New year rings in nursery rhymes for parents
With Most Schools Starting Admission Process On Jan 1, They Plan To Buy Forms On Holiday
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Anjali Kapoor, mother of a three-year-old, is anxiously waiting for the new year. It’s not a family gettogether or new year resolutions that she is looking forward to. She is getting ready for the nursery admissions slated to begin on January 1 in most schools in the capital. She says she has been preparing for last two months and has shortlisted eight schools for applying for her son’s admission,
“Thankfully, we will be off from work on January 1 since it’s a Saturday. We plan to apply in all schools in the vicinity offering online forms on the very first day. For other schools, my husband and I hope to take leave from work on different days to buy forms and submit them,” said Anjali, a resident of Vasant Kunj.
“It looked quite easy initially to find a nursery seat for my child. But then we realized how every school is going to have a different admission criterion. We did not study in a Delhi school and our son is our first child. So, we clearly lose points for alumni and siblings. We are just banking on the points for neighbourhood,” she added.
Jyoti Sharma, whose daughter is four years old, is worried that the admission to KG may be tougher. “We let our daughter continue in the play school last year. But now schools say that seats in KG are limited as children from nursery are directly promoted leaving a few seats vacant. I hope we get lucky this time,” she said.
Most schools like DPS, Amity International, Sanskriti, Tagore International, Laxman Public, will start their admission process from January 1 while others like Springdales and Mount Carmel are scheduled to start the sale of forms from January 3.
Schools say that even though the vacations might continue for children, offices will remain open for the sale and collection of forms. Principals suggested that parents should go through the admission parameters of individual schools to know their child’s chances of getting through. As per the guidelines of the directorate of education, no school can keep discriminatory points for admission.
Speaking to Times City, state education minister Arvinder Singh insisted that DoE would ensure that all schools follow a fair and just admission procedure. “A school can fix criteria for admission as per its philosophy and objective. But our officials are keeping an eye on the parameters of individual schools and any violation will be checked,” Singh said.
Parents are free to decide against buying the prospectus of schools if they find them expensive. According to DoE, a school cannot force parents to buy the prospectus with the admission form though it’s an individual choice as it contains information about the school.
Usha Ram, principal, Laxman Public School, said, “Buying the prospectus is not compulsory but it is advisable as it contains all the information about preschool admissions, method of teaching and the fee structure. One can buy the prospectus if one shows an interest in the school. We do not hand it out to parents when they come to buy the form but only during submission of the form. ”
A QUICK GUIDE
AMITY INTERNATIONAL Saket | Jan 1 to 15
APEEJAY | Pitampura | Jan 1 to 15
BLOOM PUBLIC | Vasant Kunj |
Jan 1 to 15
BAL BHARATI | Ganga Ram Hospital Marg | Jan 1 to 15 (online)
BAL BHARATI | Pitampura | Jan 3 to 15 (online)
DPS | East of Kailash | Vasant Vihar | Jan 1 to 15
DPS | Dwarka | Jan 1 to 15 (online)
DON BOSCO | Alaknanda | Jan 1 to 15 (for KG only) LAXMAN PUBLIC | Hauz Khas | Jan 1 to 15
MOUNT CARMEL | Anand Niketan | Jan 3 to 10 (submission by Jan 15)
SANSKRITI |
Chanakyapuri | Jan 1
to 15 (online, but
activation key to be
collected from school)
SPRINGDALES | Pusa Road | Dhaula Kuan | Kirti Nagar | Jan 3 to 10 (submission from Jan 5 to 15)
TAGORE INTERNATIONAL | Vasant Vihar | East of Kailash Jan 1 to 10 (submission by Jan 15)
THE INDIAN SCHOOL | Sadiq Nagar | Jan 1 onwards THINGS TO REMEMBER
Parents do not need to carry any supporting documents to buy form
School prospectus
contains all essential information about admission procedure, fee structure, academic achievements and school ideology
Buying school prospectus with admission form
not compulsory
Parents should go for schools closer to their homes as most schools have set aside high points — up to 40— for neighbourhood criteria
Forms will not be available on first-comefirst-served basis