With kindergarten admissions under way, most schools have adopted the first-come-first-serve criterion. While they are unable to clearly justify why they accept forms even after getting the requisite applications for the number of seats, experts are mulling over bringing more fairness into the procedure.  

A school has, on average, around 100 seats for KG and nursery classes every academic year. But the number of admission forms sold is much higher than the seats.

Parents feel the procedure of first-come-first-serve is a mere eyewash. “There is no fair play involved as schools give admission according to their whims and fancies. It has rarely happened that just the first 100 students get through. This is the reason why parents have to apply in so many schools,” said Kavita, a mother.

Agreed Viren Sood, another parent, “If the schools are so sure about this being an unbiased method, then they should tell parents once they receive the required number of forms. On the contrary, they encourage us to apply in their school so that they have a larger stock to choose from.”  

Of the over 70 private schools, only a handful including St Kabir and St Anne’s give admission on the basis of a draw of lots.

Meanwhile, schools claim it is parents who want to keep more options in hand. “Parents want to try their luck at all schools possible. We do not stop taking forms once they exceed the number of seats as many of them never come back and we have to fill the seats. But the final admission lists are finalised on first-come-first-serve basis only,” claimed ABS Sidhu, director, Saupin’s School.

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