The new nursery admission guidelines may have put an end to all speculation over the criteria, but have left the schools in a tizzy over the implementation.
Schools, already displeased by the new guidelines for admissions that snatched away the autonomy from them by bringing a fixed point system, are now at loggerheads over how to measure the distance of six kilometers, a criteria that gives 70 points to children living within this distance from the school.
Schools across the Capital are mulling over various options such as using Google maps to ascertain the distance and make the selection a fair and transparent one. The institutions believe that this method is logical and accurate. "Aerial view is better than any other way to ascertain the distance as there will be more accuracy and it will help in fair admissions. This method is suitable and apt for schools located in densely-populated areas like ours," said Jyoti Arora, Principal of Mount Abu School in Rohini.
Jeanie, Principal of Ambience School, also opined that Google maps were a better method to determine the distance as any other will way will be difficult and unfair. "Aerial way is better than any other method, but we will also send our people out and then decide how it has to be done," she said.
While some schools support the idea of aerial view mapping, some found the method impractical and preferred road mapping through bus-route system. "Google maps will not solve the confusion as there are schools which do not have a residential area within that range. We are thinking about it and should be able to decide soon. However, we prefer the bus-route method because schools like ours are left with only this option," said Ritu Pathak, Principal of GD Goenka School, Rohini —adding that it would have been better if this too could be decided by the Department of Education.
The admission process begins on January 15, giving 20 days to the schools to decide on the lieutenant Governor's order on the guidelines. "There is enough time and schools can choose between satellite mapping and road mapping. They may also take assistance from the Urban Development Ministry for mapping the area," said advocate Khagesh Jha of Social Jurist, a civil rights group.