Initiative: The ABC of nursery admissions in a nutshell

A website started by a harried parent is now a lifeline for others seeking nursery admissions for their wards in schools in Delhi

"The fact that there are very few seats in the nursery for the large number of people who apply makes the competition cut-throat." Photo: R. Ragu

He managed the unthinkable right here in the Capital and rose from being an average ‘Delhiwalla' to a celebrity overnight.

In 2009, IT consultant Sumit Vohra, a South Delhi resident, managed to secure a nursery seat for his daughter in seven of the 11 schools he had applied to. His success run did not end here. He turned his experience into a book, and a website, helping hundreds of other parents who have to go through the trying process every year.

The trials and tribulations of the admission process in Delhi are now decoded on

>www.admissionsnursery.com . The website that deals with various issues relating to admissions to Delhi schools and provides regular updates, now has a membership of over 40,000 parents.

“My book titled 7/11 is the story about how we (my wife and I) struggled to get our daughter admitted to a good school in Delhi. The book is based on my experiences to equip parents with tricks and tips to win the ‘battle of nursery admissions' into a Delhi school,” says Mr. Vohra.

“Much like any other parent we too went through a lot of tension during my daughter's admission. We spend several sleepless nights surfing the Internet and looking for information on the schools we had applied to and see if other parents had uploaded anything on their experience. That is when we thought of documenting our journey to secure a seat for our daughter in the form of a book.”

The fact that there are very few seats in the nursery for the large number of people who apply makes the competition cut-throat and schools dictate the entire process, he says. “I remember that when one of the popular schools called us for an informal interaction and then went on to refuse the various residence proofs that we had brought along -- these included our voter identity card, electricity bills or my child's fee receipts from the play school. Yet another school in Vasant Vihar refused to accept my wife's M.Sc degree just because she was not carrying her B.Sc degree! In one of the schools the principal only wanted to see how we were dressed. These is no criteria on which a student should be selected for school and we wanted other parents to be ready and prepared when going in for their child's admission,” he said.

The website started by the couple is now a lifeline for parents applying for admission to various Delhi schools. It gives you updates, helps parents share their experience and helps you plan out a rough strategy to face the admission season. It also alerts parents about any mishandling in the admission process.