As nursery admission registration for the economically weaker sections/ disadvantaged group (EWS/DG) in 1,700 private schools began on Monday, most parents faced problems in finding schools within their neighbourhood. With neighbourhood being the main criteria for admission under the 25 per cent EWS/DG reservation category, parents are worried. Further, the online portal is displaying old names of localities that existed several years ago, while new names are yet to be updated. Ekramul Haque of Mission Taaleem explained, “While we were helping parents fill out the forms, we found locality names that existed 30 years ago on the online portal. New localities have not been updated yet. For instance, when we select Subhash Mohalla in Yamuna Vihar no schools came up in the online system; but when we selected the old name — Babarpur — the system reflected the schools around the area. To avoid confusion, the government needs to sort this out.” Similar problems had been reported last year, when close to 11,000 seats remained vacant. The Directorate of Education (DoE) had to hold a third draw of lots in November last year. Once an application form is filled, a draw of lots is held by the DoE and the schools. This year, the last date for filling forms is February 21 and the draw of lots will be held on March 7. “There are several schools around my locality, but we couldn’t select any when we logged onto the online portal. I do not want to lose the opportunity, so I am going to wait for a few days till the problem is fixed,” said Himadri Singh, who lives in Rohini, and wants to get his daughter admitted to a private school. However, a senior DoE official claimed that this time, they have formed a committee for “inclusion/deletion of residential areas along with the private schools in different zones” to address this issue. “If there are any more problems, the zone-wise committee will look into it,” said the official, on condition of anonymity.
