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School Admissions – An Advice To Parents

It is admissions time and parents are already feeling the edginess to get their child admitted in the preferred school. To seek an admission in the right school has become a speciality, and parents who have a kid admitted in the school can tell you more. It is more complicated for parents who seek nursery admission for their children.

There are many reasons that make school admission process a taxing job for the parents. One of the most obvious one is the limited seats or admissions in the schools. The number of preferred schools is less and there are limited seats available in the schools. These factors are responsible for selection processes, wherein schools favour the selection of the appropriate candidates.

In nursery school admission, it has been argued that schools must not offer admission on the basis of such criteria which may turn unfavourable to the less privileged class. It is true that the judgement of not selecting a child based on few questions and answers asked to the child itself or the candidates is   somewhat flawed.

The true potential of the child is realized much later and even then an education institution cannot deny the right of education to those who face natural difficulties in reading, comprehension, retention or any other aspect. That is where a good school and institution provides the remedy. Rather than selecting and polishing the studious and intelligent students, a good school educates trains and builds competencies even the most disadvantaged students.

Is Your Child Prepared For The Interviews
Interviews have been discouraged by government authorities following unfair practices in the last few years. However, admitting children without even a single question asked or an interaction is also not a very good idea. The education providers or schools have the right to know as who is being admitted in the school. But interactions in this regard may be limited and favour all.

Some commonly asked questions in nursery admissions are given below:

• The age of the child? Parents have to mention the age of the child and also provide proof for the same. The question may be asked to the kid as well.

• About the health of the child – schools make sure that they have the information regarding allergies or any health related issue with the child to be admitted.

• Potty training. During parent interactions school authorities might ask about the potty training, about tantrums or any peculiar information which might help to know the child better.

• Children are asked such questions as - what is your name, what is your father’s name, what is your mother’s name? Do you have any brother? How much old are you? How much old is your brother? What is the colour of your clothes? How many days are in week? What comes after Tuesday?

Notifications and Dates
The month of December is a high time for school admissions in most North Indian states. Admissions and admission process continue till January, after which the rate slows down. Notifications and dates are often published in the newspapers and through advertisements in local channels. Parents need to have a close watch on the notifications and important dates to avoid any discomfort later on.

Many parents choose not to indulge their children in discussions/activities regarding the admission procedure of various schools. This feeling stems from the fact that if the child begins to ponder over why he wasn’t able to get admission in a certain ‘big’ school, it could jeopardise his/her self-image/confidence. However, most parents find it difficult to hide such facts from their children.

The reason is simple — children today are smart enough to figure out if they have been rejected or not. Seeing their parents running frantically from one school to another, submitting the admission forms and the look of despair when the admission isn’t entertained leaves no unsolved mystery for the child. Some, psychiatrists though believe that children shouldn’t be kept in the dark about such information. Instead, children should be pre-prepared for such a transition and I in dealing with the forthcoming failures/rejections — playschool to a formal school, which may or may not be of the parents’ choice.

Children should be made to understand that the design or the size of the school, that usually does get a child fixated on a particular school, really doesn’t matter and that he/she would eventually make new friends and have caring teachers. For this purpose, it is suggested that children shouldn’t be taken along to each school when seeking admission. This could confuse the child’s judgement or make him obsessive about a certain kind of school. It is best to apply to a good number of schools and take the child to only those schools where his/her candidature is most likely to be accepted.

I came across a news snippet regarding school admissions in Delhi and feel the need to share it with the audience. As we know many schools have adopted the score based system of admitting the children in the school, especially nursery admissions, there is some good news for parents whose children are more than three years.

As per reports, a number of schools  award more points to children ho are above the age of 3 years. Some schools award 10 and some 15 points for children of age above 4 years and below 4 and a half years. This provision follows as part of the obligation by the education bodies to prioritize the school admissions for less privileged cases.

It can be viewed as a positive development as children who are just two years and above can wait another year or find it better at preparatory schools. Children who are above 3 years or 4 years should be admitted, otherwise they will find themselves with lesser age groups.