Review plea filed in SC seeks ban on screening kids for nursery admission

NEW DELHI: A plea has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking review of its order refusing to direct the Delhi Lieutenant Governor to either give assent to or return a 2015 Bill which proposed a ban on screening children for nursery admission.

The review petition filed by NGO Social Jurist contended that the plea assumes importance in view of the recent Supreme Court judgments voicing displeasure over the governors of Punjab and Tamil Nadu delaying assent to bills passed and readopted by state legislatures.

The apex court had on October 13 dismissed the NGO’s plea, saying it cannot pass a direction to enact a law.

The organisation, through advocate Ashok Agarwal, filed the appeal in the top court, contending the child-friendly bill banning the screening procedure for nursery admission has been “hanging” between the Central and the Delhi government for the last seven years without any justification. The petition said it was against public interest and public policy.

The NGO said it made a representation to the authorities on March 21, 2023, requesting them to urgently finalise the bill. However, on April 11, a response was received from the Centre stating the bill was yet to be finalised by the two governments.

It said more than 1.5 lakh admissions take place at the nursery level every year in private schools in Delhi, and children above three years of age are subjected to screening which is against the letter and spirit of the Right to Education Act, 2009.