Bathinda: Dummy admissions flourish as authorities fail to take action

Sukhmeet Bhasin

Bathinda, February 8

In the absence of any check by the authorities, the region is witnessing a sharp increase in the number of dummy admissions to private schools in classes XI and XII.

These schools provide relaxation to students in their attendance even though it is mandatory to have 75 per cent attendance to be eligible to appear for the board exams. Students prepare for competitive medical and engineering entrance exams by joining private coaching centres. Thousands of students are preparing for the entrance exams at private coaching centres in Delhi, Chandigarh and Kota in Rajasthan. A large number of students are receiving coaching at various private centres in Bathinda as well.

Dummy admissions across the state are an open secret and yet nothing is being done to control the practice of minting money by schools and coaching centers. Private schools charge full fee from students to enrol them as regular pupils.

The schools see their profit in dummy admissions. Most students clear the board exams with good marks while receiving coaching at private centres and the schools get the credit for it.

The seriousness of the matter can be gauged from the fact that the trend is now gaining ground in rural areas as well. Many private schools are proving to be a safe destination for parents who are looking for institutions willing to give admission to their children with no condition of minimum attendance.

In Bathinda alone, many private schools are minting money by giving dummy admissions, yet no action has been initiated against them.

AK Lawrence, an educationist, said, “Dummy admissions are the most destructive way to dismantle the healthy psychology of teenagers. The proof is the existence of places called ‘suicide capitals’ where precious young lives are being lost every year in a society where post-secondary education has been divided exclusively into watertight compartments of medical and non-medical streams.”

Bathinda DC Shaukat Ahmed Parray said, “We will take up the issue with the District Education Officer and conduct checking.”

Enrolled in coaching centres

• The region is witnessing a sharp increase in the number of dummy admissions to private schools in classes XI and XII
• Students prepare for competitive medical and engineering entrance exams by joining private coaching centres
• Thousands of students are preparing for entrance exams at coaching centres in Delhi, Chandigarh & Kota, Rajasthan