Manish Sisodia, the Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, urged private schools in the national capital on Wednesday to admit pupils from the EWS category based on the government's assigned list, rather than waiting for the required number of admissions in the General category.
Mr Sisodia tweeted, "Have asked private schools to complete the process of admission for 25% of seats in the EWS category this year without waiting for admissions on 75% of seats in the General category." According to the Right to Education (RTE) Act of 2009, at least 25% of seats in entry-level classrooms (nursery, kindergarten, and Class 1) must be reserved for students from the Economically Weaker Section (EWS). 22% of the EWS seats are reserved for the Disadvantaged Group, and 3% are reserved for children with impairments.
We are all aware that the Right to Education Act is in effect across the country, and that private schools are required to reserve 25% of seats for economically disadvantaged students under the RTE Act. "If there are 100 seats available for admission in a school, 75 seats are deemed General, and 25 seats are earmarked for EWS," Mr Sisodia said during an online interview.
Based on the applications collected and information provided by schools on the number of seats available, the Delhi Government has instituted a procedure whereby it would announce a lottery for admissions for seats reserved under the EWS category.
"We received roughly 1.26 lakh applications when we asked for applications under the EWS category, based on which we announced a draw of 32,500 seats," he added. Mr Sisodia added that, in normal circumstances, private schools admit three pupils from the General category and one from the EWS group, depending on the Delhi Government's authorised list.
The application period for EWS admissions opened on April 7, with the first draw scheduled for April 30. However, due to the second wave of the COVID-19 epidemic, it was postponed.
Finally, on June 15, the first draw took place. Due to the pandemic, the general admissions process for entry-level classes was also delayed by more than two months this year.