The first list for the much-awaited admissions to Delhi nurseries was out on 15 February 2018 and parents of mere three-year-olds are more stressed than ever.
The Quint spoke to Kanika Khybri Kukreja, mother of a three-year-old, who revealed the ordeal that scores of parents in India’s capital go through every year in order to secure a seat in a good school for their child.
Nursery admissions in Delhi are a bigger task than what meets the eye. The process begins in December and goes on till the end of March every year. But discussions about the same start way earlier, says Kukreja, and continues to be a stressful dinner conversation till the child finally bags the prized admission.
On 10 January 2018, Kukreja voiced her concerns regarding Delhi school admissions through a Facebook post and urged other parents to share their experiences. It was only when the parents started responding did she realise that most of her concerns overlapped with everyone else’s.
'The Point-System Is Unfair'
The application forms for nursery admissions have certain criteria based on which each student is graded and points are allotted to each. A rank list is then prepared, where children with the highest points make it to the top of the list. Some of these criteria include getting brownie points for living in the vicinity, parents being alumni of the same school, student being a girl child or student having a sibling in each school.
However, for Kukreja, the problem arises when each school comes up with their own criteria.
Every school has a different take on the point system. It’s not uniform. There are no 5 set parameters that every school follows which makes it confusing for parents.Kanika Khybri Kukreja, Mother
‘AAP Doesn’t Help Outsiders’
As a valid address proof, residents need to furnish Aadhaar card, ration card, electricity bill or a gas bill while filling the forms. However, being an outstation parent from Dehradun like many others, Kukreja could not provide them with the same, for which she was asked to talk to the AAP office.
However, instead of being helped, all she found was shifting of responsibility from one person to the other.
I still remember one of them actually came up and told me “Madam you’re not from Delhi. Delhi govt makes rules to cater to the people of Delhi”. Are you telling me that I need to prove my nationality coming from Dehradun to Delhi? If the Delhi govt tells me that they will not cater to your problems because you don’t belong to Delhi, where do we go?Kanika Khybri Kukreja, Mother
‘Government Schools Not up to the Mark’
She even claims that when she talked to them regarding admissions, she was asked to put her son in a government school.
Delhi government says “why don’t you send your child to a government school?” You tell me how many politicians and bureaucrats send their children to government schools? If you upgrade the government schools and get them to the level of a private school, then parents won’t think twice before sending their children there.Kanika Khybri Kukreja, Mother
‘Secrecy over Fee Structure by Some Schools’
While applying to various schools, Kukreja claimed that some schools were not entirely fine with the idea of revealing the fee structure from the very beginning and would wait till the end of the admission procedure to come up with it.
This lack of transparency from the very beginning is something that irked many parents.
‘The Lottery Draw is Torture’
After the initial filling of forms and document verification, the parents are called in for a lucky draw where 50 chits are picked out of over 3,900 applicants, claims Kukreja, which, to think of it, seems like 60-70 kids fighting over one seat. It becomes a stressful moment for parents who are hoping their kids would bag an admission at that school.
She also suggested that the Delhi government should have a queries redressal mechanism where the parents could address their concerns and share their suggestions and make an effort to solve the problem.
As a parent, I will ultimately figure something out for my child but I feel that it should be a big deal for the government if my child is unable to get an admission in nursery.Kanika Khybri Kukreja, Mother
Cameraperson: Abhay Sharma
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