School flouts norms and starts sale of nursery forms

In an outright disregard for rules laid down by the Directorate of Education, Presidium school on Monday put on sale admission forms for two of its branches in Delhi. The season for nursery admissions is still five months away. But one school begs to differ.

The advertisement, which appeared in newspapers and is also uploaded on the school’s official website, says admission for Nursery to Class V in four branches — at Pitampura, Dwarka, Gurgaon and Indirapuram — has begun.

Ironically, it also mentions that the admissions will be done according to the “ directives of the Directorate of Education/ government rules”. Presidium Schools are run by Mother’s Pride, a chain of playschools in Delhi. While the Gurgaon and Indirapuram schools are not under the purview of the Delhi government, those in Pitampura and Dwarka are.

They are bound by the order of the directorate, which states that “ all schools (in Delhi) shall have uniform dates for commencement and closure of admission”. Last year, the admission season in the Capital kicked off on December 15 and closed on March 31, 2010. No deviation was allowed in terms of the commencement and closure, that is, all schools were expected to wrap up their process within the above time period.

The common calendar was introduced with the purpose of posing little inconvenience to parents. “ We do not want them to run from pillar to post for months at a stretch, hence the rule,” a government official in the department of education said.

Presidium’s announcement goes against this rule and it could attract the ire of the government.

“Our last year’s order stands valid unless we issue new directives. And we have no official intimation from Presidium about them selling forms already,” the officer added.

Rohit Kapoor, the administrator of Presidium, Dwarka, confirmed the sale of nursery forms for his branch when this reporter called him up posing as a parent. Forms will be available only till the month end.

“It is plain competition that makes schools follow different dates for admission. This just adds to the anxiety of parents, especially working couples. The common calendar has made their job much easier,” said Sumit Vohra, who runs admissionsnursery. com , a website that helps parents gearing up for the admission grind.