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Nursery schools, gear up for a strict timetable

Hindustan Times, 30 October 09

Parents seeking nursery admission for their child in schools in the Capital can relax. In an bid to put an end to the chaos that ensues as the process for nursery admissions begins, the Directorate of Education (DoE) on Thursday issued a circular informing all the schools in the Capital about a common schedule for admissions to pre-primary or nursery. Parents this year will have more time to fill up and submit the application forms.

As per the earlier schedule, the sale of admission forms started on December 15 and last date for submission of forms was January 7, whereas now application forms can be submitted till January 15, 2010. The other change in the schedule is, in case of any proposed deviation from the schedule, the school has to intimate the DoE, on or before 4 pm on November 15, 2009 as opposed to the earlier date of December 14.

The circular said all schools have to abide by the uniform dates for commencement and closure.

“The schedule has to be followed by all and any deviation will be considered a violation,” said a senior officer with the DoE.

“The idea behind the fixed dates is to stop schools from dragging the admission process for months on end which causes inconvenience to parents.”

Most parents and teachers have welcomed the decision. “It's a very good move. A fixed schedule helps us plan our visits to various schools better,” said Shivani Mehta, who is seeking admission for her daughter. “If all schools abide by the move, the tension associated with nursery admissions will cease to exist. I also disagree with some schools who see it as impinging on their authority,” said Usha Ram, principal, Laxman Public School.

But SL Jain, principal, Mahavir Jain School and ex-chairman of National Progressive Schools' Conference disagrees. “I think schools should have autonomy to decide their own schedule and not be forced...SC guidelines should be respected in this regard,” said Jain.

Though most school were awaiting an official communication from the DoE, some like Bal Bharti School, whose three branches in Gangaram Marg, Dwarka and Rohini have already started their admission process online from October 26, said that they have not received any communication barring them from starting their admissions earlier than the scheduled date.

Read the story in Hindustan Times