NEW DELHI, November 21: Like all other government schools in the city, the school at Ludlow Castle whose children died in a bus accident on Tuesday had been given definite guidelines for admitting students. But the rules existed only on paper, as the people responsible for framing and enforcing the rules, were the ones who systematically broke them.

According to the rules, every government school is given a specific area and all children living in that area have a right to be enrolled in that school. The catchment area encompasses 3 km of the surrounding area. There are four government schools at Ludlow Castle. The school which suffered the tragedy is School No 2.

``For our school, the area to which we are supposed to cater includes, Chandini Chowk, Jama Masjid, Malikaganj, Barafkhana, Daryaganj and Ajmeri Gate. Yet we were forced to admit students from even the trans-Yamuna area,'' said a teacher.

The 28 children who died did not belong to these areas and actually should not have been in this school.

According to O P Sharma, a retired government school principal: ``The four schools in the civil lines area, are among the oldest and the best schools in the city. Two other schools in the neighbouring area, Shakti Nagar No 1 and Roop Nagar No 1 are also considered to be good. As a consequence, the principal of any of these schools is under immense pressure from virtually every quarter. Politely written letters which are nothing less than an order, keep arriving all the time with recommendations for admission in these schools.''

Sharma added: ``In principle one could always say that the school authorities can refuse to admit these students, but the reality is that one does not have a choice. Because refusal to obey could get the principal transferred to a school in some remote locality. The principal is virtually a puppet in the hands of politicians, bureaucrats and education directorate.''

And as if that is not enough, the school cannot refuse admission to any child who resides in that area. ``So many people give us fake addresses to get the child admitted and the school authorities have no machinery to verify the address. All these students have to be admitted, whether we have the capacity to seat and teach them or not,'' he says.

Echoing the statement, S N Dixit, president, Government School Teachers Association (GSTA) says: ``A government school is like an MCD dump. Everyone and anyone can unload anything there and the school authorities can do nothing about it. The government refuses to give us teachers, at present we are 6,000 short, but will send the children of all those parents who approach them, without a qualm.''

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.