Gurugram schools deny admission without transfer certificates; parents harassed

NEW DELHI: Rani, a domestic help in Haryana’s Gurugram district has been running from pillar to post to get her children admitted in a government school.

Even after two months of “pain and trouble”, her children, who should be in Classes 6 and 9, are yet to find a place in government school. The reason: they don’t have valid school leaving or transfer certificates (SLC and TC). The frequent visits to government offices is also straining her finances.

“The school authorities in Gurugram’s Madanpuri, Feroze Gandhi colony, Kadipur and other areas are not allowing admission without TC,” she told Careers360 .

Rani’s children were studying in a small private English-medium school in Gurugram’s Feroze Gandhi Colony till the 2021-22 academic year. Unable to afford the fees, she sought to move them to government schools. She said she paid the school principal Rs 2,000 to get TCs for her children. She did get the TCs but the district education officer (DEO) did not sign them – a step in the transfer process.

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“I went to the DEO office and came to know that TCs given by the private school are not valid. The officials at the DEO office are asking me to complain to the police. The authorities are not taking any action on such schools and we poor are made to suffer,” she said.

There are many like Rani in Gurugram, also known as Gurgaon. Haryana government schools require TCs and marksheets from previous schools to grant admission to students. Private schools are charging hefty amounts for TCs and parents, many of them migrant workers who have moved to the district with their families, are finding it hard to pay.

Haryana: Admission denied

In March 2021, in response to difficulties parents faced in the Covid-19 pandemic, Haryana’s Directorate of School Education (DSE) had permitted schools to admit students without SLCs. Later, this directive was challenged in the High Court by Sarv Haryana Private School Trust, a Hisar-based body of private schools. In July 2022, the Punjab and Haryana High Court stayed DSE’s order and the next hearing is on October 28.

A TC is once again mandatory for admission to government and private schools in Haryana and parents are finding getting their children admitted a herculean task.

“Once a student is enrolled in any class in any school, the authorities provide all his information to the portal of the school education department. When he/she visits other schools for admission, we fill his/her details, the portal says he/she is already registered. So, we can not admit a student until he/she gets his/her transfer certificate from the previous school,” said Amit Chhabra, a government school teacher in Haryana’s Ambala district. “Last year, the Haryana government issued a circular saying the TC is not important for admission and made changes in the software. Admissions were done on the same basis but private schools went to court and now there is a stay.”

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In the monsoon session, the education ministry told parliament that the overall dropout rate in Haryana in 2020-21 was 10.8% for secondary classes (Classes 9 and 10), with 12.2% for boys and 8.9% for girls. However, for historically-marginalised and minority communities, it was significantly higher. In the case of Scheduled Caste students, it was 14.9% and 11.9% for the Other Backward Classes (OBC); for Muslims, 19.4%; for Sikhs, 13.7% and among Christians, a very high 31.5%.

A total of 17,802 children, aged between seven and 14 years were found to be out of school in a Haryana government survey conducted in January 2022. These children were in addition to the 29,000 out-of-school children found during a survey in August last year.

This, despite the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act, 2009 guaranteeing every child aged six to 14 years the right to full-time elementary education in a formal school.

Poor parents struggle

Rajendra Kumar, who moved to Gurugram from Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj district, said: “My children were studying at a government school in Uttar Pradesh. I moved here with my family in May. I went to a government school in Gurugram’s Kadipur for my children’s admission in Classes 6, 7 and 8. The school did not give admission and asked us to provide a marksheet, TC for admission. I have to visit my hometown again to get the documents. It would cost money and I am arranging the same.”

Parents are finding it difficult to obtain TCs for a variety of reasons. Private schools are asking parents to pay full fees for TCs, even though the schools were shut for months due to Covid-19.

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Ramanand Kumar from UP’s Etawah is also living in Gurugram with his family and makes Rs 7,000 per month working as a labourer. The private school in Gurugram’s Madanpuri his daughter attended till Class 7 is asking for the previous year’s fee of Rs 20,000 to grant a TC and the Class 7 marksheet. “We can not afford this amount in a short period. Now, my daughter, Gudiya, is studying at home and sometimes she also attends NGO-run classes in my area,” Kumar said.

Kumar tried to get his daughter into Gurugram’s government schools but is yet to get enrolled. “The school authorities are not ready to listen to anything. We requested them to give me admission in Class 8 but they are adamant about not giving admission until they have TC. To continue my studies in my previous school, we have to submit Rs 20,000 first. They are asking to deposit the whole year’s fee even though they did not conduct classes due to Covid-19,” Gudiya said.

‘Violation of RTE norms’

However, lawyer and activist Khagesh B. Jha said that it is “completely illegal” to deny admission to children in government schools at the elementary level – Classes 1 to 8.

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“Under Sections 4 and 5 of RTE Act, 2009, a school is liable for disciplinary action if it denies admission to a child between six to 14 years. Under Article 21A of the Indian Constitution, it is the right of the children to get free education in government schools till Class 8. The Haryana government needs to assess the situation on the ground and help the parents and students. The Haryana government should apprise the High Court about the problems being faced by children and plead to revoke the stay as soon as possible,” he said.