi Party had in December 2015 announced that the admissions under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) will be online for schools recognised under Delhi School Education Act and Rules (DSEAR), 1973 and offline for schools recognised under the Right to Education (RTE) Act 2009.

source: indiatoday.intoday.in

EWS admissions to go online in select schools....

In order to make nursery admissions for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) fair and unbiased, the Delhi Government has made the procedure centralised from this year.

The government so far was issuing a common form and monitoring the draw-of-lots. The rest of the process used to be managed by the schools, but the process has now been shifted online.

With this, from filling up of forms to submitting of relevant documents and selection of students, everything will be done online. The selection will be done through an online lottery system and schools will be notified about the same.

However, online admission will be accepted only by a select group of schools, to be shortlisted by the Directorate of Education (DoE). Other schools will have a manual draw of lots for selection, just like the previous years. The DoE released an official communication in this regard on Tuesday.

The circular issued by the DoE read: “Admissions of EWS shall be made through computerised lottery system in the said schools against 25 per cent seats reserved for them under the provisions of Right to Education Act, 2009.”

“All the applicants should visit Directorate of Education website www.edudel.nic.in and click the button EWS/DG admissions 2016-17 for detailed information and instructions,” the circular further read.

The confusion between schools that will accept online admissions and the ones that will not is likely to create trouble for the parents, feel experts. “There is a lot of confusion among parents after the circular, as new system is not completely online. The system is not totally computerised and centralised system. It will have online and offline modes for different set of schools,” said Sumit Vohra, who runs a portal on nursery admissions.

Meanwhile, the DoE gave yet another warning to private schools asking them to notify their criteria for nursery admissions. The DoE had asked them to do so by December 31 or face action.

According to the data available with the DoE, 324 of 1737 private schools have not yet notified their criteria despite passing of two deadlines and the Department warning them of strict action.

The nursery admission process in Delhi schools will begin from January 1 and conclude on March 31. While the last date for submitting the applications is January 22, the first list will be out on February 15, followed by another list on February 29.

source: thehindu.com

Delhi Nursery Admission 2016-17 ....great anxiety...

Top schools in Delhi charge anywhere between Rs. 1.5 lakh and Rs. 2 lakh, including tuition fee and admission, for a seat in nursery class. Then there is the capitation fee or donation which could range from `5 to `15 lakh, but remains unaccounted for. A well-known school in the city, which is looking for students with ‘integrity, energy and curiosity’ is demanding a registration fee of `10,000 alone for the 2016-17 admission seasons.

On December 1, Delhi government passed three bills to regulate and refund  excess fees at private institutions in an attempt to bring major reform in the education system. However, Agarwal contended that the Delhi School (Verification of Accounts and Refund of Excess Fee) Bill was a watered-down version favouring the private unaided schools. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had invited Agarwal earlier this year to discuss regulation of the fee structure. Agarwal, who presented the draft legislation on fee regulation to the Kejriwal Government in June, is apprehensive about the effectiveness of these Acts controlling the price hike. He argued that the Act appears to presuppose the fact that fee hike by private schools is per se legal and valid unless the same is challenged through a complaint and is set aside by the committee. Questions were also raised about the credibility of the Directorate of Education in handling the admission process and maintaining transparency.

There is no provision in the Act that enables a complainant to demand a school to stop charging fee that is unjustified. Besides, it would not be an easy task for any parent to make a complaint because under the new law they need the support of parents of at least 20 students for that, Agarwal pointed out.

Referring to model acts like the Tamil Nadu (Regulation of Collection of Fee) Act, 2009, he said the Act has a stipulation of the prior approval of the committee before fee hike and, once approved, it cannot be further hiked up to three years. However, the legislation passed by the AAP Government has put the entire burden on the complainant, exposing the risk of being victimised.

The draft bill had proposed that if the committee is satisfied that the school has collected fee more than what was determined by the committee, it shall direct the concerned unaided private school to refund the excess amount charged with 9 per cent per interest within one month. The committee shall recommend cancellation of recognition or approval.

The AAP legislation passed is surprisingly silent on these issues. No time limit has been proposed for disposal of complaints. “The schools shall thus continue to enjoy its free hand at least throughout the process which has enough scope for inordinate delays,” says Agarwal.

Confrontations between the schools and parents over nursery admission came to the forefront in real sense from 1997 onwards when the 5th Pay Commission was implemented, and private unaided schools hiked fees to “unreasonable” levels. Several petitions were filed in courts and committees set up to bring transparency and make the schools accountable. Of particular concern were the admission criteria fixed by different schools. But a lasting solution continues to elude the stakeholders.

source: www.newindianexpress.com