An NGO moved the Delhi High Court Tuesday seeking direction to the Delhi government to prevent unaided private schools from having more than one year of pre-primary class in the formal school system.
The petition filed by NGO Social Jurists, through advocate Ashok Agarwal, said: ‘This very high court in September 2007 directed the government to implement the recommendations of the Ashok Ganguly committee, which fixed four year-plus as the age criterion for admission to pre-primary class.’
‘The schools have violated the city government’s order,’ Agarwal said.
The admission to nursery — a class before the formal pre-primary class — at three-plus age was treated as admission in the formal school system which was illegal, the petition said.
‘The government of Delhi has failed to frame guidelines in terms of clause 21 of the Recognised Schools (Admission Procedure for Pre-primary Class) Order, 2007,’ said Agarwal.
The state’s non-action violated the fundamental rights of children, he said.
Different unaided recognised private schools in Delhi were applying different age criteria for admission of children to pre-primary classes, said the petition, seeking direction to the government to ensure that all schools followed a uniform age criteria.
The Delhi School Education Act, 1973 provided that a child who had not attained the age of five years shall not be admitted to Class-1 in a recognised school, said the petition.
