UT: 6,115 EWS students currently enrolled in Chandigarh’s private schools

There are 6,115 students enrolled under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and other disadvantaged groups in the 59 private non-minority schools of the city from pre-primary Class 1 up to Class 8 as per the data compiled and issued by the UT education department in a public order.

This comes as per the standing order issued earlier this week by UT director school education Harsuhinderpal Singh Brar for EWS admissions on the directions of the Punjab and Haryana high court.

While the UT education department has kept records for EWS students admitted in city schools for reimbursement purposes, this is the first time that the data has been tabulated and issued in a public order.

Class wise, there were more EWS students in pre-primary classes as compared to higher classes according to the data for the2024-25 session. As many as 761 students were enrolled in pre-primary Class 1 and 681 students in pre-primary Class 2. A drop in numbers is seen from Class 3 with 606 students, to Class 4, which had 557 students. The number is lowest at Class 8, which had 445 students. Pre-primary Class 3, which was officially notified from the 2023-24 session onwards, also had a comparatively lower number of students.

While denying that this indicates that the students are dropping out, Brar said, “We have to take in factors like migration into consideration. Sometimes, students also opt to transfer from private schools to government schools. It would not be wise to say that the students are dropping out or it would reflect as a rise in out of school children in the city. ”

For the 2025-26 session for which EWS admissions have already taken place, therewere 850 total seats as per RTE but only 786 seats were verified. As many as 61 seats have been rejected due to various reasons, including submission of improper documents or other cases where students did not qualify for the EWS quota. There are three seats for which admissions are still pending. All three are at Vivek High School.

Numbers are further conflated as some schools had only recently started EWS admissions. Vivek High School, Sector 38, only has 22 students in pre-primary Class 1, while St Kabir Public School, Sector 26, only has 20 students in pre-primary Class 2.

While the Independent Schools Association (ISA) had said it will file a reply to the standing order, alleging that the department is neglecting its demands, officials confirmed that till now they have not received any complaints from the schools.

Montessori admissions not covered under EWS seats

While many schools, including Vivek High School, are running a montessori toddlers system for which admissions begin as children turn 18 months old, they are alleging that these are not covered under the EWS seats. The department, however, has now replied that as per National Education Policy, schooling starts from three years of age for children and there will be no reimbursement of any fee for any school model which enrols students below the age of three.