INTERVIEW OF PARENTS FOR ADMISSION OF KIDS.

Admission procedure of Toddlers to Schools in India has been very defective and has come for a lot of criticism and flack. Parents raised the issue in The Supreme Court of India. Ganguli Committee Recommendations were tried for a Session and finally the Court gave detailed ruling on each contentious issue. But there have been very little changes.
Small Kids and the Parents are interviewed and the process is called "Interaction."
Parents are to fill Registration Forms that seek all personal, educational, professional, financial information. Besides, questions like: "How will you help the School?”- “How much time will you devote to supporting your child with School work" are asked If one makes it to the list of shortlisted applicants for Admission, one has to attend an Interview at a fixed time on a scheduled date.
Parents are grilled. Sometimes perplexing questions like: "Who attends to the child when both of you are working?', " How much time do you regularly spend with your child?', “In which language do you converse at home?",', "How often do you take your child out with you to a Circus, a Zoo, a riverside, a holiday trip?”are asked. Parents are tense and stressed. They look for agents and touts, pay under the table and get the Admission of their wards confirmed. The School Authorities say that it is more a process of elimination rather than selection.
Supreme Court has laid down a policy where Schools are required to give weight age to Proximity, Siblings, Alma-mater, Qualification of Parents, Girl Child, Management Criteria (To be announced in advance) and allot marks to each. Hence the List of Admitted/ Selected students has to be put up on the School Notice Board.
The Schools need to Interact with the parents on a regular basis. The home and the School have to co-operate for the education of the child. The School needs to Orient the Parents on its Philosophy, Teaching Methodology followed, Assessment Procedure, Learning Outcomes expected in a Term or Month or Week. The Parents need to keep the School informed about the changes they observe in the child’s behaviour and what they expect.
Education level of parents does have an impact on the child’s education and upbringing but then there are glaring instances of children from slums and of rickshaw-pullers topping, not only the Board Exams but also in Competitive exams. I would say NO to refusing admission to any child on the grounds of his parents not being adequately educated.
In a Socialistic, Democratic Republic committed to Equality and Equalisation of Educational Opportunities, admission can not be denied on the grounds of Parents Qualification or their financial status. Even private (what we in India call Public Schools) that do not receive or accept Funds and Grants from the State, have a moral obligation to admit and educate one and all.
I am of the firm belief that we must have Neighbourhood Schools and all Children within a particular radius-be it 1km to 3 km’s- should be admitted to this School. This will bring children from different sections of the society together and we shall have strong Foundations of a future societal order.

As on date, we have Branded Schools, Schools for the Affluent, Public Schools, Government Schools and Minority run Schools. Each has its own characteristics, strengths and weaknesses and ‘believe me each is contributing in dividing the Society into the Elitist and the Non-elitist, the Highbrows and the Lowbrows, the One’s that get all facilities and exposure and the others who are deprived of the basic facilities’. What pains me that education is meant to create an egalitarian society and our Schools are creating divisions.
The ripple effect has begun.”