Nursery admission: Living near school tops list of criteria, quota seats allotted

With nursery admission in Delhi set to begin from January 1, schools have started announcing admission criteria. Schools have allotted seats for children belonging to different quotas.

For instance, Mount St Mary's School in Delhi Cantonment has reserved 70 per cent seats for children of defence personnel and civilians in the cantonment area. Of 135 seats in pre-primary classes, 95 are reserved for this category. "A draw of lots will be conducted in case there are more than 95 applicants," the school website said. The school has scheduled submission and collection of registration forms on separate dates for different categories.

Going by the new 100-point system, most points have been allotted to the proximity of the child's home to the school. Bal Bhavan Public School, Mayur Vihar, will give up to 30 points to those living within a distance of 5 km from the school, whereas Carmel Convent School in Chanakyapuri will give 25 points to those living within 2 km of the school.

Bal Bhavan will also award extra points to candidates falling under the "special grounds" category. This includes children of state and national awardees, Defence personnel, single parents and children of transferable employees. Each of these sub-categories will get five points.

Cambridge Primary School in New Friends Colony will award points for "cultural and linguistic integration and parents with inter-cultural background". Points are not being awarded to children with special needs or if their parents are physically challenged.

Last year, parents had protested against the sibling and alumni criteria.

According to a survey of 200 parents by a blog called nurseryadmissions.com, 53.2 per cent said the neighbourhood criteria should be the only quota for admissions.

Most schools have reserved maximum points for neighbourhood criteria.

Talking about points being awarded to different criteria by schools, Sumit Vohra, founder of a blog on nursery admission said, "There has not been a major change from last year. Some schools, like last year are flouting rules by giving points on the basis of parents' professions."

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