The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : New policy to streamline school admissions submitted

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Saturday, Apr 12, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

New policy to streamline school admissions submitted

Bageshree S.

Only State syllabus schools to come under ambit

Schools to assess applicants on a scale of 1 to 100 on various criteria stipulated
Children with special needs to get 5 per cent reservation

Bangalore: The process of getting a child into school will get smoother and more transparent if norms proposed in the new admission policy come into force.

The catch, however, is that this is applicable only to schools which follow the State syllabus. The large number of institutions which follow the CBSE and ICSE streams will remain outside the ambit since they are not bound by the Karnataka Education Act, 1983. The policy is also unlikely to come into force in the coming academic year since the admission process is already complete in most schools.

The recommendations submitted to the Government by an expert committee, headed by Commissioner for Public Instruction Kumar Naik, include guidelines on when and how the admission process should begin and what should be the criteria for granting admission to a child.

Point formula

Based broadly on the norms in force in Delhi schools, the committee has said that schools will have to assess the applicants on a scale of 1 to 100 on various criteria. A weightage of 30 points will be given to children who live within a three kilometre radius of the school.

If the father or mother is an alumnus of the school, a weightage of five points each will be given. An additional 10 points will be given if the brother or sister of the applicant is studying in the same school. A weightage of 10 points will be given for children whose parents have come to a place on transfer as employees of the State Government, public sector or corporate establishments.

Admission dates

In an effort to streamline the admission process, the policy also recommended a timeline to be strictly followed. Educational institutions should call for applications on January 1 for pre-nursery and Class 1 and on April 2 for classes 2nd up to 10th. While announcing seats, schools will have to denote the cut-off point by preparing the list of all registered children in a descending order of points secured and display the entire list. Before announcing admissions, the school will have to display the number of seats, reservation policy, medium of instruction and other details.

Reservation norms

Children with special needs get 5 per cent reservation and none of the norms will apply to them.

The policy also recommends that reservation norms under the Karnataka Education Act, 1983, will be applicable to all schools.

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