New Delhi, Feb. 1: With nursery schools in and around the city announcing their first list of admissions on Monday, while a few parents went away smiling, most were in for a lot of disappointment as their wards failed to get into schools of their choice through application of the points system mandated by the Delhi high court-appointed Ganguly Committee.
The parents expressed anger and disgust over some schools changing the criteria at the last minute and in some cases not putting up the lists on websites. Schools in the city are now required to follow a 100-points system for nursery admissions: under which applicants are rated on factors such as neighbourhood, whether they have siblings in the same school, whether they are the children of alumni, with some extra weightage for girls and first-born children.
A number of schools had included additional criteria such as the parents’ background or track record, professional and educational qualifications, their views on education, and in some cases on how they performed in group discussions.
The schools which announced their first nursery admissions list on Monday include Sanskriti School, Vasant Valley, DPS Mathura Road, K.R. Mangalam, Bal Bharti Public School near Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Birla Vidya Niketan and Modern School, Humayun Road and Vasant Kunj.
"I am happy my son has got into Bal Bharti. I had sleepless nights for the past one week due to the tension. Thank God my child made it," said a smiling and relieved Chaman Sharma.
Most other parents, however, appeared disgusted. "Apeejay School changed the criteria at the last minute. They included RAC (representative academic criteria) in the points system. We fail to understand what it is and who scored what and on what basis. I have approached the Delhi government too," said Indrajeet Manchanda, a parent who lives in South Delhi’s Sant Nagar.
A number of schools, including Bloom Public School, Vasant Kunj, Gyan Bharati and Blue Bells International changed the criteria at the last minute. Several schools also did not put up the admissions lists on their websites, causing a lot of inconvenience to parents. These include St. Columbus, Tagore International East of Kailash, Ahlcon International Mayur Vihar and St. Thomas School. "It’s just a 10-minute job for the schools, but saves hours of travel for the parents. We will do it for schools if they are incapable of it," said Rajan Arora, founder of the website nurseryadmissions.com.
The president of the Delhi Abhibhavak Mahasangh, Mr Vijender Gupta, alleged that some schools had moulded the admission guidelines to suit their own interests. "Admissions have been done in an arbitrary and shoddy manner... especially in case of the wards of economically weaker section parents. The schoolsadopted their own procedures. The government, instead of helping hapless parents and aspiring students, is silently watching and supporting the school managements," Mr Gupta said.
Age Correspondent