NEW DELHI: While some schools have already announced dates for the sale of nursery forms, many others are likely to finalize it by Monday. While most schools will stick to the decision of the National Progressive Schools' Conference and Action Committee for Unaided Recognized Private Schools to keep the form sale and collection between December 20 and January 20, 2015, the differing schedules could make things difficult for EWS (economically weaker section) candidates.

The Indian School, for instance, has already announced it will sell and accept forms from December 20 (9am to 11am). Gyan Bharti is likely to start on the same day but principal R C Shekhar says they'll decide by Monday.

"We are going to have a meeting on Monday. We'll decide on both schedule and criteria there," says Ameeta Mohan, principal, Amity International, Pushp Vihar. Some are planning to start on December 22—December 20 is a Saturday—and others will start on January 1. Parents have to be extra-vigilant with schools starting on different dates and this has led several parents' groups to demand a common schedule from the directorate of education.

However, as lawyer-activist Khagesh Jha points out, the differing schedules could spell trouble for applicants in the EWS category. "The January 7, 2011, notification of the DoE says that schools have to follow the same schedule for EWS and general category admissions," says Jha. "The sale and submission of forms and the posting of lists have to be done at the same time as well."

He is also concerned that parents from EWS backgrounds will not be able to track developments as well as their general category counterparts—checking websites or newspapers. The absence of a fixed schedule also means they'll have to visit different schools on different days.

"The order is for the 75% open seats. Right to Education Act isn't applicable to them. But it is applicable for the remaining 25% but these guidelines will make things very difficult for them," Jha says.