Some schools in Gurgaon have started nursery admission in a departure from the schedule followed last year, leaving parents confused. The admission process, which usually commences around mid-August, has already started in some schools and others are also expected to start the process soon. Parents complain that absence of an academic calendar for schools in Gurgaon is causing them troubles.

Schools such as The HDFC School, The Millennium School, Delhi Public School Sushant Lok, Lotus Valley International School and Kunskapskollan have already started their admission process. Scottish High International will open the registration process on August 1. Other schools, including DPS Sector 45 and Ryan International School, are also likely to start the process by mid-August.

“I am frazzled by the education system here. My family shifted to the city recently and I have been hooked to all social networking sites for information about school admissions. The schedules of two of my preferred schools are poles apart. I am confused,” said Naina Raj, a parent.

Parents said absence of an academic calendar is affecting their choice of school.

“I want my child to study under the ICSE board. The school should provide an environment for my child’s overall development but also ensure that the studies are not compromised with. But how can a school fulfil all these needs? With no academic calendar and fixed number of seats in schools, my child will have to make compromises,” said Priyanka Dubey, another parent

Education experts suggest that the early start of admission by some schools is due to growing competition among them.

“Every year, more and more schools with better infrastructure and technology come up in Gurgaon. These institutes give a strong competition to the existing ones, which is why schools want to start admission before others,” Sumit Vohra, founder of admisssionnursery.com.

Schools, meanwhile, say that they have started early admission to give more time to the parents to complete the formalities.

“We are commencing the admission process early so that the parents can fill the forms easily and submit them. For the comfort of the parents, the school is providing forms both offline and online,” said Sudha Gupta, principal, Scottish High International School.

Aditi Misra, principal of Delhi Public School Sector 45, said, “We will start admissions by the first week of August. The admissions will be done on the basis of draw of lots.”