Draw of lots becoming new procedure for admission in private schools in nursery and primary schools has become a crude joke as draw of lots is not conducted under the supervision of a third party in presence of parents. The private schools particularly missionary schools conduct draw of lots the way they were conducting admission tests without a third party supervision in yesteryears. Previously private schools not only used to conduct admission tests but also used to interview even the parents. So procedure of draw of lots for school admissions too is as doubtful an admission procedure as was the admission test. Interestingly draw of lots is conducted only for the annual Hajj pilgrimage but never ever draw of lots has been made a procedure for admission of children in nursery and primary classes in schools in any other part of the country. Extending Fee Fixation and Regulation Committee (FFRC) power and authority to only regulate the school fee but not the admission procedures in schools is against the very spirit of neutrality and transparency in school admissions. The public outcry against the procedural failures in school admissions demands implementation of a standard admission policy for admissions in private schools as draw of lots by any standards of understandability is not a standard admission procedure for private schools.
Wisdom demands that expert opinion is sought from educationists of known professional integrity on announcement and implementation of a standard admission policy before starting any engagement with the representative bodies of private schools in both Kashmir and Jammu regions. Expert opinion of the educationists of known repute would mostly likely reduce the increasing exploitation of both the parents and the children in the process of admissions in nursery and primary schools in private schools and more so in missionary schools both in Kashmir valley and as well as Jammu division.
In fact there is no admission policy for regulating the admissions in nursery and primary classes for private schools and consequently the school heads have virtually become ultimate bosses unto themselves in the matters of admission to children in nursery and primary classes. To reduce exploitation of both the parents and the children in the admission processes in the nursery and primary schools, the announcement and implementation of a standard admission policy for admissions in nursery and primary classes is the only way out. Since a broader consensus on a standard admission policy is both inevitable as well as unavoidable for the purposes of neutrality and transparency in school admissions, the only way out is a broader engagement with all the stakeholders on a standard admission policy. Wisdom demands that expert opinion is sought from educationists of known professional integrity on announcement and implementation of a standard admission policy before starting any engagement with the representative bodies of private schools in both Kashmir and Jammu regions. Expert opinion of the educationists of known repute would mostly likely reduce the increasing exploitation of both the parents and the children in the process of admissions in nursery and primary schools in private schools and more so in missionary schools both in Kashmir valley and as well as Jammu division.
