Bengaluru: If the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) officials act on their circular, around 2,000 admissions made for K1 and STD I will be cancelled in 50 prestigious private, unaided schools in the city.
But do DPI officials have enough power, to act against these elite schools?
According to the circular issued by the DPI, which has been circulated among all the Block Education Officials (BEOs) in the state, all schools including those which are affiliated to CBSE and ICSE, are barred from admitting students before January 2015 for any classes for the academic year 2015-16.
All the schools have been directed to admit students for K1 and STD I only after intimating the number of seats available under 25 per cent Right to Education (RTE) quota to the BEO. If any school admits students before January 2015, the admission list will be cancelled.
“Parents and school managements should not take the risk of admitting students before January 2015,” stated the circular.
How to lodge a complaint
According to the circular, whoever knows of any school that has completed the admission process for the academic year 2015-16, can write to the Director, Primary Education, DPI commissioner’s office, Nrupathunga Road, Bengaluru.
“The Department will launch an inquiry against all those schools which people have complained about,” informed an officer.
2000 students will be affected
Speaking to this newspaper, an officer from a school which has already completed the admission process, said around 50 reputed schools have completed the admission process for KG classes and STD I in Bengaluru city.
“Another 40 schools have closed the application process. If the DPI launches an inquiry, definitely around 2,000 kids will face a problem,” he said.
“Generally we admit students only for non-RTE seats available in our schools. RTE seats filled up only in the month of March-April. Generally, the admission process for the next academic year starts in the month of September in the city.
As the issue is very sensitive, we will not make any comments. But it is like a can of worms,” he added. According to DPI officials, they have prior information that a few schools have published the selection list online after an admission test for kids.
“The Supreme Court has banned admission tests for kids and their parents. Despite this, the practice still continues. Definitely this year we will act tough,” said a senior officer.
