Anupama Girotra carefully coordinated her daughter’s outfit before an interaction session at two schools in Noida for nursery admissions. She dressed her in pink from head to toe. Even the ribbons in her hair were pink.

“I don’t want to get her confused if the school asks her to identify the colours she is wearing,” she said.

Seven years ago, Anupama was doing the rounds of the city schools for her elder daughter. She remembered the trick from one of the playschool sessions she had attended then.

Not much has changed since. Nursery admissions are still a frenzied affair in the city and the NCR region, she said.

The questions were much simpler then, she said. At that time, Delhi schools were allowed to interview children. Now, a High Court order bans any interaction with the child. The schools can have an informal interaction with the parents. Schools in the NCR, however, are not barred from interacting with the children.

“Earlier, they would ask the child to pick out an apple from a fruit tray or to point out a particular colour,” Anupama said. “Expectations have now gone up. They aren’t satisfied with the child recognising a lion in a picture. They also ask the child if it is a wild animal. The child should at least know at least two poems.”

At Amity International School in Noida, the couple spent more than an hour answering a set of 30 questions before the second round of interactions.

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