The Management Quota is the biggest scam in the education sector.
That’s what Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said after meeting the parents of children up for nursery admissions on January 6. On the same day, Kejriwal announced that the ‘62 point rule’ that private schools across the city use as the basis for nursery school admissions will be scrapped with immediate effect. Apparently, the government believes that schools have taken advantage of their discretionary powers.
The administration did not waste any time in acting on Kejriwal’s directive. On January 6 itself, the Delhi Directorate of Education issued a circular which got rid of the “management quota” and other subjective criteria. The order should have come into effect in the current admission cycle, which runs from January 1 to January 22.
But schools across Delhi are still sticking to the old system and placing all manner of “conditions” for nursery admissions.
Outside EWS Category, “Management Quota” Runs Riot
According to the Right to Education, 25 percent of seats in private schools are reserved for children from Economically Weaker Section (EWS) families. As for the 75% seats that remain, schools are determined to impose some condition or other at the time of admission, where the parents cannot challenge the decision of the management.
This is, of course, against both the letter and the spirit of the law. Here are just a few examples available with the Directorate of Education.
Some schools have ‘quotas’ for the children of doctors, lawyers, civil servants and armed forces personnel.
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You can also get points if you are a sanskari parent. That’s right, there is a preference for kids from non-smoking, non-drinking, vegetarian households.
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And the alumni benefit is extended not just up till the parents of a child, but up till the child’s grandparents and great-grandparents as well.
It seems that the smartphone you own is also important to your child’s education. What’s next? iPhones over Android phones?
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Private Schools’ Justification
Here’s how private schools justified what appear to be less than reasonable criteria for nursery admissions.
- Non-smoking, teetotaller parents: The “lifestyle” of parents has a direct effect on children. That is why parents need to have “good habits”, so the school has “good children”.
- Grandparents count as alumni for admission purposes: This keeps the bond between a family and the school alive, and children are able to have a better connection with the institution.
- Preference for children of “high profile” families: This ensures that the school has a strong alumni network, which gives students an advantage as they move through life.
The Government’s Response
- Parents’ education cannot be a criterion for admission for students, and discrimination on that basis is wrong, especially in a country which is still far away from 100 percent literacy.
- Discriminating against children on the basis of their parents’ income is illegal.
- If family background becomes a criterion for admission, we will create a divided society that turns on itself. Such discrimination cannot be allowed.
Education experts believe that criterion such as these and the “management quota” are being used by schools to let some people circumvent due process and gain admission through the “back door”.
The association of private schools has recently said that all subjective criteria except the management quota should be done away with. The Quint has learnt that the association plans to approach the Delhi government to ask it not to scrap the management quota.
The final phase of nursery admissions will be under way in February. The Delhi government needs to act fast if it plans to ensure that the number of seats matches the huge number of applications.
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