ISLAMABAD: A number of parents have expressed reservations over the criteria for admission to education institutes being run by the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) and the Federal Directorate of Education (FDE). They said that there was no unified policy for admission to classes. Talking to Daily Times, several parents said that their children had been denied admission on arbitrary grounds. One such student is Abiha Pervaiz, who had applied for admission to class 1 at Islamabad Model College for Girls (IMCG) F-6/2. Pervaiz, her father, said that her name was not among the successful candidates. He alleged that the principal of the college had intentionally denied admission to his daughter. The guardian of another student, who did not wish to be named, said that they had been denied admission to Grade-9 at IMCG F-6/1. “Our child was not granted admission as the college principal follows a policy of favouritism. Students who have some reference in the CADD, FDE or at least with the college head manage to easily get admission. The rest are left to wait,” he said. IMCG F-6/1 Principal Musarat Jabeen denied the claims. She said that all students were treated equally. “According to our admission policy, we had conducted entrance tests. Students who qualified the tests were granted admission,” she said. Sultan Ali had applied for admission to class 1 at IMCB F-7/3. His father said they had been denied admission without being informed of any reason. There are 422 educational institutions functioning across the capital under the supervision of FDE. To streamline the admissions process in these institutions, the FDE had devised a 10-point admission policy and circulated it among its all institutions. In the policy, a copy of which is available with Daily Times, the authorities state: “In the light of section 11,12 and 13 of right to free education and Compulsory Education Act, 2012, which is derived from Article 25-A of the Constitution, it is binding to grant admission to every child approaching the management.” On the other hand, the managements of schools and colleges are denying admission to students on the pretext of admission tests, including for admission to class 1. Talking to Daily Times, parents said that even kids who wanted to get admission to class 1 or lower were being asked to “show their academic skills” in tests. “These kids want to learn. That is why we want to send them to the schools. Why would we do so if they were already well-versed in everything?” they questioned. The parents said that they had no other option but to rely on private institutions. An analysis of the admission policy shows that officials have taken pains to make it lenient and asked the school or college concerned to grant relaxations, including relaxation in the upper and lower age limit. An official privy to the formulation of the admission policy told Daily Times that CADD had constituted a committee, headed by Joint Secretary Alamgeer Khan, and comprising Model Colleges Director Tariq Masood, Schools Director Abdual Waheed Khan, for formulating the policy. Committee member Tariq Masood said that the department wanted to accommodate every child. “However, sometimes the capacity of the school/college building is limited. In such cases, we ask the parents to choose some other nearby institution,” he said. “To deal with complaints, we have established a special cell in the directorate. Parents who face any problem can approach it. Their concerns will be addressed,” Masood said.