HC nursery order: Some parents relieved, some rue confusion

A section of parents today welcomed the Delhi high court's decision to impose a stay on the 'distance criteria' for nursery admissions in private schools, even as their relief could be temporary with the government vowing to challenge the order.

While some parents argued that area of residence does not indicate the amount of money they intend to spend on their children's education, some rued the confusion in the entire admission system accruing due to frequent changes in rules.

"It is a big relief as the distance criteria had left us with limited options. Now removal of the rider will give us lot of options for our daughter's admission," said Priti Kharbanda, an IT employee.
 

Poonam Yadav, a housewife, said it was unfair to have a distance criteria because if one is not staying in a good area means their children cannot study in good schools.

"I may not be able to afford a house in a posh locality but I may be able to stretch my budget to send my kid to a good school," she contended.

Delhi High Court today stayed the AAP government's new nursery admission norms based on the neighbourhood criteria, saying they were "arbitrary and discriminatory".

In response to the court's decision, Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, who also holds the Education portfolio, said, "We will challenge the order before a larger bench."

However, a few parents did not seem to be happy with the high court decision.

"The problem is not with a decision favouring us or not, the problem is with the entire admission process where something or the other keeps on happening new," said Akshay Shukla, a pharmacist.

The AAP government had last month made it mandatory for 298 private schools running on DDA land to admit only those students in the nursery class who are residents of the same neighbourhood.

The court today said the interim stay on the January 7 notification would remain in place till final disposal of the pleas challenging the Delhi government's order to private unaided schools to accept nursery admission forms based only on the neighbourhood or distance criteria.