Nursery admissions, a headache in NCR

Growth pangs

The nursery admission season is here again and so are its related problems. While parents in Delhi are heaving a sigh of relief with the High Court having fixed the minimum age (between 3-4 years) for admission to Nursery, parents in NCR are confused with no similar regulation in their states.

While some schools in Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Gurgaon are allowing kids between 3-4 years, others are seeking kids between 3.5-4.5 years, while the rest are asking for kids between 3.6-4.6 years of age. So kids eligible for some schools become ineligible for others.

Cases in point in Noida are DPS and Somerville which have fixed the age criteria at 3 years 6 months, while APJ and Amity schools in the same city have set it at 3 years.
In Gurgaon, DPS Sector 45, Sun City and Scottish High are allowing kids at minimum 3.5 years while Heritage, Ardee, Ridge Valley and Lotus Valley have kept it flexible.

Sumit Vohra of admissionsnursery.com, a website helping parents getting their wards admitted in nursery, says, “In Delhi, the DoE has fixed the age criteria. So everyone knows that their kids have to be between 3 to 4 years to get into nursery. However, in the absence of any set guidelines in NCR, schools are setting their own age eligibilities leading to unnecessary confusion. It is especially a problem for first-time parents as they are not familiar with the admission process.”

“Most schools are asking for minimum 3.5 and 3.6 years so that the students they get, are mature enough, don’t suffer from anxiety and are more disciplined; but many new schools located in far flung areas are accepting kids at 3 years also to be able to fill up their seats. A reputed educational trust has set different age criteria at its branches in Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon and Expressway which is wrong.”

Nupur Khandelwal, a parent and resident of Indirapuram in Ghaziabad, says, “I wanted to get my son admitted in St. Thomas school which is closest to my house; but they were asking for students of 3.5 years and my son was falling short by a few days. So we opted for DPS which is further and costlier.”

Preeti Dhaliwal, another such parent and resident of Sushant Lok says, “I wanted my daughter admitted in DPS last year, but she was falling short by a month. Ultimately, I had to keep her in playschool for an extra year, something I didn’t want to do at all, and looking forward to getting her admitted in DPS now. I hope there are no hassles now.”