The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) education department conducted a lottery for admissions to its newly opened CBSE and ICSE schools on Thursday morning.
The lottery was conducted only with a select few officials of the BMC’s education department and was broadcasted online for parents.
At the Woolen Mill Municipal School in Mahim that is set to be affiliated to the ICSE board, a total of 332 applications came in for 308 seats. While the lottery was taken out for junior KG to Class 1, all students who had applied for Classes 2-6 got in. For the Poonam Nagar Municipal School in Jogeshwari east which is set to be CBSE affiliated, there were over 2,000 applications for 308 seats of which 1510 were valid after scrutiny. The lottery for this school was simultaneously conducted on Thursday. For both these schools, each class has a total of 38 students. In the first year, these schools would run pre-primary to Class 6.
Students who have made it to the school would get an SMS on their parents phone numbers. In the coming days, parents have to fill out a form to confirm their admission. While the academic year for both these schools is set to begin in June, a decision with respect to the dates would be taken depending on the situation in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, students would be given some online learning resources to keep them engaged in the interim.
“This is a first-of-its-kind initiative for students under the BMC and we are happy that it is materialising,” said Sainath Durge, member of the BMC’s education committee. Admissions in both these schools would be free. Students who are admitted in these schools would have to study Marathi as a compulsory third language throughout. Select teachers who are already teaching in BMC schools have been selected through a rigorous process to become a part of the board. The move hopes to bring in more students to BMC schools, which over the years are struggling to get students with high dropouts and low enrolments.
{{/usCountry}}“This is a first-of-its-kind initiative for students under the BMC and we are happy that it is materialising,” said Sainath Durge, member of the BMC’s education committee. Admissions in both these schools would be free. Students who are admitted in these schools would have to study Marathi as a compulsory third language throughout. Select teachers who are already teaching in BMC schools have been selected through a rigorous process to become a part of the board. The move hopes to bring in more students to BMC schools, which over the years are struggling to get students with high dropouts and low enrolments.
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