Amid buzzing news of admission notifications, all those parents having kids crossed age 3 plus, are in stress and worry, eager to have them admitted in the prestigious and prominent schools. Earlier, the admission policy has added a disadvantage to some parents whose kids did not match the age criteria. But thanks to the timely intervention of the government for grant of exemption to such cases. However, the stress and worry of parents hasn’t subsided as the internal policy of most private schools that include preferential treatment in the admissions to Siblings and Staff has escalated as persistent headache to them.
Our constitution guarantees equality before the law and equal protection of the laws to all citizens (Article 14). Moreover, the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, inter-alia mandates free and compulsory education for all children between the ages of 6 and 14 and also envisages that all schools, including private schools, are required to reserve 25% of their enrollment slots for such students, with the government shouldering their fees. However, there has emerged as disturbing trend in many private schools in the valley and across the UT, where these institutions are either giving points/marks to the applicants or general preference to siblings and those belonging to the school staff in seeking admissions, leaving common applicants at grave disadvantage. This practice is not only unfair as a part of a just competition, but also unconstitutional as favoring siblings and staff children in schools means denying general applicants an equal opportunity to seek admission, thereby violating fundamental right to equality.
This unjust and unfair policy may not be merely limited to preference, but there has been a practice to reserve a significant number of seats for siblings and staff children with separate interview/selection list. This implies that even if a common applicant meets the eligibility criteria and performs well in interview or interaction session of the admission process in a particular school, they still may not be able to secure admission of their child. This preferential treatment not only weakens the principle of meritocracy but also creates a sense of arbitrary privilege among siblings and staff children. It sends a wrong precedence that associates and relationships weight than merit and hard work.
Our society is already plagued with the questionable reservation policies in admissions and selections in professional institutions and later on in the government jobs across the country. Although, it is widely acknowledged that the reservation polices granted through provisions under our constitutions are conceived only to offset fundamental, deep rooted generations of wrongs perpetrated on some communities and castes. However, adding more vertical reservations in the admissions at the entry level of schooling is sheer injustice, as arbitrary implementation of such policies and programs may perpetuate unsympathetic favoritism against the most vulnerable sections of society.
This practice of preferential admission and to keep quota reserved for certain arbitrary categories will certainly have negative impact on the education system in particular and also may have far reaching long term societal as well as legal consequences viz. lack of diversity & inclusiveness, denial of equal opportunity & merit and indifference & superiority and inferiority complex in the children.
Although, it is fair that the private school administration should have some degree of say in the admission policy, but not at the cost of denial of the fundamental right. If at all any such reservation quota under Sibling/Staff category is to be adopted, it must be horizontal or interlocking and not vertical. Besides, the private schools whether aided or non-aided, registered with the school education department must be impressed to declare the grade-wise vacancies (General and Reserved), interview/interaction shortlists, selection lists, rejected lists on their websites accessible to all as, an essential part of Right to Information.
The issue must be highlighted and addressed on priority by the authorities who are at the helm of affairs including the government as well as the administration of the private institutions, through proper discourse and deliberations so that a fair and transparent admission process is adopted that gives equal opportunity to all applicants, regardless of their background or connections. We must nip the evil in the bud, in order to prevent this Fundamental Right from becoming “Education of the Siblings, For the Siblings, By the Staff”.
(Author can be reached at: [email protected])
