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New Delhi: ‘‘Kya hoga mere bachche ka?’’ That is the question thousands of parents are asking as nursery admissions draw to a close, leaving some 1.75 lakh children out of schools. The number of applicants far outstrip the 1,976 recognized private schools in the city, say authorities.
Said S K Bhattacharya, chairman of School Action Committee: ‘‘Governmentrecognized private schools received over four lakh applications this year and approximately 1.75 lakh children were left out. The demand is far more than supply and thus those left out generally opt for playschools.’’
According to a source in DAV Management, the figure of unsuccessful applicants is much higher, around two lakh.
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‘Most likely, I will let my child continue in playschool if she doesn’t get through in the second or third list. Government schools are out of question, they are so unsafe at the elementary level,’’ said Ruby Singh (name changed), a parent from north Delhi, who applied in 10 schools but has been rejected everywhere. Says Vinita Yadav of GK-I who has also applied in 10 schools, ‘‘The inadequate infrastructure in government schools makes me think they are not a good option.’’ Parents blame autonomous points system
New Delhi: With nursery admissions drawing to a close, about 1.75 lakh children have been left out of schools. This is primarily because there are just 1,976 recognized private schools in the city.
The Delhi High Court had, in 2007, directed the government to start nursery classes in government schools but little has been done. ‘‘There are a few government schools which have started offering nursery admissions,’’ said S K Bhattacharya, chairman of School Action Committee.
Many distressed parents say the autonomous point system of the schools is to blame. ‘‘The admission procedure in schools is hardly transparent. My daughter couldn’t get through in the
school where my husband
and I scored alumni points. The entire nursery admission procedure has been a
nightmare for us,’’ said Priyanshi Kapoor from New Friends Colony. Kapoor had applied in about 12 schools in central and south Delhi.
The admission criteria, said a principal from a west Delhi school, is drawn up according to the clientele desired by the school. ‘‘We look for a particular set of parents. For instance, children of businessmen don’t get enough points in the admission process as many schools often prefer parents from the service class. It is seen that businessmen do not value education much and it affects our results,’’ she admitted.
That, however, hardly explains the entire story. Take, for instance, the case of Mukul and Seema Kumar.
Mukul is a PR professional and his wife has an MBA degree but they are still struggling to find a good school for their three-year-old son. ‘‘We have been in depression all this while. It had become so difficult to sleep. We had applied in six schools but were successful nowhere. Ab kya hoga mere bete ka?’’ said a disappointed Mukul.
Ratish Khaneja (name changed) from Mayur Vihar argued that it was difficult to decipher what each school looked for in the parents’ background. With the points system proving unpredictable, a few parents now think that the interview system was, perhaps, more reliable for nursery admissions.
A parent from south Delhi said, ‘‘At least the admission process through interviews were merit-based. It depended on the performance of parents.’’

