Parents would be in a fix to admit their wards to schools after the CBSE cancelled the affiliation of 14 institutes of which 12 are based in the city for failing to meet norms.

Among the 12 are AVN School (Rajiv Nagar), Ankur Public School, (Digha), Dinovili Mission School (Pahari), Doon Public School (Indira Nagar), Patna Muslim High School (BM Das Road), Plasma Pathway School, (Parsa Bajar), Scholars Abode School (Phulwarisharif), Sherars Public School (Bailey Road), Sherwood School (Rajiv Nagar), Sindhu Public School (Sampatchak), National Convent High School (BM Das Road) and New Delhi Public School (Sri Krishna Puri).

“The decision has been taken by our headquarters in Delhi. The schools concerned didn’t meet several norms of the CBSE. For example, some of them didn’t have playgrounds. In some institutes, the ratio of teachers to students was not according to the norm, while in others, the classrooms were very small. Some institutions did not provide the facility of a school bus to the pupils, while several failed on the hygiene front. All these reasons contributed to the cancellation of their affiliation,” said an official of the regional office of the CBSE on the condition of anonymity.

The official added: “We were shocked when we tried to communicate with the principals on the numbers, which were given by the school administration. We got to know that those numbers didn’t belong to the school principals. Some schools had given their phone numbers but despite calling them many times, we were not able to contact them.”

When The Telegraph asked about the consequences of the cancellation of affiliation of the schools, the official said: “It would not affect students, who have enrolled into these institutes. However, schools would not be able to take new admissions in the next academic session.”

Guardians who were thinking of admitting their wards in one of these schools, heaved a sign of relief, as the decision came before the admission. “The school where my eight-year-old son Adwait is studying is far away from home. So we were thinking of enrolling him in a school, which is in our locality. I am happy the CBSE decision came before I could admit him to the school. I have learnt that the CBSE has cancelled the affiliation of that school where I was thinking of getting my child admitted,” said Shikha Sinha (35), a resident of Rajiv Nagar.

However, some like Ranjit Kumar Suman, a businessman of Boring Road, was surprised over the board’s move. “How could the CBSE give affiliation to the 12 schools without even seeing their facilities? This is gross negligence on the board’s part,” he said.