More often than not, admission season is stressful for parents and children. Although the Department of Public Instruction (DPI) has categorically banned schools from conducting entrance tests or any form of screening, several schools are flouting the norm.
To put an end to this, the department has decided to issue show-cause notice to schools guilty of this practice and direct the jurisdictional Block Education Officers (BEO) to initiate action against them. Section 13 of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act states that no school can subject a child or his guardians to any screening procedure during admission. However, schools are finding ways around this. Many ask children as young as three years old to step into the play arena and solve puzzles or recite a few nursery rhymes, or engage them in “interaction sessions” to check if they are familiar with the alphabet and words. While this is done, parents are taken on a tour around the campus.
A parent who went to enquire about admission to nursery class at a private school in North Bengaluru said that although she questioned the management regarding such tests, the representatives said that they were “merely checking” the aptitude of her child.
According to parents, “well-known and sought-after” schools conduct entrance tests even for admission to nursery classes. Many say they have no option but to go along with it. “I did not want my child to join a school that conducts entrance tests as it is illegal. But I was helpless as all the schools in my neighbourhood followed this practice,” said Shruthi N., a parent scouting for admission to kindergarten for her four-year-old son.
Another parent said these tests and screening procedures affect the morale of the children. Some of the school managements that The Hindu spoke to said this practice was just an assessment and was not used as a criterion for providing admission.
