Asian Age

When will preschool admission outgrow Govt babysitting?

Delay in release of nursery guidelines more than likely

Where on one hand nursery admission guidelines were likely to be declared early this year, it now seems that everything may not be hunky-dory on that front. Sumit Vohra of admissionsnursery.com on Saturday said that since the Supreme Court deferred the October 14 hearing of a pending case, on the issue of nursery being included under the Right To Education Act, to October 27, there were chances of a delay in the release of guidelines. According to sources, this delay in decision may cause Lieutenant Governor Najeeb Jung to delay releasing the guidelines. Thus, the plans of the Directorate of Education (DoE) to release the guidelines of nursery admission early this year so that the admissions can be completed before board exams begin may not go the way planned.

In August, the Director of Education Padmini Singla told The Pioneer that the directorate was planning to push ahead the entire process of admissions for the fresh batch by almost two months. She had said, “If all processes go as planned, the guidelines should be out soon enough to start admissions before December. These arrangements are being made keeping in mind that principals need to focus on board exams in February.” In sync with this claim, sources had also told this newspaper that the directorate had planned to put a cap on the sibling quota for the coming academic year and Jung was going to review this decision.

However, in case Jung decides to wait until the SC gives its verdict on the RTE case, there will be substantial delay in nursery admissions as guidelines would then not be out until mid-November. This delay however, would be completely unnecessary. “There were reports that the Education Department this year had finalised a set of guidelines and even sent them to Jung for a final nod. But if now after all processes are in place the matter comes to a standstill, the situation will be worse than even last year,” said a parent.

Singla had said in August, “We don’t want any trouble being created and we also want that the admissions take place as soon as possible. The main concern is that principals should only focus on the board classes in February and March and not be preoccupied with nursery admissions.”