The Hindu~Activists fear schools may meddle with nursery admission draw of lots

Although the new and already twice-amended nursery admission guidelines seem to leave no loopholes for any foul play, activists and others involved say there is more to it that meets the eye.

“I have written to the Directorate of Education asking them to issue specific guidelines to prevent manipulation of criteria like alumni by schools. There are some schools that award alumni points to children whose parents studied for a minimum of one year or even if they have studied at a branch of a school. In this way, the child gets this point in many schools,” said Sumit Vohra, who runs the online information service admissionsnursery.com.

He added that the draw of lots for all children who qualify for admission could also be manipulated.

“There are often too many children and the parents cannot be accommodated when the lots are being drawn. So, the schools generally have the parent teacher association representatives present when the lots are drawn. These associations are usually hand-in-glove with the school managements and they usually choose the children they want and by that I mean the rich children,” he added.

The activists’ suggestions are that the schools either hire big assembly halls and draw the lots in front of parents or the proceedings are recorded.

There are also many who are worried that the schools might take the matter to the courts to have the new guidelines rescinded. The admission season, which usually begins on January 1 every year, has now been delayed by 15 days and parents are worried that the uncertainty might delay the admissions further.