Too many kids, very few quality schools

BANGALORE: When Priyanka Darshan's boss told her she must relocate to Bangalore from April 2013, nothing worried her more than her four-year-old's school admission in the IT city. And the moment she walked out of her boss's cabin, the next thing was to call a cousin in Bangalore and ask her to pick up applications in at least six schools in the city.This was in December 2012 -- a good six months before the academic year commenced.
"Finalising the house was all secondary. We will take up a house in the area where Pratik's school is likely to be. Everything else revolved around the school admission. I am still waiting for a response from these schools. The first list is expected to be out only in February while some schools closed admissions in December. I am willing to pay up all my savings to ensure he gets into a good school," says the 30-year- old techie.
Priyanka is a desperate and helpless parent. Last week saw parents and guardians queueing up in front of a prominent convent school all night just to get application forms. For parents, getting that application form is the first biggest consolation in the admission saga. "I have a three- year-old and I have picked up application forms from eight schools, not necessarily in my neighbourhood. I am hopeful of getting one,'' says Madhuri Bhattacharya.
The ratio is really skewed. The demand (read chase) is only for a maximum of 50 schools of the 900-odd schools in the city which offer both state and central syllabus "The concept of the neighbourhood school (where a child goes to the school only in his neighbourhood) and the various other rules governing school admissions have all come to a naught because the demand is only for a few schools. For a parent it does not matter if the child is travelling 20 km if the school is good. Then, there is the hype factor for some schools. The concept of a good school is relative. Parents do not take pride in sending their child to a school that is not famous or prominent,'' says V P Niranjanaradhya, of the Centre for Child and Law at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore.
The selection process itself is mind-boggling, A prominent group of schools in the city has four layers of preferences (alumni, teachers' children, siblings and influential persons) before the vacancy is thrown open to the general category (none of the above). "All this only for nursery admissions. If your child is, say, in Class 6 and your company is relocating you, then there is no chance of you getting a slot. Schools shut the door. Then, the only option is to leave the child behind and take up the job or quit the company,'' said Soujanya Prakash who quit her job in an MNC because she could not disturb her daughter's education.
The stress is not just on parents, it's also for principals who run these famous or most-sought-after schools. Principals change their mobile numbers, go for de-stressing sessions to cope with the demand from parents and politicians for that coveted seat.
"The ratio of application forms issued versus the number of seats is 3:1. But we were told not to restrict the issuance of application forms as it curtailed the rights of the parents to pick up the forms. Given a choice, schools should not be distributing 400 forms for 40 seats. Its ridiculous. But forget denying seat, even refusal to give application forms angers parents. What do we do? How do we cope with the demand?'' asked a CEO of a prominent school.
The solution clearly lies in not just increasing access to school education for children by opening more schools every year but in ensuring that there are more schools in the city that impart quality education, have brilliant teachers, produce good results in the board examinations, so that parents go beyond the 50 schools that are sought after year after year.