Schools start session sans EWS admissions

Sanjay Yadav

Gurugram, April 5

While their counterparts in Delhi will remain shut owing to surge in Covid cases, Gurugram private schools have started their new session today with a majority sticking to the online mode of education.

The commencement has left hundreds of parents of the EWS category children worried 134A of the Haryana School Education Rules (HSER), 2003. The private schools have neither registered nor displayed the EWS vacancies on their online admission portals as mandated.

The children who were not admitted by any school even in 2020 owing to the pandemic fear losing yet another year as not only schools have started without them but also no instruction or directive has been has been given by the Education Department regarding the admissions. The worried parents have approached the local department, but it has reportedly cited helplessness due to lack of any guidelines or instructions from the state directorate.

“I wanted to admit my child to school in Class V last year, but was told that there was no EWS quota for online education because of the pandemic. This year, I went to three schools in my area and was turned away. When I went to the Education Department they said no order had been issued from Panchkula. The classes have started, how will my child get admission in mid-session? Even if she does how will she cope up,” said Suhail Zafari, a tailor in Sector 45.

As per rules, schools should keep aside 10 per cent of their seats for EWS students (family’s income is less than Rs 1.80 lakh PA). The admissions for such students will start in February, March. They will appear for assessment exams and qualified ones will be allotted schools by draw of lots.

“The admissions under the Act are notified by the Education Directorate and we at the district level just execute them. We have so far got no instructions,” said a senior Education Department official. Meanwhile, the schools are in no mood to comply with Act this year. “We are the worst hit economically. Like all other industry, even we need help from the government. We are left to fend for ourselves. We can’t continue charity till economically stable. We want exemption this year and these children can continue in government schools for another year,” said a member of Independent Schools Association.