Hundreds of parents were seen waiting in serpentine queues in front of top, private CBSE schools in the city on December 1 to get an application form for kindergarten classes.
“I reached the school around 5 am today but there were about 100 persons already in the queue. When I enquired with them, some said they were in front of the school gate by 4 am. I had to wait for over four hours to get an application form,” said Mr S. Satish, an IT professional.
Ms S. Shanthi, another parent, pointed out that school managements refuse to provide application form if a kid has been born between October and December 2009 as the child should complete three-and-a-half years at the time of admission.
“It is not clear why schools have such a practice. Only a few schools evade parents like this. If they are going to follow such harsh rules, I don’t know what parents like me will do to admit our children. Do they need to wait for yet another year for no reason?” she asked.
Some parents were even ready to admit their tinytots in schools as far as 10 km away as they lack good quality schools in their neighbourhood.
“I want my son to get educated in this school as it has been producing top rankholders for several years. I don’t mind making my kid travel 10 km and I also know that I have to spend more than `1,500 for transport, but I am doing all this only for his betterment,” Ms Priya, a parent, reasoned.