Nursery admission process begins today

The online admission process for nearly 200,000 unreserved seats in entry-level classes -- nursery, kindergarten and class 1 -- in around 1,700 private schools in Delhi will begin on Thursday

The online admission process for nearly 200,000 unreserved seats in entry-level classes -- nursery, kindergarten and class 1 -- in around 1,700 private schools in Delhi will begin on Thursday. Schools will release registration forms on their websites from early morning and the last date of submission of forms is March 4.

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The centralised admission process, which usually commences in November or December, has been delayed this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The websites will upload the first list of selected candidates on March 20. The second list will be released five days later (March 25), and a subsequent list, if required, will be announced on March 27. The admission process will conclude on March 31. Parents will have to pay an amount of ₹25 (non-refundable) as admission registration fee.

Since admissions to entry-level classes are determined by a points system, followed by a draw of lots, most schools have allotted points to several factors such as distance, siblings in the school, alumni parents, and girl child. “Distance” remained the criterion with the most weightage points across schools.

For instance, Mother’s International School has fixed 40 points for distance criterion, 30 points for siblings in school, and 10 additional points for girl child. The Indian School has fixed 60 points for the distance criteria, 20 for siblings and 20 for first-born child.

Similarly, Sanskriti School has fixed 0 to 30 points for distance, 25 for siblings of already enrolled students, and 25 points for the children of alumni.

In Tagore International, 50 points is given to applicants residing in areas where school transport is available, 30 to the first-born child, 10 each to siblings, and children of alumni and staff.

Mount Abu Public School has fixed 85 points for distance, 10 points for siblings and five for alumni and staff. In Birla Vidya Niketan, 60 points have been fixed for distance, 20 for siblings and 10 for the children of alumni.

Principals of several schools said they have not changed any admission criteria. Ashok Pandey, chairperson of Ahlcon schools, said, “Change in any criteria would have caused unnecessary inconvenience to parents at the last moment. The admission process has already been cut short this year due to the pandemic.”

The Directorate of Education (DoE) has fixed the upper age limit of 4, 5, and 6 years as of March 31, 2021, for admission in nursery, kindergarten and class 1, respectively. The minimum age for admission in these classes is 3, 4, and 5 years, respectively, as of March 31, 2021.

The schedule for the remaining 25% seats reserved for the economically weaker section (EWS) and disadvantaged (DG) categories will be announced in the coming weeks.