Parents unhappy over fresh nursery admission criteria at Delhi schools

As 1,600 Delhi schools started distributing nursery admission forms (both offline and online) on Saturday (December 15), parents in the national capital were not satisfied with fresh admission norms issued by several schools.

Private schools in Delhi had to upload criteria, comprising points in several categories, for nursery admission on vacant seats by December 14, as per fresh instructions mandated by Delhi government’s Directorate of Education (DoE).

While some parents who opted to download and fill forms online were able to quickly go through the points/criteria, those who physically visited schools were in for a bumpy day.

Many parents found out after reaching a particular school that their child had failed to meet all or one of the admission criteria.

Admission or lottery?

Speaking to India Today TV, Seema Singhal, a resident of Civil Lines, expressed dissatisfaction over on the new system and called it a lottery system.

This is purely like a lottery system. I am going to try all possible schools for my child's admission, but I am not going to get any good point according to the criteria. There are no good schools in close proximity and most schools have maximum points for residents of neighbourhood, She said.

Seema had visited 10 different schools to collect the admission forms for her child Ryan and had plans to visit even more to find the Best for her child.

"This is my first child, so we do not get points for sibling quota or having a girl child. I am a housewife and Ryan's father is a lawyer and we do not hail from Delhi. Our child loses out points on staff ward and parents being alumni criteria as well. His future depends on his luck now," she added.

This year, in addition to existing rules of admission for nursery classes, Kindergarten and Class 1, another rule has been implemented where an upper-age limit of four, five and six years has been set respectively for admission to the aforementioned classes.

'Norms leave us with no choice’

Sonika and Vivek Bansal, both residents of Karol Bagh, were seeking admission forms for their child in certain schools.

"While this new criteria system is better than the whole interview process, where a 3-year-old could not sometimes even tell his or her name in presence of new faces, the norms are also challenging, said Vivek.

I have filled out a few forms for my child’s admission in certain schools on Pusa Road considering the proximity, but it is difficult to get a school of your own choice. If my child gets into the school, I'm sure her education will be right. But the new norms leave us without a choice. Changing school in future is a difficult task again."

At least 25 per cent seats in pre-school, pre-primary and Class 1 will be reserved for economically weaker sections/disadvantaged groups (EWS/DG).

As per the schedule released by the Delhi government's Directorate of Education (DoE), the last date of submitting application forms is January 7.

Further, the first list of selected children, along with marks secured by them, will be out on February 4. The second list will be out on February 21 and the nursery admission process will conclude on March 31.