Nursery Admission 2017: Two minority schools approached #Delhi HC challenging guidelines
On Tuesday, two minority schools moved to the Delhi High Court challenging the January 7 circular of the Delhi government restricting private schools built on public land to admit students only using the neighbourhood or distance criteria. Justice Manmohan posted for January 19 the pleas of Mount Carmel School and Somerville School, saying their pleas would be heard along with other pending petitions filed by two private schools groups and some parents.
The two minority schools have said that the notification was against their right to establish and administer their institutions and to admit students. Last week, the High Court had directed 300-odd private schools to accept applications based on their own criteria as well as city administration guidelines.
Few days ago, two groups of private schools have also challenged a condition in the allotment letter issued by Delhi Development Authority (DDA), under which they have been ordered to implement neighbourhood scheme while granting admissions.
The Action Committee of Unaided Recognised Private Schools and Forum for Promotion of Quality Education had challenged the DDA’s condition for allotting land to some private unaided schools that requires them to reserve 75 per cent seats for students in the neighbourhood. The circular has enforced the land allotment clause and thereby restricted admissions to schools on DDA land to their locality.
The schools have raised objections to the latest guidelines and they said that enforcing the clause would result in reducing world class educational institutions into neighbourhood schools. They have claimed that as per the Delhi School Education Act and the Rules they have the autonomy to regulate their admissions. (Inputs from PTI)
