Kejriwal Government Scraps Management Quota In Nursery Admissions

NEW DELHI:  The Delhi cabinet has scrapped a separate quota in nursery admissions for children chosen by private school managements, popularly known as the ‘management quota.’

The only quota that will now remain is the 25 per cent seats set aside for children from the Economically Weaker Sections or EWS, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal announced on Wednesday. The rest of the seats will be open to all.

If the school managements object, the government will go to court, he said. “Management quota is the biggest scam in education today,” the Delhi Chief Minister said. “If they do not budge, they can be de-recognised or government can take them over,” he said, adding “the mafia has captured the education system and made it a business. The government will not tolerate this.”

Mr Kejriwal described the criteria laid down by Delhi’s private schools for admissions to nursery as “shocking, arbitrary and discriminatory.” He the government had asked schools to make public the criteria they follow for selecting children for admission to nursery and a compilation has thrown up a list “that shocked us.” The government also scrapped 62 “arbitary and
discriminatory” criteria listed by the schools on their websites for admissions.

“We had said put out the admission criteria on your websites. The criteria put out by schools have shocked us,” he said. “When we compiled it, we saw children whose parents smoke, eat non-veg or drink will not get admission (some schools have said). Children whose parents paint or know music will get extra points. The criteria are so arbitrary and discriminatory,” Mr Kejriwal said.