More than a year after the Right to Education (RTE) came into force and promised free and compulsory education to children aged between six and 14 years, some government schools continue to defy the law even in Delhi.

Gulabsha, 13, is among those who have been denied admission.

Aruna Asif Ali Girls Senior Secondary School in Tughlakabad Extension refused admission to Gulabsha and her younger sister Rubaiya, to classes eight and seven respectively, on the pretext that it is difficult to get police verification done for those living in colonies such as south Delhi's Sangam Vihar.

Gulabsha's father, Jalaluddin, a leather worker, even changed his residence to Tughlakabad just to get his daughters admitted to the school. However, when he went back to the school on May 28 with the new rent agreement, the school authorities asked him to get a rent agreement in the name of his wife instead. When he persisted, the school relented a bit and admitted Rubaiya but still refused to admit Gulabsha saying her documents were not complete. 

"The parents of the girl must not have furnished proper documents required for admission," insists Juhi Aggarwal, principal of the school, without specifying what exactly could have been missing since Jalaluddin had furnished a similar set of documents for both of his daughters.

Gulabsha is not an exception. Kanchan, too, was denied admission by the same school, while the Veer Sawarkar Govt. Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalay, Kalkaji, denied admission to Rukhsana, Sheefa and Sana just because they hailed from Sangam Vihar.

Could it be a case of bias against an unauthorised colony, since all these children had applied to schools well within the stipulated distance of five kilometres from their homes?

"These girls live in Sangam Vihar which is far away from here and hence we cannot accept them in our school. We are bound by the rules of the government of Delhi and we work under their guidelines," said Poonam Virmani, vice-principal of Veer Sawarkar Govt. Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya. She added that the school couldn't admit more students than its capacity. However, she couldn't elaborate on the guidelines in dealing with limitations such as the paucity of seats. 

Significantly, Delhi government is yet to issue guidelines on implementing the RTE Act.

This perhaps explains why, as per a recent report issued by the Delhi Commission for Protection of Child Rights (DCPCR), a majority of the 10,700 cases registered with DCPCR under the RTE Act pertain to denial of admission to children in schools.