Nursery admissions for pvt schools set to kick off today

The first list of candidates will be shared on January 17, 2025, followed by a second list on February 3. The admission process will conclude by March 14.

The admission process for nursery, pre-primary, and Class 1 students in private unaided schools across Delhi for the 2025-26 academic year is set to begin on November 27, the Directorate of Education (DoE) announced on Wednesday.

The upper age limit for nursery is four years (as of March 31, 2025). (HT Archive)

The last date for submission of applications is December 20.

The upper age limit for nursery is four years (as of March 31, 2025), and five years and six years for kindergarten and Class 1, respectively.

Admissions for 75% of open seats in the general category will be determined by schools based on a points system, while the remaining 25% are reserved for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), children with disabilities, and disadvantaged groups (DG), DoE officials said.

The admission of non-general categories will be done by the directorate through a computerised draw of lots, according to the DoE notice.

The first list of candidates will be shared on January 17, 2025, followed by a second list on February 3. The entire admission process will conclude by March 14, officials said.

Criteria used by schools

DoE officials said candidates will be admitted based on a points system — the distance between a candidate’s residence and school has been a primary category for most schools.

Jyoti Arora, principal of Mount Abu School in Rohini, said, “Our school is located in a densely populated area. So, a distance of up to 3km gets priority, and has been assigned 85 out of 100 points.”

Some schools, such as Ahlcon International School in Mayur Vihar, have also allotted extra marks to candidates who are a single girl child. “Distance from school is an important criteria, followed by wards of alumni and staff ward. But we have also allotted five points to the single girl child criteria,” said principal Sanjay Yadav.

Schools can also award points to candidates if their parents or siblings studied in the same institute, or to children of single parents. The criteria, however, varies from school to school, and parents and guardians can check these points on the DoE website.

If there is a tie between two candidates for one seat, the school in question will conduct a draw of lots.

DoE, through a notice on November 11, had directed schools to share online their respective criteria for admission by November 25. However, as of 10pm on Wednesday evening, only 927of the 1,741 schools registered with the directorate had shared their criteria.

“The portal for uploading criteria is still open. We are hoping almost all schools will complete the required by Thursday,” a DoE official said, on condition of anonymity.

Anxiety for parents

Tanima Dutta, a resident of Vasant Kunj and a parent of twin boys vying for admission to nursery in the next academic year, said her family has shortlisted around 20 schools.

“It is a very tedious process, especially for first-time parents like us. The criteria-based point system, paired with the intense competition, is also very anxiety inducing,” Dutta said.

Arti Virmani, a resident of Adarsh Nagar, said she spent the entirety of Wednesday just researching the prospective schools for her daughter.

“Applying to the right schools and keeping track of the applications plays a huge role. There are many more applications than seats. We can only rest when the admission in our preferred school is confirmed,” she said.

The DoE notification dated November 11 warned schools against including criteria such as parents’ education, whether both parents are working, food habits, similar cultural ethos, and verbal tests/ interviews — all these methods were scrapped by the Delhi government in 2016.

However, some experts said that many schools still included these criteria in their points system.

Sumit Vohra, who runs an online portal for nursery admissions, said, “This year too, schools have included criteria which have been abolished, like mode of transport. Additionally, the DoE portal for uploading criteria was not working on Monday and was fixed by Tuesday. That caused a further delay in schools uploading their criteria.”