New Delhi Apr 26 PTI The government has scrapped several discretionary quotas including that of Members of Parliament MP for admissions to Kendriya Vidyalayas a decision which will help free over 40000 seats in the centrally funded schools The move comes weeks after the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan KVS put on hold all discretionary quotas for admissions to various central schools across the country following a reviewThere are over 1200 KVs in the country with over 1435 lakh students The MPs -- 543 in Lok Sabha and 245 in Rajya Sabha -- could collectively recommend up to 7880 admissions a year under the quotaAccording to the revised admission guidelines issued by KVS the government has also decided that children orphaned due to COVID-19 will be considered for admission over and above the class strength in Kendriya Vidyalayas KVs under the PM CARES for Children SchemeThe admission will be done on the basis of a list given by the district magistrate subject to 10 children per Kendriya Vidyalaya The admissions for the 2022-23 academic session is underway and will continue till JuneUnder special provisions MPs had discretionary power to recommend the admission of 10 children to a Kendriya Vidyalaya Even a district magistrate had powers to recommend 17 students under the sponsoring authority quota in KVsAccording to officials doing away with this special privilege will also help stop crowding of classroomsThe quotas have also distorted the overall percentage of SC ST and OBC reservations in schools A review of the functioning of KVS was carried out by the Education Minister and Chairman It was observed that these quotas crowd the classrooms adversely affecting Pupil-Teacher Ratio and quality of teaching and learning a senior official said On the other hand wards of transferable central government employees who should be given priority in admissions were not able to find their rightful places in KVs hence the decision was taken to discontinue the quota the official added Other than the MP quota the KVS has also removed other quotas including that of 100 children of education ministry employees children and dependent grandchildren of MPs and retired KV employees and the discretionary quota of school management committee chairmanThe special provisions that have been retained include admissions for children of recipients of Param Vir Chakra Maha Vir Chakra Vir Chakra Ashok Chakra Kirti Chakra and Shaurya Chakra recipients of the national bravery award 15 children of Research and Analysis Wing RAW employees children of central government employees who died in harness and children who have shown special talent in fine artsThe Central government had last year scrapped the Union education ministers discretionary quota for admissions from the 2021-22 academic sessionRecommendations made by Union ministers for admission to KVs were also done away with According to the fresh guidelines 60 admissions in KVs located anywhere in the country can be utilised exclusively for children returning from abroad along with their parents after their posting in current or previous years and they would be considered for admission up to November 30All these admissions will be subject to the condition that not more than five children would be admitted in one school in a year and that the children would be submitting a transfer certificate of a school abroad in which they had been studying prior to seeking admission in a Kendriya Vidyalaya stated the guidelines As per the revised guidelines for the 2022-23 academic year reservations in admission will be extended only to SC ST OBC and children with disabilities The three per cent reservations for persons with disabilities is supernumerary PTI GJS GJS TIR TIR