Author:
Publication: Realitycheck.wordpress.com
Date: January 7, 2016
URL:   https://realitycheck.wordpress.com/2016/01/07/delhi-schools-run-by-non-minorities-lose-all-admissions-autonomy-under-media-coverfire-of-lies-and-deceit/

This is not a post in response to an individual or a media reporter or columnist. A monumental change as been effected in the domain of education in Delhi. The true facts are being hidden by the media and as a result people are misinformed.

Essentially this is what happened : The AAP Govt in Delhi led by Arvind Kejriwal cancelled the “management quota” in private schools run by Hindus (non -minority) in Delhi.  There was a circular issued by the Delhi Govt that listed 62 “discriminatory criteria” and in hidden in that list was the ban on  “management quota” http://www.scribd.com/doc/294792579/Delhi-Government-Quotas

To really understand what is going on you have to be informed of three things.

1. What is a “management quota”
2. How does the points system based lotteries work
3. The applicability of this rule and the impact

What is a management quota ?

The 62 criteria ban almost everything along with a list of ridiculous or purely imaginative items.  Along with “Points for kids with a Labrador Male Dog at home” being banned – they also snuck in a ban on Management Discretion.  Gotcha !!  This kind of combing operation is required in all laws created by Idea of India types. Now lets see how this works.

The points that arent banned speak more about the arbitrary ass backwards rule making.

Second child points  are ALLOWED .  But First Child Points are “discrimination against parents desirous of seeking admission for child that is not first born”. You know why ? Because this is the Sibling Quota.

Alumni points are ALLOWED. But Parents Education are “discrimination”

So there is no rhyme or reason behind this. Be that as it may, this is not the main issue here. Along with a random laundry list of 62 banned items ( and not 62 other equally egregious items) – they banned “Management Quota”. This is where the crux of the situation is. May also be illegal as the Delhi HC has allowed it and an appeal is pending in SC. But first you need to know the facts of the matter.

At the present, non-minority unaided schools have to run three streams of admissions. The management quota can be 10-20% not sure what the number is but it has been in effect for a long time in Delhi

1. 25% RTE LOTTERY- EWS+DG (Caste based – including OBC non-creamy layer at 6Lakhs/pa) all in one lottery pool
2. 60% TRANSPARENT POINT LOTTERY – using a pre-announced points system + lottery (this is the 62 good points list)
3. 15% MGMT – this is purely at discretion of management. Can give to anyone at their wish.

RTE lottery

This is the 25% quota introduced by UPA in non-minority schools.  Dont want to spend much time discussing this except to state the rules here are not being clearly propagated to the people because of its inherent immorality. The media creates a din and smokescreen by using “EWS” and does not talk that this quota is not for the poor at all. The quota is for EWS & DG (Disadvantaged group) in a single lottery pool, The lottery pool is in total violation of all known norms of classification by including a 1Lakh EWS with a 6 Lakhs OBC. This classification ought to be declared ultra vires of the constitution.. but I digress.  Lets just say this is a “political quota” and a moral and monetary tax levied on non-minority schools and move on to the real issue here today.
Points based lottery

When the points of all kids are computed they fall into buckets (say 4 buckets). What then happens is the following

* At bucket 1 (highest points) if more candidates than seats. Lottery! If not all admitted and move to next

* At bucket 2 (second highest) if more candidates than seats. Lottery !! If not all admitted and move to next

* .. and so on.

So we have a multi level lottery system that is imposed on schools. Remember that if at any bucket the total number of seats is less than candidates, the lottery ends and people with lower points get NOTHING. This is not a quota system.

Repeat again with an example : Say if a kid was not an alumni kid and not a sibling and there were more alumni and siblings than seats – the school is required by LAW to give ALL SEATS TO ALUMNI and SIBLINGS. It does NOT MATTER HOW VIRTUOUS AND DESERVING OR POOR THE LOSING KIDS are   (This only applies to non-minority Hindu run schools only) So this is a morality code imposed on non-minority schools. But let us assume that is a further “tax” imposed and move to the main issue.
 
Management quota

Imagine if you, a charitable trust,  are running a school say Shree Shankara School in Delhi.  It is your own philanthropic project and you have built the school as per your own motivations and preferences.  The management quota of 10-20% is what allows you to GRANT a SEAT IN YOUR OWN SCHOOL to any kid who fits your description of your own philanthropic/educational impulses.

This is a complex issue below the surface so here is an example: You find a bright kid in your neighborhood who is poor or disadvantaged in ways that YOU think are valid. With a mgmt quota you can simply offer the kid a seat and derive that psychological satisfaction that drives all philanthropy. Without a mgmt quota you can enter him into a lottery system and hope she wins, in your own school.  This defeats all impulses that drive Hindus to participate in a school sector and deflates their social stature.  Remember that minorities can do whatever they want. In the same scenario :   you can have a Catholic priest walk by and see the same kid and act as a benevolent saviour on the spot  and therefore derive the psychological advantage that is denied to an equally placed Hindu.

On the institutional side : Removing management quota means that you have NOTHING to offer to anyone in exchange for anything in your own school.  This means no one has the private incentive to contribute to the school.  Remember that RTE quota does not offer a full refund for the EWS+DG group therefore the cross subsidy is borne by the other students anyway. One way for the school is to accommodate wealthier people and use that to build infrastructure that all other kids can then use , or to hire more expensive and better teachers that teach ALL other kids.  Without this quota – there is nothing left in the tank.

Another area is a lot of schools use their discretion to tie up with Corporates and Multinationals who need to accommodate their executives who get frequently transferred.  This is a win win situation as there is a corporate money that comes in and is used to elevate all the kids. Without mgmt quota, this cannot happen in Non-Minority schools.

The minority exemption

As I keep saying about the Right to Education Act,

A bad law that is bad for all is a bad law.

A bad law that applies only to your Group-A is not a law at all.

Minority schools can have any selection criteria and get pick and choose who they admit.  Education in India may not be a commercial activity due to its non-profit constraint but it is still a competitive sector.  It is competitive in a most basic strategic manner because it is widely recognized that schools are the only way a culture can replicate itself.   All philanthropic benefits are denied to Hindus and are fully extended to Christians because they are allowed to be true saviours. Why? Because a true saviour must necessarily have discretion.  They can also admit corporate kids, kids of important political figures, industrialists and extend their influence in other areas.

Minority schools are not on the fringe in Delhi. They form the creme of Delhi schools and all over India.