New Delhi: The number of students getting admitted to the schools under the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangatan is likely to go down by 16,000–20,000, after the Center recently scrapped the discretionary quotas for central ministers and Members of Parliament (MPs).

Meanwhile, the school authorities and the teachers are relieved that their work load would be eased, as the quotas were additionally allowed besides the original seats.

Earlier, if 100 seats were allowed in Class 1 at a school, then 20 additional seats would be allowed as MP quotas.

There are around 1.2 lakh seats in 1,248 Kendriya Vidyalaya schools in the country. Each MP could recommend 10 students. So, a total of 7,880 seats were additionally allowed under the quota system. Besides, the Union Ministry of Education too was allowed 100 seats.

Two weeks ago, the Kendriya Vidyala Sangatan decided to scrap all the discretionary quotas, including the seats allotted to the central ministry.

Last year, the quota allowed for the central education minister too was cancelled. The decision was taken when Dharmendra Pradhan replaced Ramesh Pokriyal as the education minister in 2021.

Meanwhile, the Central government announced that children orphaned due to COVId- 19 would be given special consideration for admission to the KV schools and that additional seats would be allowed, if required, to accommodate them. Students admitted like this need not pay any fees.