Mahavir Senior Model Academy is giving five extra points each to parents who are non-smokers or non-drinkers or vegetarian. A minority institution — the Mahavira Trust runs it — the school’s officials said it is giving preference to such parents to promote a healthy way of life.

“Smoking and drinking are bad,” school principal S L Jain said, “and parents have welcomed this.”

The school had devised this unique points system last year, Jain said.

School officials said they have informed the Directorate of Education (DoE) about its schedule (it will distribute registration forms beginning December 1) and its admission criteria, as required by DoE guidelines, on October 27. The Supreme Court had last year granted autonomy to private, unaided and recognised schools to frame their own admission criteria but these must incorporate the broad guidelines as per the High Court’s order.

Ashok Aggarwal, a social jurist and counsel for parents, called the school’s norm “ridiculous”. Schools, he said, can frame their guidelines but there is no end to such whims and parents can challenge these decisions in court. “This is moral policing,” Aggarwal said. “Tomorrow they can say anything — they could well incorporate all the Directive Principles of the Indian Constitution and impose them on parents.”

One parent (name withheld on request) said such moves on part of schools are “just to stand out” from the milling crowd and are of little help otherwise. He said the nursery admissions have turned into a battle for media attention and schools are “manipulating admission criteria to get attention”

Mahavir Academy has 130 nursery seats for the 2009-10 session, of which 84 are general category seats. But while the school has decided to give additional premium to parents who do not smoke or eat non-vegetarian fare, it has no way of finding out whether the parents are telling the truth.

Jain, who is also the chairman of the National Progressive Schools Conference, said the school management will take parents on their word. “We don’t want an undertaking or an affidavit,” he said. “We believe them.”

Points to chew on
* Salwan Montessori School will not let parents with more than two children apply
* Sri Ram School is giving 20 points to interaction with parents
* No points on neighbourhood in some schools — they say their transport system will take care of the distance factor
* Mahavir Senior Model School will give 5 points each to non-smokers, non-drinkers, and vegetarians