Nursery admissions: First list out fuels dejection among many

Meenakshi Sharma,a home-maker from Chawri Bazar felt crushed each time she saw a school noticeboard without her three-year-old daughter’s name on it. “It is the saddest day of my life,” she said.

There were many parents who took leave from work and went school-hopping throughout the day,checking the school results. Manisha Srivastava,her husband and four-year-old son Harsh in tow,was waiting outside St Columba’s School on Ashoka Road.

“The list will be out at 3. We have some time,” said Manisha. But he was not too hopeful. “We applied for admission to kindergarten,but Harsh’s chances of getting through are very low. The school is allotting points for Christians,sibling,alumni and neighbourhood — we do not fall in any of these categories.”

Many city schools had released their first lists earlier,with the Directorate of Education (DoE) setting February 1 as the last date for schools to do so. Sardar Patel Vidyalaya on Lodhi Road,Heritage School in Rohini and St Thomas at Karol Bagh are,however,yet to release their first lists.

Priyanka Sharma,a parent from East Delhi,looked dejected after scanning the list at one of schools in Central Delhi. “This was the only school I applied to in Delhi.”

But she was not too worried. “I had applied to Amity International in Ghaziabad last year and my son secured a seat there.”

While dejection ruled on one hand,others celebrated. Interior designer Namita Jain was jubilant after her son Nivaan got admission in R S Junior Modern School.

“Both my daughters are in Modern,so I qualified for the sibling criteria. I am so happy. It is a big weight off my chest.”

Nazmeen from Daryaganj,a parent who applied under the EWS category in a city school,was happy. “My son got through. My worries are over.”