Bangalore: Suresh Kumar, a software engineer, and his wife took turns to stand in a queue for three days. Their car driver relieved them during the chilly night for a Rs. 800 tip.

What could have awaited them at the end of the queue that inspired such devotion and perseverance? An application to admit their only child to a pre-primary class in a "prestigious" school in south Bangalore.

Not that this devotion alone ensured a seat for the child.

This was followed by yet another standing-in-queue ritual to return the filled application, two sets of interviews for them and the child, and last, but not the least, a hefty donation.

This is an annual ritual in several "high-status" schools in the months of October-November, with only the length of the queue and the donation sum varying with the quantum of "prestige" the school carries.

This is a process that reduces parents to beggars and thrusts unreasonable expectations on children as young as three.

The perfect school

Karuna, a mediaperson who went on a "pilgrimage" seeking the perfect school and eventually put her child in a one that was closest to her house, can now look back at it all with a hearty laugh. She made four trips to one particular school — to register the name, to collect the application, for the interview and finally to meet the principal, "the presiding deity" in her words.

And the deity was interested in nothing except "dakshina." Yet another school evolved a polite way of asking for donation: "How can you help our poor school?" One kind soul, Karuna's distant relative, built a basketball court for the "poor school."

Funny, but it also grave a comment on the absurd lengths to which managements and parents can go in the name of education, flouting rules laid down by the government every step of the way.

A sample of rules: schools cannot start admission process before April; parents cannot be subjected to interviews; and there are clear guidelines on how much tuition fee and "betterment charge" (mind you, not donation) even unaided, private schools can charge.

Though CBSE and ICSE schools do not come under the purview of the Karnataka Education Act, per se even they have norms to follow under the provisions of other acts.

Capitation fee

For instance, no school in the State can collection capitation fee under Karnataka Educational Institutions (Prohibition of Capitation Fee) Act 1984.

All these rules are flouted by everybody in the business (literally).

The law-enforcing authorities look the other way for a "fee" and parents are drawn to the mirage of "quality education" like moths to flame. All this in a larger system that measures "knowledge" in terms of the "sophistication" of the child's English accent.

Transparency

Not that there have been no efforts to make the system more transparent and accountable.

The Ashok Ganguly Committee, for instance, arrived at a set of guidelines to streamline nursery admission in private schools in Delhi.

It evolved a "points system" that takes into account many parameters, including the proximity of the school to the child's house. On the subjecting children to tests, the Ganguly Committee made a sane observation: "The process of interview subjects the tiny tots to a lot of tension and anxiety. Further, if they are not selected after attending the interview, they experience a sense of rejection which is contrary to all sound educational principles. There is potential in every child and it is the school's and society's responsibility to draw out this potential and look to the healthy growth and development of every child including those with special needs and the economically or socially deprived sections bearing in mind the value of inclusivity in education."

Proposal

The Department of Public Instruction has sent a proposal to the Government to streamline nursery admissions in private schools in Karnataka on the lines of this report.

There is no sign as yet of the Government paying heed to it.

On the other hand, the Supreme Court has done a signal service by directing the government to regulate the fee structure of Delhi's private schools. Whether that will lead to an improvement of the situation remains to be seen.

(Some names have

been changed)

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