The red brick structure of Delhi Public School (DPS) Ghaziabad stands in stark contrast to the dusty road that leads to the school.

Located on the Delhi-Meerut highway and spread over 15 acres, the campus offers Wi-Fi facility and is also home to six international-quality cricket pitches, four basketball courts and a skating rink.

The 29-year-old school is naturally one of the popular choices for parents in Ghaziabad.

“The school has a unique login ID for each student. This system allows us to be in touch with the progress in the classrooms. The teachers are very tech-savvy and are extremely organised,” said Dr Anju Rai, a gynaecologist, whose two sons study in the school.

“If my child is unable to attend school, we can access the lessons taught in class through this system.”

The school has 3,000 students and 160 permanent teachers led by an award-winning principal.

“The teacher student ratio is 35:1. This helps us give individualised attention to every student,” said Kumkum Sahai, headmistress of the secondary wing.

“Personal contact classes are held for students who are weak and teachers are constantly trained to cater to the needs of the students.”

One extra hour of sports before the school starts every morning is proof of how much importance the school gives to sports.

The world-class sporting facilities at the school have borne outstanding results too.

“Initially my parents weren’t keen on me pursuing swimming. But once I won an event and my photograph appeared in the newspapers, my parents agreed,” said nine-year-old Saira Sirohi, a Class 5 student.

She is one of the youngest swimmers in the country to cover a distance of 38 kilometre in the record time of 16 hours and 35 minutes.

Pooja Chaudhry, whose three daughters study in the school, said, “Children hardly go out to play nowadays. So the one extra hour of sports, apart from the usual `sports class’, takes care of all physical activity a growing child needs.”

The school’s other sports stars are Sikandar Ali Khan (13) and Prince Bajaj.

Khan, a Class 8 student, represents India in under-14 football and also captains the Uttar Pradesh under-14 team.
And Class 6 student Bajaj is the the school’s star chess player who has participated in national and international competitions.

Making teaching interesting and lessons more lucid and accessible are the audio-visual modules called interactive technology boards that the teachers use as against the traditional black boards.

“While teaching with these aids one can visualise and this in turn helps kids retain what they have learnt. When children see the interactive board, they are more involved in the process of learning,” said Sangeeta Mukherjee Roy who teaches Social Science in the secondary section.

“We can customise the learning according to the needs of the students and it saves a lot of time too.”

Roy said the laptop provided to every teacher helps them formulate teaching tools better. “Encouraging and bringing the child’s potential to the fore is our prime objective,” said Rita Kapur, the school principal.

New Delhi: Cutting short vacations, filling in niggling details on heaps of admission forms, or sitting at the computer for hours – the capital’s nursery admission process has left the parents of toddlers a worried lot.

According to most parents, the admission process if full of hassles this time – much in contrast to the government’s claim of making it a regularised and smooth process,

Parents say that while all schools started giving the forms on the same date, on December 15, the schools had their own different dates of accepting the completed forms.

Said Amiya Sharma, mother of a four-year-old, “The Directorate of Education (DoE) may be saying that the admission process has been made regular, but the reality is that schools are still doing things as per their own whims and fancies.”

“For one, almost every school has different dates for submission of the forms. Initially when the process began on December 15, the impression was that it will be a uniform affair. But now some schools will start accepting the forms only next week, while there are others that would have closed form submissions by then,” Sharma told the sources.

“I am so worried that we may miss some deadline, that I have cut short our family vacation to Mumbai from two weeks to one. I don’t think I will be able to enjoy the holidays until my daughter’s admission is done,” Sharma added.

Tedious paper work and questions demanding lengthy answers on the application form which have to be filled by parents is another often heard complaint.

Avanti Das, a bank employee, said that she and her husband have been staying up late into the night to fill up the lengthy forms.

“Yesterday for instance I was filling the online form of a school, and when I scrolled down I saw a few questions which needed in-depth answers expressing our opinion. So I had to log out, write down the answers separately, discuss with my husband, and then fill up the form,” Das said.

“Questions like how can the school and parent work together for the benefit of the child, are expected. But to ask me what do I think about the current education system, or have I read any text of Aurobindo is not!” she added.

Sharma further said the process was made “unnecessarily” complicated by some schools that are asking for affidavits which have to be attested by a first class magistrate and photocopies of educational qualifications ofparents attested by a gazetted officer only.

Sharmila Ghosh, an entrepreneur, said, “The government may have said that no school will conduct interviews, but schools are doing it on the sly. I had applied in a south Delhi school for my daughter and yesterday was the last day of submission of the form. I sent my driver to submit it. He called me to say that my husband and I have been asked to come for an interaction immediately.”

“The school had only mentioned the time of submission of the form – but it was actually meant for the interaction. Since my husband was at work in Noida and I was in my office in west Delhi at the time, we couldn’t make it to the interview,” she added.

Ghosh said after the experience, she and her husband have decided to take turns to fill and submit forms personally, and have pushed back their vacation until theprocess is complete.

Since the admission process began for nursery classes on December 15, the education department has received more than a hundred complaints against various schools. Last week the department warned 19 schools after receiving complaints against them.

As per the schedule, schools will stop accepting application forms on January 30 and bring out the first list of successful candidates by February 1, 2010.

New Delhi: Anxious parents, running from pillar to post, not bearing the mercenary attitude of the private schools to get their little ones admitted decided to hold a protest against them at Jantar Mantar on Wednesday.

Hundreds of aggrieved parents in the capital sat on a dharna organized by the Delhi Abhibhavak Mahasangha (DAM) to protest against the manner in which they are conducting the nursery admissions.

