the Capital can now heave a sigh of relief. The confusion following the
implementation of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education
(RTE) Act in Delhi regarding screening at the time of admission has
finally been cleared out.
While the RTE Act does not allow screening of students at the time of
admission, Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said
that in order to follow the Act during admissions, students can be
grouped into different categories to simplify the process.
This means children with siblings already studying at the school
will be put in a separate category; those with parents in the alumni
will be in another category and girl students in yet another, etc. They
can then draw lots to select students from the categories.
In an August 14 meeting with school principals, officials of the
CBSE and NCERT and NGOs, Sibal is learnt to have said the criteria for
selection of students will remain similar, but now include the
“randomisation of categories”.
Unaided schools had raised concerns regarding this section of the
Act. It had already been decided that 25 per cent of students will be
selected under the EWS category through a draw of lots. The remaining 75
per cent will be selected through the categorisation process.
The applicability of the Act on minority institutions was also discussed.
“Sibal also said the ministry will send out advisories to the
states and the union territories to ensure that the rights given to the
minority community regarding setting up institutions and running them
under Article 29 and 30 are not violated,” the official added.