With the Delhi Government releasing their nursery admission guidelines for students from economically weaker sections (EWS) of society, the parents are in a tizzy as the Government never accompanied the guidelines with a valid admission schedule or any grievance redressal system for those parents who are not entertained at schools. However, one of the main complaints that came in on Sunday from parents was regarding the filling of online forms for EWS nursery admissions.
According to parents, while filling online forms for EWS nursery admission is good, it is of no use as it always shows an error. “We have to fill out the form 10-15 times and an error shows up,” said a parent, who has been trying to fill the form since Saturday evening. Another problem the parents are facing is that even if the form is filled and submitted, no data is found assuring them that the form is submitted.
Virendra Singh, president of Jagrook Parents Association said, “There is a major problem in the websites of schools. There are several schools like Jain Bharti Public School in Rohini that are not giving EWS forms. These are complaints that we have received from other parents. Most parents are struggling with filling EWS forms for nursery admission.”
In addition Singh feels that some parents are filling up the forms in 10-15 schools but are still not sure about getting admission in any. “This has been an issue for long and has not been addressed by the Government. We have earlier also said that either the Government proposes a system where double shifts are there in schools or the number of seats are increased,” he said.
According to the DoE guidelines for EWS, which came out on Saturday, 25 per cent seats must be reserved for children belonging to EWS category under the RTE Act. Seats will first be offered to children living within one kilometre radius of the school, followed by those living within three to six kilometre and beyond six kilometre, the guidelines state.
Meanwhile, people filling forms in the general category for nursery admissions are also suffering when it comes to online form filling. According to most parents there is a problem with schools like Blue Bells and Sanskriti where the online form shows several errors. “Parents have to run around from one school to another because the online method doesn’t work. Most parents apply to over 25 schools and if the online thing doesn’t work, it means they have to run around,” said a parent from South Delhi.