Kejriwal scraps management quota in nursery admissions

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday cancelled the management quota and 62 other ‘arbitrary criteria’ set by private schools for nursery admissions.

The only reservation in schools now will be for poor students.

The chief minister warned that the government may consider taking over institutions that fail to fall in line and stop the “scandal” under the garb of management quota.

Just weeks ago, the Kejriwal government had said that private schools were free to set their own admission criteria. But this announcement overturns that decision.

“Seventy-five per cent admissions in the private schools will be under open category. Other than EWS (Economically Weaker Section) category, there will be no other quota,”



Kejriwal told reporters.

Kejriwal said the decision to scrap the arbitrary criteria was taken to bring more transparency in the admission process in private schools that were misusing the management quota. 

All schools will need to reserve 25 per cent seats for the EWS.

The decision came in the midst of the admission process for nursery classes in over 2,500 private schools in the Capital.

In the first week of December, the Delhi government allowed schools to devise their own criteria and upload them on their websites.

The freedom given to schools was in line with the Delhi High Court’s direction to the Delhi government not to take away the schools’ autonomy and avoid micro-managing the admission process.