Nursery admission test: Struggle of parents

The Hindu takes a look at the stories of two parents who went through the nightmare that is Delhi nursery school admissions.

Santosh Sharma, Education consultant

When Santosh Sharma moved to Delhi from Udaipur two years ago, he naturally wanted his son to study in a good school and so applied in the 2014-15 session.

He applied to 10 schools near his residence in Dwarka, but got a seat in just one school. "My son got a seat in a school near my house on the basis of neighbourhood points and transfer criteria. Since the school was close by and reputable, I decided to get my son admitted there. But then the problem arose with the fee. The school was asking for over Rs. 1 lakh and was unwilling to give me a break-up. I could have paid the fee had I known what it was going to be used for, but the school gave me the last session's break-up, which made no sense, and I cancelled my plan," Mr. Sharma said.

Mr. Sharma then decided to send his child to a playschool that had a prep class equivalent to nursery. He now plans to send his son to formal school only from Class I.

Shweta Mishra, housewife

For Shweta Mishra, a housewife living in Delhi , her daughter's nursery admission became a nightmare when she sent her daughter to a formal school at the age of 3 years and 11 months.

Most schools denied her daughter admission saying that she was too old for nursery, as she was just 12 days short of being four at the time of her admission.

"We had applied to six-seven schools near my residence and we could secure a seat for my daughter in most of them but all the schools created problem with her age," said Ms. Mishra.

"My daughter Sumedha was just 12 days short of being four at the time of her admission and the schools said that she will be too old for nursery by the time the session begins. Now how can parents make sure that their children are born age appropriate for nursery admissions, this is ridiculous," she added. Having no other option, Ms. Mishra and her husband decided to send their daughter to a prep class of a playschool.