Order on nursery admission age limit stayed

In yet another setback to the Kejriwal government, the Delhi high court on Friday stayed its notification fixing four years as the upper age limit for nursery admission in private unaided schools.

After the order, children above the age of four years can apply for admission in pre-school or nursery classes in private schools till Tuesday.

This was the second blow to the AAP government in as many days, as the high court on Thursday stayed its order scrapping management quota as well as 11 other criteria regarding nursery admissions, saying the order was issued without any authority and was in conflict with an earlier order of the lieutenant-governor.

A bench of Justice Manmohan, while staying the December 18 notification of the AAP government fixing the upper age limit for nursery admissions in private schools, said it had “virtual retrospective effect” and curtailed the right of a child seeking admission.

“The impugned order of December 18 had virtual retrospective effect as the fundamental right of the child to seek admission was curtailed as it was an-nounced just on the eve of start of admission proce-ss,” the bench said on Friday.

The court, however, said it was in agreement with the counsel of the Delhi government that it should have restrained itself from interfering with the government’s decision taken by the expert body, but parents should have been given more time to plan the future of their wards.

The court directed that “all children above the age of four years desirous of seeking admission in pre-school/nursery can apply for admissions for the academic year 2016-17 on or before February 9 by 4 pm.”

It asked the Delhi government’s director of education to ensure that the app-lications of economically weaker section children are accepted online. “The schools are also directed to accept the admission forms by February 9 and applications already filed shall be considered,” it said.

The bench posted the matter to April 18 for further hearing.

The court said the parents had been taken by surprise as there was no upper age limit prior to Dece-mber 18 for years and had they known about the decision earlier, they would have planned for the adm-issions of their wards. “The court is also of the vi-ew that notification of Dec-ember 18, 2015 has taken the parents of minor children by surprise and they were unable to plan their future.”

The court also took into account the submission that it becomes difficult to get admission in Class 1 as schools prefer to promote their own students studying in nursery.

The court was hearing a number of pleas filed by minors or their parents, challenging the Delhi government’s notification fixing the maximum age for nursery in private unaided schools at four years. The nursery admission process in the Delhi schools began from January 1 and will conclude on March 31.