HC questions kindergarten admission criteria

NEW DELHI: The Delhi high court has directed the authorities of a school to spell out what exactly they look for in a child when they are shortlisting him or her for admission to the lower kindergarten (LKG).
Directing the school to file an affidavit in this regard, Justice A K Sikri listed the matter for April 30 for final hearing on the petition challenging the practice of interviewing very young children and their parents for short listing the "successful" candidates.
"Let the respondent school file an affidavit stating as to what kind of observation is done and what is the basis of shortlisting the children," Justice Sikri said in the order.
Appearing on behalf of the society that runs the school, advocate G C Rawal told the court that the school does not conduct any test or interview of the children, but they are "just observed by a specialist who is not staff of the school."
But the parents, whose wards were denied admission and not given any reason, in their petition alleged that the interviews that were conducted by the school authorities and the child and the parents were quizzed in separate rooms.
"The practice of giving admission in the pre-primary classes by the school is growing by the day for the purpose of charging high donations, thereby converting the charitable and noble cause of imparting education into a trade," advocate Ashok Agarwal, the petitioners’ counsel, alleged in court.
The petitioners have cited several instances, where the school in its final list dropped the child living just 200 metres away and granted admission to another who lived six kilometres away.
When the petitioners asked for the reason, the principal did not even meet them, they alleged.
Their repeated complaints to the Delhi director (education) and the Delhi lieutenant-governor elicited no response, they said.
"The school is required to act in a fair and transparent manner but it has adopted a pick and choose policy for giving admissions in LKG classes," the petitioners said, accusing the school authorities of "ulterior motives."