Ganguly panel deadline ends

The period for submitting application forms for nursery school admissions as recommended by the Ganguly committee ended on Wednesday, reports Anuradha Mukherjee.

The period for submitting application forms for nursery school admissions as recommended by the Ganguly committee ended on Wednesday. A number of leading schools which had started their admission process earlier this month wrapped up the process, while several others are yet to start. Some of them say they are waiting for the January 17 hearing in the High Court when the confusion may clear a bit.

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“We have received over 2,000 forms for our schools in East of Kailash and Vasant Vihar. We will stop accepting the online forms at midnight. Those sent by mail by December 20 will be accepted till December 22,” said Shayama Chona, principal, DPS (RK Puram). Springdales (Pusa Road) Principal Ameeta M. Wattal said the junior wing of her school has received 4,800 applications for 120 seats. “The Pusa Road branch has received 3,000 forms, while the Kirti Nagar branch got 1,800 forms. Everybody in the 10 km radius has applied,” she said.

Although as per the Ganguly Committee, the application process was to end on December 20 and schools were supposed to release final lists by January 31, several schools are yet to start the process. Shriram and Vasant Valley schools say they will approach the apex court, while Sardar Patel Vidyalaya is yet to take a decision.

“We were waiting for a number of decisions, the age factor is one of them. We have not decided on a date yet and are asking parents to return later,” said Kusum Warikoo, principal, Sardar Patel Vidyalaya. Sanskriti is another school that has not started the process, but Principal Gouri Ishwaran says applications will be accepted between February 23 and January 8. “We are following the 100-point criteria and also the new High Court directive reducing the age of nursery entrants to three years on March 31,” said Ishwaran.

Principals, however, were peeved over the sudden change in the minimum age for nursery children. “Three-year-olds are not taught in the same manner as four-year-olds. Their cognitive abilities, motor skills tend to change every few months. We were taking in children at the age of four for nursery as per a 1999 directive of the court. This change has created a lot of confusion,” said Wattal.

Email Anuradha Mukherjee: anuradha.mukherjee@hindustantimes.com