The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Parents brace themselves up for KG admissions

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Jan 21, 2008
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Parents brace themselves up for KG admissions

Meera Srinivasan

— PHOTO: K.V.SRINIVASAN

IN LINE: Parents form a queue outside a school in Central Chennai earlier this month to obtain admission forms.

CHENNAI: It is that time of the year when parents form long queues outside sought-after schools. Phone calls are frantically made to schools’ trustees and letters of recommendation do the rounds. In some cases, huge sums are paid in return for a kindergarten seat.

Though the next academic year is about six months away, the admissions scene in city schools seems to be buzzing with activity. At Chettinad Vidyashram School, for instance, application forms for kindergarten admissions were distributed during the last week of December and the first week of January. Principal of the school S. Bhavanishankar says the applications will be scrutinised in February, and admissions finalised by March.

He says parents are very well-informed about the age requirements and other criteria schools expect them to meet. “We have applied to three good schools near our locality for my three-year-old son. From what other parents tell me, it looks like we have to either shell out lot of money or get really big people to recommend for us,” says a parent residing at Kilpauk.

Though admissions largely pertain to kindergarten sections, the race is also on for Class XI admissions, particularly in State Board and Matriculation schools.

Principal of DAV Matriculation Ramaa Subramaniam says this year the school will consider admissions after Class X board examinations are over. “We have six sections and we are bound to have vacancies. But, we will issue application forms only after March.” The rush is evidently for the private schools. But, of late, a few government and Corporation schools are receiving more attention than they used to, in their neighbourhoods.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Tamil Nadu