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No admission! Delhi schools shut doors on ‘terrorist' children

This bizarre diktat has come from a recent circular issued by the Directorate of Education

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Being associated with a "banned organisation" could spell trouble for your child in school. Those seeking admission for any class, starting from three-year-olds looking to get a nursery seat, will miss out on account of their association with a "banned organisation", a reference usually made for terror outfits.

This bizarre diktat has come from a recent circular issued by the Directorate of Education (DoE). Laying down a "revised" code of conduct for students — studying or applying to schools running under DoE— the Delhi government has stated that children may be denied if they are found to belong to such banned outfits. Some of the organisations banned by the Indian government include the Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammed, Babbar Khalsa International, Communist Part of India (Maoists) and even several insurgent groups of North East.

Asked as to the reason for such a step, Delhi government officials are on the defensive. One said on condition of anonymity. "It is largely for students from Class 6 to 12, especially those coming from disturbed areas where such groups operate."

It's not just the issue of admission. In a move that will be seen as highly controversial, the circular has also listed "association with banned organisations" as one of the acts that can led to a student's suspension or even rustication (under extreme case) along with 20 other acts like "absence from classes," "bullying," "misbehaviour with teachers" and "moral turpitude."

The government's move has had civil rights' bodies up in arms. Calling it an absolutely "objectionable" point to be included for school students' admission, Ashok Agarwal, founder of a civil rights group, Social Jurist, said, "This clearly shows that the DoE either has either low vision or no vision. How can they be so insensitive in the case of children, some as young as three?"

"The DoE should immediately give clarification on this or remove the point from the circular," he added.


The DoE circular has had parents in a fix. "I received a copy of the circular on Saturday when I went to collect the course material for my daughter studying in the IXth standard at Ambience Public School. How's it even valid for a 12-13-year-old student?" asked a parent, who wished to remain anonymous.

Some school principals too do not get the logic. "This is the first time when such an obnoxious point has been included by the DoE in its module of the code of conduct. This is not only confusing for parents but for schools as well. The DoE should either withdraw this point or should give some clarification on its meaning," a principal of a reputed school in east Delhi said.

"Any random interpretation of it would create further problems," he added.

Other schools, however, tried to interpret the DoE's "diktat" in their own way.

"The point is quite confusing but if I would interpret it for my students it should be all the communal groups that propagate hatred," said a principal of a private school operating under the DoE in west Delhi.

DoE's Diktat

A recent circular by the DoE has stated that children who are believed to have been associated with a "banned organisation" will not be able to get admission for their children in DoE-run schools. This DoE diktat, which applies to children as young as three, has had civil rights bodies up in arms and created great confusion among schools as to how it should be implemented.

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