Back to kindergarten
Growth pangs: Nursery admissions are a taxing task
There are still a few days to go for nursery admissions to close, but parents in Delhi are already a tired and harried lot.
Not being able to fight the “points system” started by most schools in Delhi, parents have now taken to joking about it. Majority of the parents complain that certain categories to get their wards admitted to a school have left them disadvantaged.
These categories include admission to a child staying within three to ten km radius of the school, siblings, alumni or staff (parents) from the same school.
Praful Mittal, a government employee who came to submit admission forms for his four-year-old daughter says, “She is my first child and is therefore losing out on the sibling points. Now I really don’t understand why my child should be made to suffer for this. In any case, if I have only one child, I am actually contributing less to the nation’s population. Isn’t it?”
Kishore Singh, a software engineer with HCL, and his wife Jyoti Singh have a problem with the alumni points.
“It is a strange points system. Please tell us, how many people in Delhi are actually second generation Delhiites? How many of them would have themselves studied at a Convent of Jesus and Mary or a St Columbus to avail of the alumni points system?”
Shan Chand, a retired person, who came to collect admission forms for his granddaughter says, “I read that there are points for children of single parents as well. It’s strange. How many single parents would you actually find in Delhi?” Documentary requirements like residence proof or child age proof at schools are also a talking point among parents.
Vishal Chatwal, a serviceman and a parent looking forward to getting his son admitted in a good school says, “I don’t know why schools insist on a photo of the child at the form submission stage. When there’s going to be no interview as per government guidelines at any stage, then why the photograph before admission? After all, there could be no fear of an impersonation. If they stop this, it will save the parents a lot of hassle.”
Dharmendra Singh, deputy manager at Indian Oil Corporation and the father of a four-year-old says, “I approached the Tagore International School for my son’s admission. They asked me for a copy of a year’s bill of my landline as proof of residence. I told them that I’ve been transferred from Mumbai to Delhi just three months back, but they are just not willing to hear me.”
He further adds, “You will not believe, but one of these schools asked me to get a written declaration from a gazetted officer that my son is indeed my firstborn. I asked my wife if there’s anyone on this earth who can certify that our son is actually our first child, and she said no.”
Another parent Praveen Uprety laughs off his admission tensions saying, “With so much competition at nursery already, I can be rest assured that by the time he grows up, my son will certainly be ready for Delhi University.”
