* Three days after they brought their newborn daughter home, Aditya and Meenakshi Narainof Patparganj in East Delhi received a pamphlet inviting them to enroll their child into school. Addressed to the child (care of her father), the letter was from Mother’s Pride School.
* Neha Jain, a Vivek Vihar resident, says she, too, received a brochure from Mother’s Pride within a month of her son’s birth.

Welcome to the world of primary education, where a boom in the sector has meant parents are a sought-after species within days of the child’s birth. The Mother’s Pride group of schools, for instance, offers pre-registration facility to parents with children aged up to one year, while another popular chain, Eurokids, registers children who are over 11 months.

“We register children who may be as young as one day old if their parents approach us,” says Sarita Sayal, director (public relations), Mother’s Pride. She says data about children is gathered through references from parents who approach the school for admissions, or through forms for baby shows organised regularly by the chain.

But a representative (name withheld on request) at a Mother’s Pride school franchise in North Delhi says the schools get data on children directly from hospitals. Each branch, he says, contacts the big hospitals in the area and local gynaecologists for information about childbirths. He says the school chain has a dedicated staff in the public relations department to contact hospitals and parents.

Another arena where parents can register their children are the regular baby shows organised by Mother’s Pride. “I took my six-month-old son for a baby show at Mother’s Pride in Vivek Vihar on March 22, where a counsellor advised us to register our child,” East Delhi resident Poonam Mittal says. “She said we will get a waiver on fees and other discounts.”

... contd.