Minister of State for Education, Anil Deshmukh, told the media today that a decision is yet to be taken on whether to promulgate an ordinance amending the Maharashtra Pre-School Centres (Regulation of Admission) Act, 1996, or whether to wait till the Budget Session of the state legislature in March to table the amendments.

If the government waits till March, it would issue a notification suspending pre-school admissions till such time. Conversely, if an ordinance is promulgated amending the legislation, the government will issue a notification allowing admissions to commence. Either way, he said, all admissions which have already taken place stand cancelled.

The proposed meeting between Deshmukh and Minister for Education Sudhir Joshi did not takeplace today and another has been scheduled for Friday. Moreover, he says, the delay will not affect admissions as only a few schools have begun the process.

Amending the act became imperative following strident opposition to certain provisions, especially from schools run by linguistic and religious minorities, soon after the legislation was drafted. The act, which was first tabled during the Monsoon Session of the legislature in June last year, was therefore subsequently suspended. It was finally passed during the Winter Session of the state legislature in December 1998.

However, with no word from the government following the act's suspension, some schools went ahead with their kindergarten admissions in December 1998, which is when the process usually commences. Principals of these schools are now miffed with today's announcement.

B P Sheth, president of the Juhu-Parle Education Society, which runs Utpal Shanghvi School, says: ``We have only started issuing admission forms. So it will not be a problemto wait for the verdict. Since the amendments are expected to be on the lines of the suggestions given to the state government by different interest groups which include us as well, we do not anticipate the amended version to be drastically different.'' Sheth, who is also vice-president of the Unaided School Forum, says the act otherwise is a necessity.

Principal M P Sharma of G D Somani School, Cuffe Parade, was indignant. ``How can the state government cancel admissions when it has not given any prior intimation of the act's suspension,'' asks Sharma, whose school has not yet kicked off admissions.