Bracing up for the admission rat race

How does a school admit students who are at the starting line of their academic careers?

Years of litigation and many committees and government notifications later, guidelines were put in place to conduct nursery admissions in the Capital. Yet, every year, parents are faced with a number of confusing criteria and rules put forth by the point system.

A tough call

This makes it tough for them to take the important decision that will play a crucial role in the upbringing of their child.

Parents looking to send their children to school this year have geared up for the admission season by doing their own research and closely reading criteria for each school. Often, schools on top of their list may not be the best bet as individual criteria may play spoilsport.

Most private, unaided, recognised schools in the Capital have reserved points for locality. This criteria has often seen parents shifting residence to areas that boast good schools. But, since schools have not come up after proper planning, some areas have a higher concentration while new colonies may not have schools that enjoy good reputation.

‘Looking for the best’

“I want to ensure that my child gets the best education, but the area I stay in does not have any schools that are well-known. Since I am at the start of my career, I cannot afford to live in parts of Delhi that have good schools. As a result, we do not stand a chance in schools that give higher weightage to students from localities around them,” said Prathiba Das, who lives in north-east Delhi.

Another criteria parents are looking at is whether the school offers education till Class XII. If this is not the case, switching schools at a later stage becomes another exercise.

Taking no chances

For now, most parents are taking no chances and are filling up forms in schools that may not be on their dream list. “It is like buying a lottery ticket. Buying more tickets increases your chances. You can just hope that lady luck is on your side,” said Darshan Gulati, who is looking to send his second son to school.

Schools that have established themselves as brands are now bracing themselves for the barrage of applications. With guidelines banning parent interviews, reservations, and oral or written tests, these schools have their work cut-out to fill the few seats available.

As per a list of 51 abolished guidelines, admission criteria cannot be formed based on parents’ education, occupation, whether they are permanent resident of Delhi or not, etc.

Earlier, schools had come out with bizarre criteria like non-smoker parents, vegetarianism, non-alcoholic parents, which made it to the list of banned criteria.