New Delhi : The Delhi High Court on Monday sought reply from the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Government by January 26 over the petition filed by private schools, opposing the decision to scrap management quota in schools.
The High Court said that if the ruling AAP improves the conditions of the government schools then there would be no fight for admissions in private schools.
The next hearing of this case will take place on January 28.
Terming the move by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as “absolutely illegal, arbitrary, whimsical and unconstitutional”, the schools had argued that the government order is contrary to and violates various judgments of the Supreme Court and the High Court, and impacts the autonomy of private unaided schools to regulate their admissions.
The writ petition, filed by the Action Committee of Unaided Recognised Private Schools that comprises 400 schools, has requested the court to issue a writ, order or direction quashing the government’s order and asking the government to pass further orders granting relief to them.
The Delhi government had earlier scrapped management quotas for admissions to private schools, a move that offers more seats for those seeking general admission.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said it was important to remove the management quota, dubbing it as “the biggest scam” in India’s education system.
“There will be only 25 percent reservation for economically weaker sections; the rest 75 percent will be made available to the general public. We noticed during our inspection that a few schools have made just 25 percent seats available for the general public. We are now opening 50 percent more seats for them,” said Kejriwal.
“We found 62 unjust criteria, which we have declared null and void. Schools can redraft criteria of admission points and it should be just, transparent and fair. They cannot reserve seats or decide admission criteria according to their whims and fancies,” said Kejriwal.
In December, the Delhi government allowed private schools to decide their own admission criteria and update the same on their websites. (ANI)