No room for poor

According to information procured under RTI,of the 54 leading schools in Chandigarh,seven meet the requirement but in their own unique ways.

For instance,Strawberry Fields School had 560 students in November. Going by official data,the school has more than 15 per cent students who belong to weaker sections — around 180 students or 32 per cent of the total students.

But of these 180 students,160 study in the evening classes organised by the Durga Das Foundation,which runs the Strawberry Fields School. The classes are held from 2 pm to 5 pm in dilapidated government schools in slums of Chandigarh — Bapu Dham Colony and Indira Colony.

The purpose of the government’s directive was to provide children from poor families the same facilities as those with rich parents. This was meant to ensure that their talent did not go waste due to disadvantageous circumstances.

When contacted,Atul Khanna of the Director Durga Das Foundation said,“The information you are citing is old. We have more than 700 kids in our school. The number of those studying in our special classes for underprivileged is far in excess of 200. The school is taking every possible step to assimilate these kids in the mainstream. The number of kids hailing from EWS,who study in the main school,is also increasing.”

Khanna added that these students were given “all encouragement to join the mainstream”. “We are meeting the requirement fully,” he said.

Other schools fall way behind the line when it comes to admitting children of poor families.

Of the 3,138 students in Delhi Public School,Sector 46,only 214 (6.81 per cent) come from the EWS. The school has the husband of Congress leader Ambika Soni and the son of Union Minister Pawan Bansal,on its board.

Chitakara International School,run by a well-known education conglomerate,performs slightly better than DPS and Strawberry Fields. Of the 230 students in the school,24 (over 10 per cent) are from weaker sections of the society.

But school’s principal Niyati Chitkara denied: “Close to 17 per cent of our students come from the EWS category. They have been very well assimilated in the school. An outsider cannot make out one from the other.”

Most of these schools were given land at highly subsidised rates by the Administration.

Many of the famous schools,including St John’s High,Sacred Heart Convent and Carmel Convent,meanwhile,are exempt from this rule,as they are minority institutions.

But out of 3,240 students,Sacred Heart has 430 (13.27 per cent) students who come from weaker sections of society. Carmel Convent and St John’s High have 38 (2.8 per cent) and 19 (1 per cent) students,respectively.