Interviewing the three-year-old

The Delhi High Court has just directed that private schools end the practice of holding children8217;s interviews. This is the outcome of a...

The Delhi High Court has just directed that private schools end the practice of holding children8217;s interviews. This is the outcome of a writ petition, the final hearing of which will affect thousands of children who have to go through the trauma of the entire selection process for what is, ultimately, their fundamental right.

Many think that private schools are only for the few. The statistics tell a different story. Most schools in any city are private, unaided ones, and they are located in neighbourhoods where no government schools exist. Parents are forced to send their kids to private schools and these schools function as an instrumentality of the state. They therefore have to respond to the constitutional requirements of equal opportunity. The problem is that they have interests other than educational. A process of non-selection while giving admissions would make it difficult for them to admit children based on ill-conceived notions of merit. It would also reduce their income from the sale of application forms, and end scope for networking with the powerful on whom they depend for further expansion.

It is important to look into the dynamics of the operation of the unaided private school system while thinking of alternative solutions. Assuming that both private and government schools are bound by constitutional obligations, they should not hesitate in receiving a mix of children from the neghbourhood. Such a mix of children was termed as 8216;good8217; education by the first education commission8212;set up in 19668212;when it observed that it helps establish stronger linkages with the community. Across the world, schools are organised on the principle of neighbourhood, and research indicates that the mixing of children enhances the performance level of children on the whole.

Reducing the catchment areas of private schools and strictly enforcing the principle of neighbourhood schooling with the help of committees with members drawn from the local community will reduce the number of applications, and thus the number of kids going through the selection process. From out of the drastically reduced number of applications, the next stage could be a draw of lots. There are some apprehensions that this would introduce an unscientific approach. On the contrary, the draw of lots is based on the scientific theory of probability, with each child standing an equal chance of being 8216;selected8217; irrespective of background. If the Court does not consider the draw of lots appropriate, it could consider ensuring that application forms don8217;t ask non-essential questions like parents8217; job, salary, car brand, and so on. Also children need not be present when parents are interviewed.

Interviews should be banned up to age 14, the minimum age for exercising the fundamental right to elementary education. If the ban remains limited to the nursery level, unscrupulous schools may close down these sections and begin selecting children for grade one and the higher classes.