New Delhi: With just a month left for the
beginning of nursery admissions in Delhi and the mad rush for
it started gathering momentum, there is apprehension among the
parents that the new season would be chaotic as the government
is unlikely to make any major changes in its fresh guidelines.
The last season was full of chaos and controversies as
many schools had started their admission process ahead of
schedule with a delayed notification from the Directorate of
Education (DoE) adding more confusion to both parents and
authorities.
With the Delhi Education Minister Arvinder Singh recently
hinting that there will be no changes in the guidelines,
expected to be notified by this month-end, parents and experts
believe the problems they faced last year will revisit this
time too.
Last year, the guidelines had given schools the room to
formulate their own set of criteria for admission. This
included points for having one`s sibling in the same school,
being the child of an alumnus, first girl child and kids
living in school neighbourhood among others.
"A similar guidelines means similar problems for parents,
especially those who doesn`t fall in the categories such as
sibling, alumni, girl child, management or EWS quota," says
Sumit Vohra, founder of www.admissionsnursery.com.
"If DoE comes with unchanged guidelines this year, it
will leave parents in lurch like the previous year," he
told PTI.
Arati Jain, who had failed to seek admission for her son
last year, says, "I am apprehensive that I may not succeed in
getting my son`s admission this time too if the procedures are
going to be remain the same."
"My child doesn`t fall in the categories such as sibling,
alumni or first girl child. If schools are going to give
maximum points on these heads, my son`s chances seem very
bleak. I wish there should be some changes this time," says
Jain, a resident of Connaught Place.
Mansi Malhotra, who also failed to get admission for her
ward last year, says unless the point system is redesigned in
a more practical way, the problems will remain there and haunt
parents every year.
Vohra says, "This haphazard and un-systematic point
system would give rise to more frustration and corruption."
However, principal of Ahlcon International School in
Mayur Vihar, Ashok Pandey, differs and says these said
categories are the core ones of the whole admission process.
"I don`t think the government will ever try to tinker
with these categories," he says.
On the issue of increasing a child`s age of admission to
four years, he says, "It sounds practical".
Ameeta M Wattal, Principal of Springdales School, Pusa
Road, also thinks the minimum age for admission should be
increased. "Age is certainly a factor which needs to be looked
at," she says.
Three-year-olds, many of whom are not even toilet-trained,
are currently eligible for admission into nursery. An NGO,
Social Jurist, had recently filed a PIL in the Delhi High
Court, appealing to increase the minimum age for admission in
nursery to four years. The court has sought a reply from the
government on this by November 23.
"We are very optimistic about the outcome of the hearing.
If it goes in our favour, it will prevent thousands of small
kids from joining the annual race of nursery admission," says
Ashok Agarwal, who filed the PIL on behalf of the NGO.
PTI
