Why window for nursery admissions is likely to be the longest this season

Gurgaon: The pandemic has thrown unprecedented challenges both at parents and schools, which has made the ongoing nursery admission season a peculiar one. It’s not just about coming to terms with online classes for the tiny tots. Admissions have been generally slower, and the budget pool of nursery seats appears to have shrunk because many second-tier schools that don’t have the infrastructure and funds big private schools do are either shut or struggling with the framework for online classes. This has thinned options for parents who cannot afford the bigger schools.
According to school associations and admission consultancy groups, nursery seats demand has been particularly tepid in budget schools that have started the admission process as well. “There’s a stark difference between leading private schools and us,” said Bhisham Bhardwaj, director, Drona Public School. “There, admissions (this year) are all about getting a seat. Budget schools, however, are preferred by those who are not as affluent. Because of the pandemic, people have lost jobs and businesses have taken a hit. Some have even left the city. All of this has reduced admission requests to a trickle,” he added.
In contrast, the big schools have used technology to customise the admission process by giving parents virtual campus tours, conducting interviews and guiding them on online training for kids. Suncity School, for example, says the number of applications for nursery and kindergarten this year has been on a par with previous years. Campus tours were given to parents starting by school staff, starting from the entry gate and playground to classrooms, libraries and assembly areas, over Zoom calls attended by groups of 100. Through video calls, some students of classes four and five were also asked to talk about safety measures adopted by the school during the pandemic. Many other leading schools have done the same.
“The overall process was missing a human touch this time. Other than that, the admissions were smooth and similar to last time,” said Rupa Chakravarty, director of the school.
The enrolment procedure started around July, like previous years, but in a deviation from the usual, the nature of queries that schools received were mostly about their Covid-preparedness, digital infrastructure and impact of the new education policy on the curriculum. School officials said amid the uncertainty regarding reopening of educational institutions and parents not wanting to send their kids to school because of the pandemic, admissions have been slower this year, even in the more well-known schools.
As a result, the current nursery admission season could be the longest with the process staying open well into next year. The usual admission window opens in July-August and closes by the end of November. Ryan International School, for instance, has decided to keep the application window open till January. “The admission requests have certainly slowed down. That’s primarily because many people have left the city due to the work-from-home provision. There also appears to be a tendency among some to wait it out,” said Peeya Sharma, the principal.
The situation is unlikely to change any time soon, feels Tripti Singh, a parent and administrator of a Facebook forum called ‘Gurgaon Parents for Better Education’. “There have been very few queries from parents about schools this time. Many parents that I know are not interested in enrolling their children in any school this year and want to wait it out for a few more months,” she said.
A parent who admitted his daughter to The Shri Ram School, however, said he faced no problems during the admission process, during which he interacted with multiple schools. “The overall process was unexpectedly smooth and well-organised. I had applied to various leading private schools and didn’t face any issue as such. They had virtual meetings and school tours. Few schools also had a draw system. They had called parents online, sending Zoom links to us. And it was very transparent, striking confidence,” he said.