Odd-even formula gives parents sleepless nights

With the beginning of nursery admission season from January 1, parents have yet another challenge to face and it is in the form of “odd-even formula” starting in the beginning of the New Year.

The scheme for plying of private vehicles on alternate days in the city for fifteen days from 8 AM-8 PM from January 1, 2016, has put many parents in a fix. Admission forms will be available from January 1 and the last date of submission of application forms is January 22.

“Odd-even formula is going to trouble parents. My friend got 42 admission forms from schools for his child last year. It’s so tough because all the schools do not provide form online,” Sumit Vohra, who runs an online portal — a platform for the admission seekers told The Pioneer. Parents normally collect more than 30 admission forms to try their luck in many schools.

Vohra said besides the odd-even formula worry, the root cause lies in the “corruption racket” of loot by the private schools which avoid uploading forms online.

“Despite having the infrastructure, the schools avoid uploading admission forms online. Even though the Government has clearly set out instructions for schools to make all the information available online, out of 1,885 schools in Delhi, very few have online admission forms criteria,” he said.

According to him, schools generate a lot of money by giving out printed forms, including the prospectus which would otherwise be free online.

Nursery admission is one of the most difficult procedures for getting a child admitted in a quality school, said parents, adding that in most of the schools, the applicants outnumber the seats.

“Some of the minority schools keep a very tight schedule of issuing forms thus the parents need to be extra careful with their reach to avoid missing out a chance. In fact, for general category the minority schools make the forms available only for a day or two. The process does not end at buying a form only, rather with each form, several documents need to be attached including legal documents like affidavit for different points set as per the guidelines,” said a parent on the condition of anonymity.

“This entire process is an arduous task. Earlier the forms were supposed to be brought from Jan 1 to 15 and submission was from Jan 15 to 30 but this time parents have to collect, add documents and submit within 22 days,” said Vohra.