STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
New Delhi, 8 January
Nearly 32 percent of parents who live in rented houses are willing to shift within the radius of “more popular schools” in Delhi-NCR for the sake of getting admission to their kids in their favourite schools, showing increasing anxiety among them towards their children, according to a recent analysis by the apex industry body, ASSOCHAM.
The Associated Chamber of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM) recent survey on “Nursery admission procedures are taking away the innocence of pre-schooling” reveals that this trends are more visible in parents who have a rented house in Delhi-NCR. Over 21 percent of parents who are on rent have already shifted to the areas with more number of “famous schools” like Dwarka, Vasant Kunj, Rajendra Nagar and Rohini.
Further, it reveals that others are planning to shift to areas where the concentration of 'good' schools is higher and are searching for one.
Meanwhile, Sumit Vohra who runs Admissionnursery.com said, "Every parent should be aware that all of them who are changing their domiciles should have atleast six months old rent or lease deeds and those should be court registered."
However, the survey, conducted on 2,500 parents in Delhi-NCR reveals that many parents are intending to move to Dwarka, Vasant Kunj, Rajendra Nagar, Rohini etc. as there are number of schools within its vicinity. Currently, proximity to school-or 'distance'-is the criterion which carries the highest number of points, reveal the majority of parents.
“Nursery admission has become an anxiety-ridden mission for parents seeking to secure a seat for their tiny tots in reputed public schools due to limited number of seats”, said Mr. D S Rawat, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM while releasing the paper.
Mr Rawat added, “For parents it is a sort of a wild shot as even after shelling out so much of money on admission forms there is no certainty that their child will eventually get through that school."
The neighbourhood criteria has made parents rush to shift house so that they can be within three kilometres radius of the school, a distance that will get them a full 20 points, points out the survey.Also, the survey adds, there are over 3,000 public schools in Delhi which normally sell prospectus, containing details about admission processes in their respective schools for a sum of Rs 500-800.
“Increasingly rising price of admission procedure in most of the privately-managed schools in metro has deterred the budget of even well to do families. Education is now being run like a commercial business enterprise these days”, added Mr. Rawat.
As per the chamber estimates, over 60 million children are studying in private schools charging hefty fees and having fallen through a lopsided government-approved points-system, many parents are being forced to opt for management seats that cost around Rs 1.5 lakh and more.
Some parents have no option unless take a loan. Nearly 28 percent said they are trying to get a personal loan. Some of them are already paying for a home loan and it is extremely difficult to survive under such circumstances, added the respondents.
About 65 percent of the parents said, there are areas also with no popular school within a two-three kilometer radius. Parents in these areas feel that they should be allowed to apply at schools where their kid can travel and take on responsibility of picking and dropping of their children.
On the other hand, nearly 28 percent of parents said, "It's not possible to just pack up our bags and move”. They are very much willing to arrange for transport but still does not get the points for distance.