Several popular schools in the Capital released their first lists for nursery admissions on Wednesday, evoking a mixed reaction from parents.
The schools included Modern, Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Delhi Public School, Father Agnel School, Mother's International, Vasant Valley, Laxman Public and Sanskriti.
“The fact that they have put out a list has brought an end to the anxious wait of many parents. Most of us had applied in several schools across the city to ensure that our child is able to get into some of the good schools. The competition gets tougher each year with the number of candidates increasing and only a limited number of seats available. For those who have made it to more than two schools, there is confusion over where to pay the tuition fee first,” said Sakshi Kumar, whose child has made it into two schools.
However, for parents whose children did not make it on the first list, the wait continues with schools claiming that they will be coming out with a second list and in some cases even a third list. “Each year over two lakh parents apply for limited nursery school seats in Delhi and understandably they face a lot of problems. There are about 2,000 unaided private schools in the city which draw the maximum crowds. Several schools had started coming out with the list of candidates selected for nursery before February 1. The entire admission process will have to be completed by March 31 as per the guidelines issued by the Delhi Directorate of Education,” said advocate Ashok Aggarwal.
He said that some of the candidates from the economically weaker sections did face problems in various schools on Wednesday.
“We have got several calls saying that some schools have withdrawn the list of EWS category to select and re-list the candidates according to new distance criteria. Those who had previously got admission are now worried about not being able to make it to the selected candidates' list. There is some confusion regarding this. About the general category students, many who have not got admission so far have complained about the short supply of good standardised schools and the fact that government run schools are in a deplorable condition. We have appealed to the State Government to ensure that they update and standardise government schools to take the pressure off the few popular private schools in the city,” Mr. Aggarwal added.
