Ghaziabad schools leave locals in the lurch

The schools in Ghaziabad have proved to be a good alternative for East Delhi parents. But local residents of Indirapuram, Vaishali and Vasundhara have been left out in the cold, reports Swaha Sahoo.

The schools in Ghaziabad have proved to be a good alternative for East Delhi parents. But local residents of Indirapuram, Vaishali and Vasundhara have been left out in the cold, with many children failing to get admission in any of the numerous schools.

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Sarita Bisht, parent of a 3-year-old, was bitterly disappointed after her son was rejected by five schools in Indirapuram.

“I applied to DPS, Amity International, Indirapuram Public School, St Thomas and St Francis. But my son did not get through anywhere,” said Bisht. “None of the schools are willing to tell us on what grounds they rejected our application,” she said.

Bisht complained that St Thomas, Indirapuram had given out forms for a single day. “They gave out a limited number of forms. Only after we insisted did they give us an application form,” said Bisht.

Manju Bhargav, a parent from Vaishali, applied to two neighbourhood schools and has not got through either.

“Schools are very vague about their criteria and the principals refuse to meet parents,” said Bhargav. “Now I will have to look at other schools although they are all far away from my home,” he said.

Prabha Singh, vice principal of St Thomas School, Indirapuram claimed that the selection process had been fair.

“We have 160 seats. So we had decided to give out only 300 forms. But parents created a ruckus and forced us to sell 600 forms,” said Singh. “We have taken 60 boys and 60 girls.” She added that 50 per cent seats were for the general category. “We took care of minority groups and sibling cases in the rest 50 per cent,” said Singh.

For software professional Gopal Jaiswal, it is a long commute from Gurgaon to Indirapuram. “I have decide to shift to Indirapuram next year,” he said.