AAfter two academic years marked by school closures, kindergarten sections in private schools this year have seen an uptick in admissions with many schools still fielding queries from parents.
Following a nearly two-year gap, kindergarten in-person classes had commenced for the previous academic year in most schools in February 2022. For the 2022-23 academic year, schools reopened in June.
“While we saw a significant increase in admissions compared to the previous year, we are still having parents coming in and enquiring about the application process despite the academic year having already begun. Some parents wanted to wait and assess the pandemic situation, and then go ahead with sending their children to school,” said Priyanka Ghosh, Principal, Vikas Mantra Public School.
Ms. Priyanka further said that parents, who had moved away from the city over the last two years owing to the COVID-19 pandemic and due to the option of work from home, were now coming back and looking to enrol their children in schools. It has also contributed to the increase in admissions.
“Some schools have had to add additional sections, given the increase in admissions and student strength in LKG and UKG,” said K.R. Nandhakumar, State General Secretary, Tamil Nadu Nursery Primary Matriculation and CBSE Schools Association. “After over two years of children being cooped up indoors and having minimal online sessions, parents were keen on sending them back to school. Schools have been reassuring them, and adhering to safety protocols as specified by the government,” he added.
Admissions under the Right to Education (RTE) Act in Tamil Nadu too has significantly increased this year, compared to the previous year. Under the RTE Act, 25% of seats in entry-level classes in private schools have to be reserved for students from the economically weaker sections of the society. Compared to around 56,000 students who had secured admissions under the Act last year, 74,283 students from the State secured admissions this year.
An official from the School Education Department said that there were nearly 95,000 seats in around 8,200 schools. “Last year, there were several parents who were hesitant to send young children to school owing to the pandemic, and were battling financial instability and livelihood concerns. This year, many more are confident of sending children to schools, with safety precautions in place, which could be the reason behind the increase in admissions,” he said.
Of the 8,200-odd private schools, nearly 6,000 schools received more applications than the number of available seats, and the students were given admission based on a draw of lots.
