Nursery deadline nears, distress grows
Parents Allege There’s No Clarity On Norms, Documentation And Charges
TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: With the last date for the application process approaching, complaints are piling up — there are over 200 on the Directorate of Education website alone.
    “Aadharshila in Gujranwalan Town hasn’t posted any admission criteria. When we enquired about them, the teachers said they are admiting on first-come-first-serve basis. But they are selling way more forms than the available seats. The form of Lancer’s Convent says in case of a tie, they will admit whoever came to them first. But in these cases there will be lots of ties,” says one parent.
    Another parent is confused by Mirambika’s system which awards 10 points for an “understanding and accepting Three Principles of true teaching and Integral Education.” Parents and activists are crying “screening” which is not permitted under the Right to Education Act. Mirambika, a “free progress” school, also expects parents of toddlers to decide now what they want their kids to do at grade 10. “Acceptance of NIOS (National Institute of Open Schooling) at Class X for [the] child” fetches 10 points. “How can any parent possibly come to a decision on this more than a decade in advance?” asks Sumit Vohra who runs admissionsnursery.com.
    There are other schools that have parents protesting — one school requires profession, department and even designation of the parent; another is making it compulsory for parents to opt for school transport — and for four years.
    Mother’s International will allow only those students who live on its bus routes. Then there are “unreasonable” demands with respect to documents. “Birla Vidya Niketan is asking for the “discharge summary” from the hospital in which the child was born stating that the child is a firstborn,” says parent Keshav Agarwal. He also wants to know what the schools plan to do with all the paperwork they are collecting. “It is a lot of information they are asking for. I don’t know how they are planning to dispose of paperwork they don’t need, the rejected applications,” he says. There are also complaints of screening — prohibited by RTE. One parent has written on admissionsnursery.com that she was asked to take her child to Mira Model School (Janakpuri).
    There are a large number of complaints from parents against schools for over-charging for processing the form or forcing parents to buy prospectuses. One parent was told by a receptionist she had instructions from the “management” to not sell forms without the prospectus. Schools can’t charge over Rs 25 for a form; neither can they force parents to buy the prospectus.
  

Vohra has lodged complaints against 50 schools to the Directorate of Education.

But problem resolution takes time in the case of general category applicants. Officials at the directorate say many disputes are handled at the district level and for the common questions, DoE has already issued general guidelines.
GRIEVANCES PILE UP
The Directorate of Education website has over 200 complaints, but their nature and responses are no longer public information. The kind of complaints that are being made:
    Parents are to buy prospectus along with form. Forms cost Rs 25, prospectus can go up to Rs 500
    Demands for documents, including ‘discharge summary’ from hospital, as proof of firstborn, certificates as proof of parents’ qualifications
    Admission criteria not posted on websites
    Income certificates being demanded from parents applying under the disadvantaged group, which is part of EWS category
Parents are being made to sign undertaking saying their ward will use school transport. At some schools, this even fetches points
In case of tie in points, school will admit on firstcome, first-serve basis
Upper age limit fixed, several schools awarding points
Screening by schools through questions in forms, parents complain they’re being asked to appear for interviews / group discussions