Nursery admission: Delhi HC fixes 4 years of age as upper limit in private schools

New Delhi: In yet another set back to the AAP government, Delhi High Court on Friday stayed its notification fixing four years as the upper age limit for nursery admission in private unaided schools of the national capital. A bench of Justice Manmohan stayed the AAP government’s decision fixing the upper age limit saying the parents of the wards did not get enough time to plan the future as the notification was issued on December 18 last year, just on the eve of start of the admission process. [caption id=“attachment_2614482” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. AFP[/caption] The high court’s decision came a day after it stayed another order of the Delhi government scrapping management quota and 11 other criteria regarding nursery admissions. The court also 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 Director of Education of Delhi government to ensure that applications of economically weaker section (EWS) children are accepted online. “The schools are also directed to accept the admission forms by February 9 and applications already filed shall be considered,” the bench said. The bench posted the matter for April 18 for further hearing. It had on 2 February observed that children or their parents who may be aggrieved with AAP government’s decision to fix four years as the upper age limit for nursery admission in the city schools could approach the court. The court’s observation had come when the counsel for the Delhi government agreed to exempt three kids, who had challenged its 18 December, 2015 notification but sought that the exemption should not be taken as a “precedent for others”. It observed that as per the Delhi government counsel, the age bar will not apply to three petitioners – Uday Pratap Singh Kapoor, Samridhi Singh and Kamakshi M Prakaash. The court was hearing a number of pleas by minors, filed through their counsel Akhil Sachar, challenging the Delhi government’s 18 December, 2015 notification fixing the maximum age for nursery in private unaided schools at four years. As per the notification issued by the Department of Education, the upper age limits for admission in pre-school, pre-primary and class-I has been prescribed at four years, five years and six years respectively as on March 31 of the year in which admission is being sought. The nursery admission process in Delhi schools began from January 1 and will conclude on March 31. On 1 February, the court had asked the AAP government from where did it get the power to fix an upper age limit for admission. It had also observed that the notification, by which the upper age limit was fixed, did not appear to have a legal sanctity as it was not issued by the LG or under any statute. PTI