Early nursery admission draws many Delhi parents to Gurgaon

Some parents said Gurgaon schools offer more choice, both in terms of curriculum and infrastructure.

As nursery admission in Delhi schools have not started, a number of parents are rushing to Gurgaon to secure a seat for their little ones. Some parents said Gurgaon schools offer more choice, both in terms of curriculum and infrastructure.

Several Gurgaon schools opened nursery admission on August 1. (Abhinav Saha/HT File Photo)

While admission process in Gurgaon schools started on August 1, Delhi schools will open their counters only be the end of the year.

“Delhi schools offer fewer seats and the admission process is comparatively tough. But in Gurgaon, the scenario is the opposite. Also, most schools provide bus services to Delhi and so admitting my child in another city is not a problem,” Latika Pant of Green Park in New Delhi, said.

Schools such as Delhi Public School (Sector 45), DPS (Sushant Lok), The HDFC School, Suncity World School, Amity International School, Millennium School, Ridge Valley School, Vega Schools, Lotus Valley International School, Scottish High International School and KR Mangalam School have already started their admission process. Others are likely to follow suit by the end of the month.

Parents also said Gurgaon schools are affiliated to different educational boards, including CBSE, Cambridge IGCSE, ICSE and International Baccalaureate (IB), giving them more choice.

Jasmine Joy of Aya Nagar said, “My husband and I have studied in schools affiliated to ICSE and we want our child to study under the same board. Gurgaon has maximum number of schools in Delhi-NCR with the same board.”

“The better schools around my home are on the other side of the border, in Gurgaon. I do not want my child to compromise on her development and education. Plus, most of the schools are offering at least 100 seats, giving more chance to my daughter,” Manju Pande of Kapashera said.

Authorities of Gurgaon schools said they are getting more application and enquiries from Delhi this year.

Avishek Roy, head, community outreach, Vega Schools, said, “A lot of parents, especially from south Delhi localities such as Chhatarpur, Aya Nagar and Saket, are enquiring about the school. We are a new establishment and a lot of queries are coming forward from word-of-mouth.”

Peeya Sharma, principal of Ryan International School, Sector 40, said even last year the school received 100 applications from Delhi. “There are a number of reasons for parents to apply here. The most important is early admissions and more seats. We are expecting a similar or higher number of requests this year too.”

Though most institutions are welcoming parents from Delhi, a few schools are also denying their requests.

“Parents from Delhi are coming to the school daily to take or submit forms as the admission process is considerably easy in Gurgaon. But, we are not accepting the requests as the school is not providing transport facility to Delhi and giving the children admission would compromise with their security,” Anita Makkar, principal, The HDFC School in Sector 57, said.