HC allows toddler to repeat nursery class on medical grounds

The Delhi High Court today allowed a four-year-old girl to continue in nursery class in the 2017-18 academic session as she suffers from delayed cognitive development.
Justice V K Rao issued the interim direction till the next date of hearing on April 19.
The court also issued notice to the Directorate of Education (DoE) of the Delhi government and the private school where the child is studying and sought their response by the next date of hearing.
The order came on a plea by the girl's father who has claimed that despite his representations to the school to allow his daughter to repeat nursery, the administration rejected his request.

The father, Sandeep Dhawan, has alleged failure on the part of DoE to take action against the school and has sought directions to the government to take steps against the institution for rejecting the request he made due to the medical condition of his daughter.
In his plea, filed through advocate Ashok Agarwal, the child's father has said that his daughter was born three months premature and had to spend more than three months in intensive care.

As a result all her physical development milestones were delayed and she lagged behind children of her own age, the petition has claimed.

It also said that due to the Delhi government's admission criteria for schools, she was eligible for admission only in the academic year 2016-17 when she was three years old.
"Despite of her lagging behind her peers, petitioner did not have the option to delay her school admission as she would not have been eligible for nursery school admissions the next year, for 2017-18 session," the petition has said.
The child's father has also claimed that during the 2016-17 academic year, she was unable to cope up with the learning being imparted in the school and scored very poorly in all the assessments.