Delhi Minister Ashish Sood.
| Photo Credit: File photo

Delhi Education Minister Ashish Sood on Wednesday said 42,000 seats were allotted for the admission of students under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) and Disadvantaged Group (DG) categories. The Delhi Minister conducted the first draw of lots for nursery, kindergarten and Class 1 in private schools of the Capital for the academic year 2025-26.

This year the government has tried to address the complaints the department has received in the previous years about “unfair practices” in admission process by introducing measures that ensure transparency, Mr. Sood said. The draw of lots was organised at Old Secretariat in the presence of parents and media.

“The measures taken include, redraw option in case of objections, strict restrictions on mobile phone usage at the venue, and complete video surveillance. The entire process was carried out under the supervision of a special committee from the Directorate of Education, which will also submit a sealed CD of the final results for record-keeping.”

After Lieutenant-Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena in December approved the proposal to increase the EWS income limit, the parents with their annual income up to ₹5 lakh were allowed to enroll their wards for the draw this year.

Mr. Sood said they received 1,00,854 students’ applications for admission of 24,933 nursery seats, while the department received 40,448 Kindergarten and 62,597 Class 1 applications for 4,682 seats and 14.430 seats respectively. The selected students are notified with an SMS message, he added.

‘Fair system’

The Minister said, “This is not an era where privileged families get special access to schools. Admissions will not be dictated by dynasty or influence—only by a fair, transparent system that gives every child an equal chance.”

Alka Kapur, Principal of Modern Public School, Shalimar Bagh, said, “Earlier, students would apply to the department directly. The government is trying to streamline it, and everything is under video surveillance, so that it is transparent and nobody gets any unfair advantages or disadvantages. The draw of lots determines a student’s admission to particular school. The list will be sent to schools, and their documents will be verified.”