Parents feel the heat as admission season begins

KANPUR: The admission season has began as parents have started hunting for 'good schools' to get their child enrolled in nursery or playgroup in the city.
From filling an application form to preparing the child for the interview, the nursery admission has become a herculean task for the parents these days. More than 200 schools are offering admissions in playgroup and nursery.These schools emphasise on parents' interview as well.
At a time when tiny tots are least aware about the pressure of getting enrolled in a reputed school, the parents are experiencing interview blues.
Renu Mishra, a housewife, and her husband Ajay Kumar, a businessman, are busy these days taking tips from a relative on how to attend an interview.
The couple is not looking for a job at a coveted company but preparing to get their son Raman admitted in the LKG class of a prestigious school.
Taking into consideration the popularity of schools and their fee structure, thousands of parents like Mishras are facing the pre-admission blues.
Madhu Chauhan, a resident of Swarup Nagar, said, "To get my child admitted in nursery, I had started teaching him simple rhymes which he can recite in front of teachers. Many people have told me that schools even judge parents before admitting the child. So we also have to prepare ourselves for an interview."
However, various school authorities claim that the interviews of the parents and the child are just an interaction.
"It is just a general interaction with the child and his parents to check whether the child is fit to study in our school. People now term it an interview. Interviewing parents during admissions is more of a false belief that has come from metros. During interaction, we see whether the child is normal by observing his movements - whether he/she can speak, hear and see properly. Above all, we see whether the child can learn in a normal school," said Prerna Mussaddi of one of the prominent private schools for kids.
In most schools, the admissions start with a formal notice either through an advertisement or at the school notice board notifying about the date and availability of the admission forms.
Another common complaint shared by the parents is the absence of transparency when it comes to admission process as they are still clueless on the parameters used to select and admit the child.
Though most schools list out the parameters, the parents doubt whether they are followed.
There are various private schools which take admissions on 'first come, first served' basis.
Archana Nigam, headmistress of Delhi Public School (DPS), said that her school does not have any interview system to admit students. "As such, the seats in our school are fixed," she said.
She added, "More and more people want to admit their children in DPS, so more branches of the school have emerged in other parts of the city. Now people can admit their children in our another branch."
With the mushrooming and flourishing of branches of well-established private schools in every nook and corner of the city, the parents now have many options for admitting their wards in nursery or playgroup. All they need is enough money to secure a seat for their child.