Delhi parents win ‘personal interviews’ battle with schools

NEW DELHI: Private schools in Delhi suffered a major setback on Monday, agreeing to not conduct interviews of parents of children seeking admissions to nursery school.

The 400 schools have been fighting a legal battle for over a year to streamline the admission procedure after several parents complained of high-handedness on their part.

The Delhi high court had set a Monday deadline for the streamlining, so that schools could be reopened on November 30. However, the schools sought a two-week extension to finalise the admission procedure.

They also urged the court to set up a cell under the directorate of education to answer admission-related queries, if any.

The schools told the court that they would finalise the admission procedure and begin admissions only after the directorate of education approves it.

“The schools have agreed that they would not conduct interviews of parents for nursery admissions. The step follows a Delhi high court directive seeking to streamline nursery school admissions,” said parents’ counsel Ashok Agarwal,

The schools were brought to court after parents demanded greater transparency in the admission procedure. They complained that the schools were using parents’ interviews as a tool to deny admission to certain students.

“The parents suspected that the schools were using personal interviews as a ploy to admit children of their choice, mostly from well-to-do families,” said Agarwal.