No word yet on admission to entry-level classes, parents worried

The process for admissions to entry-level classes – nursery, kindergarten, and class 1 – normally begins between November and December every year.

With no information on admissions to entry-level classes to the capital’s 1,700 private schools for the 2021-22 academic session, parents planning to get their children enrolled this year are now left concerned.

The process for admissions to entry-level classes – nursery, kindergarten, and class 1 – normally begins between November and December every year.

Simran Kaur, a resident of northwest Delhi’s Rani Bagh area, said the family was trying to get their three-year-old daughter enrolled into a school this year. “For nursery, the upper age limit is four. We are worried that if our child is not admitted this year, she will lose a year. Though we don’t want her to physically go to school till the vaccine for Covid-19 is available, we do want her to join online classes at least,” said the 26-year-old homemaker.

Sumit Vohra, who runs a portal on nursery admissions, said they have been receiving queries from parents on a daily basis. “The parents are concerned and have been asking if there are any tentative dates for admissions since other NCR cities such as Ghaziabad, Noida and Gurgaon have initiated the process for conducting nursery admissions. The Delhi government could release a notice to assuage the concerns of these parents,” he said.

Echoing Kaur’s concerns, Vohra said not conducting admissions this year was not feasible since there is an upper age limit for entry-level classes. Last year, the minimum ages for nursery, kindergarten and class 1 was three, four, and five years while the maximum limit for the categories was four years, five years, and six years, respectively.

“Not all schools provide online forms and in some cases parents have to visit the schools for the forms. Schools ask parents to submit hard copies of documents. Doing this would be challenging during the pandemic. A mechanism should be put in place to address this,” Vohra said.

A senior official from the Directorate of Education said it was too early to comment on the matter due to the Covid-19 situation.

The Capital recorded 6,746 new cases of Covid-19 and 121 deaths on Sunday taking the total number of fatalities to 8,391. On Monday, 4,454 new cases and 121 deaths were recorded.

“Generally, the process for nursery admissions to the capital’s private schools starts around November-end and so far there has been no discussion on this because we are dealing with an unprecedented situation. More clarity on this will emerge in the coming few weeks,” the official said, adding students who took admission in entry-level classes in the 2020-21 academic session are yet to attend offline classes.

“We are waiting for clarity on when schools can reopen and the decision for admission will be taken on the basis of that. There has been no discussion over how and when admissions will be conducted,” the official said.

Riyaz Ahmed, an HR professional and a resident of New Friends Colony, is trying to get her daughter enrolled this year. He said the education department should consult parents before deciding the schedule and work on alternative options as well.

“We are worried about sending our children to school but there has been no conversation with parents on this so far. We are not left with any option but to apply as competition for getting a nursery seat in Delhi is very stiff. Due to the pandemic, we are worried about how institutions will adapt to the new normal and figure out logistics of how they will teach. We are also wondering how the children will travel to school once if they reopen,” he said.

Admissions under the economically weaker section/disadvantaged groups category for 2020-21 are yet to be completed. The education department has announced it will call fresh online applications from EWS/DG aspirants for 838 vacant seats. The last date of submission for these applications is November 30.