NEW DELHI: As a parent of a three-year-old, you may be all excited to visit the schools as the nursery admission season peaks for the academic session 2024-25 but don’t be surprised if the schools ask for `5,000 or a whopping Rs 30,000 as the quarterly fees just to book a seat in advance.
Even though the registration process for the admissions got over on December 15, the city schools are apparently calling up parents and inviting them for several other things, in the name of ‘document verification processes’. Surprisingly, some parents shared that educational institutions, including Green Fields Public School in Vivek Vihar, after an hour-long interaction with the parents asked for ` 5,000 to book a seat in advance.
A parent seeking anonymity said, “After chit-chatting with us for an hour and explaining the features of the school and fee structures and the achievements, the concerned official simply told us that if we wish to book a seat in advance, then we can pay Rs 5,000 upfront and the balance a day before the release of the first list.”
Parents droping their child to nursery school | PTI File photo“On being told that we wish to wait for the first list scheduled for January 12, the official said that there is no point of waiting because the schools will admit the students on the basis of first come first serve so it is better to get a seat booked,” the parent further added.
Similarly, another school named Plato Public School called the parents for the document verification and instead asked the parents to deposit the quarterly fee of Rs 32000 and book a seat.
One of the parents, Stuti Marwaha said, “The most common factor in all the schools calling us to visit is that none of them is verifying the documents. They are not concerned about the file we prepared before coming to the school. Their sole purpose of calling the parents is to discuss what all their school offers and trap them to book their seat.”
Recently, this newspaper also reported about Lovely Public School and AVB Public School in Madhu Vihar where a similar practice was being observed.
However, these schools are reportedly going unchecked; as there is a dedicated committee or an authority to check these ill-practices unless some parents officially file a complaint. Speaking to the newspaper, a senior official of the education department of Delhi government said, “In such cases, I urge the parents to file a complaint against a specific school at the email id given on the official website of the education department.”
Admission in Delhi’s private schools for general category students in nursery, KG and Class 1 began in November. The last date for submission of admission forms is December 15 and the first list for admission will be released on January 12, according to the DoE.
The schools would be available to address parental queries from January 13 to January 22, following the publication of the initial list of admission, according to circular issued by the government.
ALLEGATIONS LEVELLED BY PARENTS
Received call from school for document verification. Fee structure, facilities offered explained Asked to pay Rs 5,000 in advance to book a seat Told to pay more amount after admission Some schools demanding quaterly fee in advance. School fee of few schools is as high as Rs 3,000.
