Adding to the stress of parents for the second consecutive year, there is complete confusion regarding nursery admissions among them. With DoE approaching Supreme Court and schools starting admissions as per their schedule, parents don’t know if they should apply or wait. According to most parents, if the Supreme Court puts a stay on the interim order by the High Court, their money and time would be wasted.
“If we go for admissions and we put our money, effort and time and if a stay is put on the High Court verdict then what is the guarantee the money will be refundedIJ What is the validity of admissions happening now onwards till January 5. We don’t know these basic details. Applying to so many schools means a lot of money is being spent. It’s not a joke,” said Amrita a parent.
Most parents apply to nearly 20 to 25 schools for their kids as they aren’t sure where they would fit the criteria. Thus, for parents this uncertainty means draining of resources. “I am applying for 30-35 schools, even though I am getting sibling points for my child in one. However, I can’t take any risk. In 2012 I applied for my daughter in around 35 schools and got her name selected in just one. Now the point is if I have to keep applying and reapplying again and again, where will resources come fromIJ” asked Ramesh Shankar, another parent from East Delhi. Meanwhile, founder of admissionsnursery.com
Sumit Vohra called this a “catch-22 situation” for parents. “If they fill the forms and a stay order is given by Supreme Court then all the money, time and resources along with deposit of admission fees which some schools ask for before will go down the drain. And if they don’t apply now and the appeal in SC is rejected they will miss out all the admissions. The big question is will schools stop the admissions as the advisory/notice has not been served by DoE directly to schools but by a lawyer representing schools. It’s really a pathetic situation for all the parents,” said Vohra.
However, many schools in the Capital are still going ahead with the admission procedure. Ameeta Mulla Wattal, principal of Springdales School said, “We were given a go-ahead by the High Court and we will go ahead with the admissions on Saturday.