Even after scoring a rare 97.6 percent in the Class X Board examinations, Garima Godar, has had a rude shock when a leading Delhi school refused to admit her, apparently because of her poor spoken English.

Everything seemed to be going right for Garima, 16, the daughter of a police constable, until she appeared for the entrance test at Delhi Public School, Dwarka. To her dismay, despite her excellent academic record, she did not find her name on the merit list of the school.

"I just don't understand what went wrong. I was a bit nervous in the interview. But my performance was up to my expectation," she told PTI.

When contacted about the incident, DPS Dwarka principal Umat Aluma told PTI that though Garima's academic achievement was good, she fell short of standards in the entrance test and interview.

"We take into account the marks of previous examination, performance in entrance test and interview. Without doubt, she had secured good marks. But her performance in the other two tests were not up to our expectations," she said.

However, Garima is not satisfied with the reasons offered by the school for not selecting her. "In my case, it seems it was my performance in the interview (including my spoken English) that was not up to the mark. If this is true, is it not the responsibility of the school to help me improve my English? What else is a school meant for," she asked.

She does admit that she needs to improve her command over spoken English.

"I was born and brought up in an environment where I could not pay much attention to improving my English. But now I have to work on it," Garima, said. She has already started subscribing to an English newspaper and is working on improving her vocabulary.

Meanwhile, Garima has taken the refusal in her stride and got admission in Venkateswar International School, Dwarka. Taking into account her excellent marks, the school has exempted her from paying admission and tuition fees. 

"Success has nothing to do with brand names. It is hard work and a conducive environment that helps in achieving success. And I will do better in class XI in this school," she said.