NEW DELHI: A helpline's not just a sounding board anymore. Volunteers, enlisted by education minister Manish Sisodia, randomly chose 12 callers who'd registered complaints on the newly-launched nursery admission helpline and called to ask about the problems. Part of the exercise was to check if the complaints were genuine.

"We selected the 12 on the basis of the issues they had reported," says education volunteer Amit Mishra. "We deliberately chose unresolved complaints. The minister himself will call the parents whose issues have supposedly been solved." Mishra says that of the dozen they spoke to, most complained of schools setting upper age limits, money being charged for forms, demand of "distance affidavit" and other documents (not mentioned in the guidelines) being demanded for EWS admissions.

"We weren't expecting any call from the department," says a Chandan Nagar businessman who had complained on Tuesday after the school set an upper age limit and refused him a form. "They called us several times. They asked me to get the school to give its reason for turning down the application in writing. The volunteer even left his personal phone number and said I could call him in case of a problem."

Others, however, will reserve judgment till their complaints have been dealt with. "I'll know if the redress system works if they manage to solve my problem," says a Mayur Vihar resident who had complained against a school demanding a "distance affidavit".

"It's a positive indication that we're getting response from the department," says Thomas Anthony of NGO Josh, who reported two violations related to EWS admissions-a school demanding medical certificate, and another refusing to accept the common application form.

Anthony says that he tried the number on Wednesday and finally got through on Thursday morning. "A helpline is for information and complaint registration," he says, adding, "The attendants aren't well informed."

The helpline received 1,351 calls on Thursday and 159 complaints.

Meanwhile, parents pleased with the standardization of criteria are now discovering that schools are playing fast and loose with their lists of colonies. Defence Colony resident, Kalpana Sharma says her colony doesn't appear in the list of a popular Vasant Vihar school when Kotla-Mubarakpur and Moolchand do. Another parent complains that while some blocks of Vasant Kunj have made the list, their own doesn't despite being within eight kilometers. "We can still apply but we want to be sure that the forms are accepted. We tried to speak to school authorities but were told that the list's not likely to change," says Sharma. Some other schools haven't issued lists at all and are telling parents to check the DoE's website for details.

Distance is not the only problem. Parents are also worried about the impending hearing on nursery guidelines in the Supreme Court. Sumit Vohra of admissionsnursery.com says that some parents are waiting for the hearing before applying. "They worry the forms will be rejected if schools get stay and the criteria are changed. Many parents haven't bought forms and are waiting in case there's a SC decision."

The Hindu -New nursery admission rules flouted brazenly

If you’re an alcohol-guzzling, cigarette-smoking, non-vegetarian parent of a child just about ready to enter school, then the chances of your child landing the coveted nursery seat might be lower than that of a child born to a teetotaller, non-smoking, vegetarian parent. Mystified? Read on.

Water-tight guidelines on nursery admissions released last month were hailed as just what was needed in a city where the number of children ready to enrol in school is four times more than the seat availability. Unfortunately, they are being constantly flouted brazenly, and in some cases, ridiculously.

“The school responsible for giving additional points to children with parents who are vegetarians and teetotallers is a minority institution. The Delhi High Court did rule recently that minority institutions are allowed to add some more criteria for admissions, however, this is plain ridiculous. How can the institution check if the parent is vegetarian or a non-vegetarian?” asked Sumit Vohra of admissionsnursery.com.

If you did not admit your child to school by age three, then it could also be a disadvantage in some schools — contrary to the Directorate of Education guidelines in which there can be no upper age limit to admit a child. Some schools have also refused to admit children at all, stating there is no vacancy at the entry level, also contradicting the guidelines where it is mandatory to admit children at the entry level.

Some schools have refused to accept residential proofs that have been allowed by the Directorate of Education, insisting on specific proofs like passports.

According to the guidelines on nursery admissions released by the Lieutenant Governor last month, admissions into nursery schools will have to be done only on the basis of four criteria — “neighbourhood up to eight kilometers, sibling studying in the school, parent alumni in the school and inter-transfer case”.

Management quotas were also done away with and livid private schools took the matter to court. The High Court refused to stay the notification and the matter is now up for hearing on Friday before the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, admissions have already begun in many schools, but parents are apprehensive to apply. “Many parents think that if the Supreme Court rules in favour of the schools, then their applications may be at a disadvantage. If the criteria get changed and they apply again, they fear their applications may be rejected on the basis of duplication. Some also don’t want to go ahead and buy expensive forms only to buy them again after the verdict,” added Mr. Vohra.