It’s New Year hangover on sale of forms

By Ritika Chopra in New Delhi

THERE were no serpentine queues outside school gates on Day One of the nursery admission season.

Though it was a Saturday, parents were apparently not in a mood to begin their New Year on an anxious note.

So, even as several schools started selling their application forms on January 1, most parents chose to put the admission grind on hold for a
day as was evident from the weak crowds at schools.

“ Most schools will be selling forms for at least a week. I think I can afford to start a day late. Who wants to spend the first day of the year
running around for admission forms?” Kavita Sharma ( 32), a resident of
Lajpat Nagar and mother to a three- yearold boy, said.

According to Madhulika Sen, principal of Tagore International School in Vasant Vihar, long queues at schools at the time of admissions are no longer
common.

With the sale of forms stretching over several days, parents can breathe easy nowadays.

Also, the process of applying is completely online in many schools, which also saves parents from the trouble of standing in queues, apart
from saving time.

“ Nowadays, schools do not sell forms only for a few days. Such a situation would create panic among parents and they would all reach the schools at the same time. But the government’s
common calendar has changed all this,” Sen, whose school sold a little
more than 200 forms on the first day, said.

“ Since it’s a Saturday, we had expected a larger footfall. Maybe, the fact that it is the first day of the year has contributed to the smaller crowd witnessed
today,” she added.

Many parents, however, didn’t want to waste even a day. They resisted the urge to stay home and even cut their New Year celebrations short to wake up on time on Saturday morning.

Shweta Tiwari set out from her house at 9 am. “ My husband and I wrapped up the celebrations early last night because we had to wake up early
today. We will today,” Tiwari, who had come to buy a form at Laxman
Public School in Hauz Khas, said.

Though the first day saw low turnout, it also witnessed disgruntled parents. Many complained about the arbitrary practices of the private schools, the top grouse being the
high cost of prospectus.

Several schools, parents complained, were selling the application forms only with the prospectus, which were priced as high as ` 500 in some cases.

Indraprastha World School in Paschim Vihar, for instance, had made it mandatory to buy the prospectus, which was for ` 500.

“ When I argued with the school administration over the cost, I was told that there are no guidelines from the government as far as the
price of the prospectus is concerned. I needed the form. I had no choice
and so bought the prospectus,” said a parent, who did not wish to be
identified.

Maxfort School in Rohini, too, forced parents to buy the admission form along with the prospectus for ` 300.

As more parents will come out to buy the forms, the list of complaints and allegations against schools is also set to grow longer.