Nursery admissions: AAP govt to challenge Delhi HC order

“We respect the court’s decision but the fight for transparency in functioning of private schools will continue,” he added.

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The Delhi High Court today stayed AAP government’s order scrapping management quota in nursery admissions in private unaided schools, saying the decision was taken without the authority of law.

It also stayed the Delhi government’s January 6 order with regard to 11 other admission criteria, including issues like proven track record of parents in music and sports during admission of their children, that were also scrapped.

Schools welcomed the order saying the high court has upheld the autonomy of the educational institutions which has been guaranteed to them by the Constitution but was being attacked by the government.

“We have been reiterating the fact that our fight was not against the scrapping of management quota but against the
attack on schools’ autonomy.

“The high court order will come as relief and put an end to anxiety among all stakeholders. The admission process will now be rolled out smoothly,” said Ashok Pandey, principal of Alcohon International Schools and chairman of National Progressive Schools Conference (NPSC).

S K Bhattacharya, President of the Action Committee for Unaided Private Schools of which 400 reputed schools are members, said, “We welcome the high court’s order and it will come as a relief for the parents who have been lingering in anxiety as the entire process has been marred by chaos due to the government’s order.”

He said, “Schools did not know what to do, parents did not know whether the process will be delayed or not. So, all the confusion has ended thankfully.”

The government had last month scrapped management quota and all other reservations except the EWS category in private schools for nursery admissions and warned that erring institutions can be taken over by the Education Department.

The same Action Committee, which had moved court in 2014 after Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung had notified the scrapping of quota then, had also alleged that the government’s announcement amounted to “contempt of court” as the matter was sub-judice at that time.