Confusion over age for nursery admission



Delhi Govt Guidelines Don’t Have Age Criteria, Parents In A Fix


TIMESNEWSNETWORK



New Delhi: Though guidelines for nursery admissions this year are already out, confusion over the age refuses to die. Even though most schools are admitting students at the age of 3+ like last year, parents say they have become anxious after the high court asked for the names of schools ready to admit those below four years of age.
“My daughter is four years old. Should she be admitted to nursery or KG? Schools say she is eligible for KG but it may change if the court orders otherwise. There is so much confusion. It’s high time the government fixed all the loose ends,” said Jyoti Sharma, a parent from Vikaspuri. Another parent, Kapil Vasudev, who has a three-year-old girl, added, “I will be happy if the minimum age for nursery is changed to 4+ as it will give some more time to my daughter. I think she is not old enough to start formal schooling.”
The court asked for a list of schools admitting children at the age of 3+ as on March 31, 2011 while hearing a petition filed by Ashok Aggarwal, founder of NGO Social Jurist. According to Aggarwal, the age for nursery should be changed to 4+ following an order by Delhi HC in September, 2007. “At that time, the government had also filed an affidavit saying that the minimum age for formal schooling would be changed to 4+ from 2008-09 session. But it has still not happened. The matter will come up for hearing on January 11 now. If the schools are asked to make the age 4+, their admission process is likely to get disturbed,” Aggarwal said.
Surprisingly, the Delhi government hasn’t mentioned anything about the age criteria in the fresh guidelines released on December 15. Schools say they were simply told to adopt the criteria followed last year. Usha Ram, principal, Laxman Public School, said, “Though there was nothing on the issue of age in the guidelines, the government had just asked us to follow the same age criteria as last year. So we have planned to admit students older than three. But if there are changes in the age later, admission of children once done cannot be cancelled.”
Another principal from a south Delhi school, who did not wish to be named, added, “There is a petition against the new admission guidelines in the HC. The hearing for it is scheduled for March and by then we will be wrapping up the admission process. I hope there are no last minute changes as it will lead to more confusion.”