Nursery admissions: LG`s nod to guidelines for schools on DDA land

`The guidelines for nursery admissions to private schools running on DDA land have been approved,` an official said.

New Delhi: In a relief to parents waiting to apply for nursery admissions in 298 private schools running on DDA land, Delhi Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal has approved the new guidelines for enrollment to these institutions, keeping distance from the child's residence a major criteria.

"The guidelines for nursery admissions to private schools running on DDA land have been approved. The schools will now be able to accept applications," a senior Directorate of Education (DoE) official said.

The guidelines state the schools "shall not refuse admission to the residents of the locality".

Defining what neighbourhood would men, the guidelines state that students who are residing within 1 km of the school will be preferred and if seats are not filled, preference will be given to students residing within 1-3 km of the school.

"Students residing beyond 6 kms shall be admitted only in case vacancies remain unfilled even after considering all the students within 6 kms area," state the guidelines.

The race for nursery admissions in over 1400 private schools began in the national capital on January 2, while the government had last week directed 298 private schools, running on DDA land here, to withhold nursery admission process for the upcoming academic session till new guidelines are notified by the city administration.

"We had sent the proposed guidelines to LG office for approval which took time due to change in regime. The guidelines include implementing a criteria of the distance between applicant's residence and the school for filling 75 per cent of the seats," the official added.

The application process will end on January 23.

The remaining 1,400 schools are free to decide the criteria and their points for admission but they will have to steer clear from a list of 51 criterion, which the government had abolished last year.

The abolished criteria include, parent's education, parent's profession, age, oral test and interview.

The first list of selected candidates, including the wait list candidates, along with marks allotted under point system, will be announced by schools on February 15.