Govt to track EWS students in Delhi’s private schools online

In order to track the retention and dropouts of marginalised students in Delhi’s private schools, the state education department has put in place an online system to track the attendance of students admitted under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), Disadvantaged Groups (DG), and Children With Special Needs (CWSN) reserved categories.

According to the Right to Education (RTE) Act, 25% of seats in entry-level classes — nursery, kindergarten and Class 1 — in all private schools are to be reserved for the EWS/DG categories, a provision that includes 3% reservation under CWSN category as well. Students admitted under these categories are entitled to free textbooks, writing material, and uniforms till Class 8, for which the government reimburses a fixed amount to the schools.

Officials told HT that the online attendance system will initially record data for students admitted in the 2021-22 academic session and gradually be expanded for other classes. The department is also planning to integrate the platform with a similar reimbursement system planned to streamline the process.

In a notice issued to all private schools on August 3, deputy direction of education (private school branch) Yogesh Pal Singh said, “All concerned private unaided recognised schools are hereby directed to update the attendance of admitted students under EWS/DG and CWSN category regularly on the link. Non-compliance of the direction shall be viewed seriously.”

Schools can access the attendance module on the education department’s official website.

According to state department data, around 32,500 out of the 126,000 applicants this year have been allotted seats in Delhi’s private schools. Of these, approximately 19,500 students have completed the admission procedure so far. The last date for applicants to report for admission to private schools has been extended to August 16.

A senior official of the education department said, “In order to have inclusive education as envisaged in the RTE Act, the education department needs to monitor how many of these EWS students continue in school. Until now, it was difficult to track the number of EWS dropouts from private schools. Collecting data on attendance will help us form targeted interventions to reduce dropouts and check for the retention of these students. We also plan to integrate this with the reimbursement system to ensure streamlining of the process.”

The DoE centrally conducts admissions to seats under the EWS/DG categories through a computerised draw of lots. The department prepares a list of EWS students allotted to private schools.

Several parents said schools have denied admission to their ward this year, despite being allotted a seat. This is due to the prevalent practice under which schools admit one EWS student from the government’s allotted list for every three general category students admitted by them. This year, however, there have been little to no admissions under the general category for several private schools due to the Covid-19 pandemic — leading schools to turn away EWS parents.

Though deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia asked all private schools in the Capital to admit allotted EWS students, a circular released by the education department later allowed schools to file for an exemption if they wished. Several activists working in the sector said some schools used this as a loophole.

“An attendance system will work when physical classes start. Right now, everything is online and most of these students don’t have the means to attend the classes. The government should first ensure admissions in these schools. The exemption order has emboldened schools to find an excuse to deny admission to EWS students. Parents have been approaching us with repeated complaints of either not getting admission or being denied the free books,” said Ekramul Haque, who runs NGO Mission Taleem working on underprivileged children.

SK Bhattacharya, president of Action Committee of Unaided Recognised Private Schools (ACURPS), said, “We can send attendance on a monthly basis, but it will be a challenge to do it on an everyday level. Besides, why focus on only EWS students in private schools and not marginalised students in all schools? We have to wait to understand the intention behind this new development.”