Vinod Kumar Bansal’s daughter was a student of class X in the DAV school but could not give the exams as she fell ill. Anita Kumar’s son had to complete his class IX from correspondence as he had failed the same class in a government school. However; both students completed their class X from the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) with scores of 52% and 53.2% respectively. Now, when they applied to the government school for admission in class XI they were denied admissions on the grounds of not meeting the eligibility criteria.
According to the circular issued by the Directorate of Education (DoE), NIOS students need 55% marks for getting the admissions. Calling this criterion as discriminatory, the parents have decided to move to the Delhi High Court.
The circular states, “Students who have passed their secondary examination class X from NIOS, with 55% marks or above in aggregate of five main subjects, are eligible for admission in vocational and humanities stream, provided they are below 17 years of age as of March 31 of the year.”
The DoE officials said that the NIOS students are not considered for the admissions into commerce and science stream.
“The eligibility criteria is in place because students who pass out from NIOS do not have mainstream subjects, but diluted, easier ones. This is an enabling condition for academically weak students, so that they can at least complete their intermediate level and save the year. After that, they can opt for vocational subjects. After studying diluted (easier subjects), they will not be able to cope with mainstream subjects in class XI,” said DoE Director Sanjay Goel.
“The government introduced this system, how can they now bar students? It has a constitutional obligation to provide children with opportunities… now they are being denied the same without any grounds,” said Ashok Agarwal, the lawyer for the parents in the case.
In 2017, Education Minister Manish Sisodia had announced that in order to control the drop out rate, students failing the class X board exams twice will be enrolled under NIOS. This year 43 percent of the students passed the exams conducted by the NIOS.
Tags: National Institute Of Open Schooling
Directorate Of Education
Education
Education In Delh
