NEW DELHI: The first round of admissions - originally meant to be completed by mid-February -got over on Wednesday. Only a part of the total number of applicants were placed in this round with many, who have just the 70 neighbourhood points or had initially applied in transfer category, still waiting for the high court decision and growing increasingly disillusioned with their prospects.

Seats will be available at some schools at least. Usha Ram, principal, Laxman Public School, says that of the 109 seats allotted to sibling and alumni and covering also the girl-child and EWS quotas, only 85 have been claimed. The rest will now be added to the 23 seats originally allotted to inter-state transfer cases-the category was scrapped in February

-and draws held for it following HC's directions. "I already have 2,700 applications for those seats," says Ram.There hadn't been even a first draw for 70 pointers at LPS.

The principal of Ramjas School in R K Puram, Rachna Paul, says "there will be lots of seats for the second draw". Twenty-six of the 34 candidates selected for the EWS seats have taken admission; and of the remaining 130 seats, 76 have been filled. Mount Abu Public School also has "a few general category seats left" says principal Jyoti Arora, in addition to the 12 vacated by transfer cases.

Parents, however, are poring over the seats-related data made public by the Directorate of Education last week, just before the HC hearing. It's being digitized, analyzed and discussed by parents trying to work out their chances of making it. "The data is faulty," says a Punjabi Bagh parent, "It shows that a large number of seats have gone to 70 pointers even in schools that I know haven't even conducted draws. Where are all those seats that should've been freed by the scrapping of the transfer points?"

"The main sufferers are the 70 pointers who did not get selected anywhere. Some who were selected in valid draws have also been refused admission as many schools are waiting for April 16 (date of the next HC hearing)," says Sumit Vohra of admissionsnursery.com. The court has asked DoE to present a status update on April 16; schools have been asked to furnish the numbers by April 12.

For the set that has secured seats, school begins on April 15. Ameeta Mulla Wattal, chairperson National Progressive Schools Conference and also principal, Springdales School, Pusa Road, says, "Schools are finding it extremely difficult to start on April 15 with only a part of the students. Typically, orientations are held for parents and it's very difficult to hold these in a staggered manner."