Girls allotted seats in govt schools for boys

Hussain’s daughter got admission in KG class at Delhi government’s Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya, Tughlakabad Extension. However, she cannot send her child to the school since it is for boys only.

Hussain’s daughter is among at least 17 girls who have been given to this boys only school. “When I went to complete admission formalities, I was told the school is only for boys. The school asked us to file a complaint with the Directorate of Education. We have registered a complaint,” said Baby, a resident of Nardan Basti.

Parents blamed the confusion on the online admission process. The Delhi government had launched online admissions to its schools this year.

“This online system is too much of a hassle for us,” said Baby.

The admission in charge of the school confirmed that several girls were allotted seats there.

Another parent, Priyanka Yadav, is also dealing with the same problem. She said the government should take immediate measures so that the process could go on smoothly.

“My daughter’s name is in the waiting list at Sarvodaya Bal Vidyalaya in Tughlaqabad Railway Colony, which also runs classes for boys only . The process was better earlier. We could go to the school of our choice,” said Yadav.

Government is also aware of the problem and say they are looking into each case individually.

“We have started the process of calling parents and the schools where this problem has occurred,” said Atishi Marlena, advisor to Delhi education minister Manish Sisodia.

“We will be shifting these children to the nearby Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalayas . In case, the school has more than the prescribed students, which is 40 per class, we will treat them as special case and help them get a seat there,” she said.

Education activists, who are helping the parents with the admission process, say that the government should have first sensitised the parents about the formalities.

“Online admission is good but parents are not aware about school selection. Due to this lack of awareness, the process has become complex both for parents as well for teachers in schools,” said Arvind Singh of Matri Sudha, an NGO.