Aggrieved parents vented out their grievances and complained of the “mercenary attitude” of these schools “who are interested only in minting money.”

They also voiced their concern upon their arbitrary procedure to conduct admissions in violation of the Department of Education (DoE) guidelines.

DAM’s President, Vijendra Gupta said that, “The DoE’s admission policy has been openly flouted by these private schools for nursery admissions. The parents stand helpless and suffer at the hands of the greedy school managements that are only interested in monetary benefits which they derive after admitting children of influential parents. Every norm of the DoE has been manipulated as the schools still do not deter from taking donations. They are following a very partisan admission policy, interviews are being conducted etc.”

Rakesh Sharma, a parent at the dharna, informs, “The government policy has had no effect on schools, I am still running from pillar to post for my son’s admission. Violating the government and court orders, they are conducting interviews with children and parents. There are hidden costs against the fixed cost of Rs.25 set by the government. I had to pay Rs.800 as syllabus cost made compulsory for the admission form, which should cost only Rs.25. we also thought that the last date for the submissions is January 15 but most of the schools are only giving us two or three days.”

Sumit Vohara, president of admissions nursery dot com, informs, “Private schools are breaching government guidelines for nursery admissions. Schools somehow are using their tactics to extort as much money as possible from the parents. They design the admission forms in such a manner that a parent is bound to mention his salary, which is not a healthy practice to follow. Schools are charging donations and non-admissible fees etc and lower income families are being harassed and also denied forms.”

Parents successfully clearing the rigorous nursery school admission process of their wards in Delhi find themselves staring at one last but big hurdle -fees that even top the annual Rs 50,000 charged for admission by IITs.

With thousands of parents fighting over a few hundred seats in a limited number of good schools, the private institutions call the shots during the admission season.

The current fee structure in the IITs is around Rs 50,000 per annum. Besides, students pay about Rs 20,000 annually for other purposes like accommodation, alumni and admission fees.
But when it comes to reputed nursery schools in Delhi and NCR, the figure increases significantly and quotes anywhere around or above Rs 75,000 a year, which parents have to shell out even after undergoing a rigorous interview and evaluation process.

For instance, a school in Gurgaon charges Rs 75,000 as admission fees, while the composite annual fee is Rs 1,70,000 for 2009-10 school term. Besides, there are extra charges such as Rs 38,000 to Rs 44,000 as annual transport fees, Rs 6,000 to Rs 9,500 as IT fees every year.
A Noida school charges a one-time admission fee of Rs 61,000 plus Rs 26,000 per quarter. Similar is the case with another school in the satellite city which asks Rs 45,000 as admission fees with an additional quarterly fees of Rs 11,000.

Delhi Education Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said he was aware of violations, but his department could only act against a school if it receives complaints from parents.

1. The Shri Ram school, Vasant Vihar
At a Glance
Numbers: 780 students, 82 teachers
Board: ICSE
Academic rigour: Toppers of classes 10 and 12 for 2008-09 scored 96.6 per cent and 96.75 per cent, respectively.
Nursery cost: Rs. 60,000 per year (Rs. 5000 per month)
No. of nursery admits: 112
Website: www.tsrs.org

2. Springdales, Dhaula Kuan
At a glance
Numbers: 2,500 students, 120 teachers
Board: CBSE
Academic rigour: Toppers of Classes 10 and 12 for 2008-09 scored 96 per cent and 94.8 per cent, respectively
No. of nursery admits: 128
Nursery cost: Rs 81,200 per year.
Website: www.springdales.com

3. Delhi Public School, RK Puram
At a glance
Numbers: 8,000 students, 400 teachers
Board: CBSE
Academic rigour: Toppers of Classes 10 and 12 for 2008-09 scored 97.3 per cent and 98 per cent, respectively
Admission cost: Rs. 64,000 (approx) per year
No. of nursery admits: 300
Website: www.dpsrkp.net

4. Vasant Valley
At a glance
Numbers: 1250 students, 150 teachers
Board: CBSE
Academic rigour: Toppers of Class 10 and 12 for 2008-09 scored 93.2 per cent and 96 per cent, respectively.
Nursery cost: Rs. 99,500 per year.
No. of nursery admits: 60
Website: http://www.vasantvalley.org

5. Modern School, Vasant Vihar
At a glance
Numbers: 2,200 students, 150 teachers
Board: CBSE
Academic rigour: Toppers of Class 10 and 12 for 2008-09 scored 96 per cent and 95 per cent, respectively.
Nursery cost: Rs. 37,800 (only tuition fee) per year.
No. of nursery admits: 100
Website: www.modernschoolvv.com

6. DPS, Vasant Kunj
At a glance
Numbers: 4,000 students, 212 teachers
Board: CBSE
Academic rigour: Toppers of Class 10 and 12 for 2008-09 scored 94.8 per cent and 96.2 per cent (Science), respectively.
Nursery cost: Rs 49,000 for the full year, excluding transport..
No. of nursery admits: 175
Website: www.dpsvasantkunj.com

7. DPS, Dwarka
At a glance
Numbers: 3,264 students, 183 teachers
Board: CBSE
Academic rigour: Toppers of Class 10 and 12 for 2008-09 scored 98 per cent and 94.8 per cent (Commerce), respectively.
Nursery cost: One time fee of Rs 20,000 (including first quarter fee). Rs 8,875 (includes transportation) is the per quarter fee for the rest of the year.
No. of nursery admits: 180
Website: www.dpsdwarka.com

8. Venkateshwar International
At a glance
Numbers: 2,230 students, 130 teachers
Board: CBSE
Academic rigour: Toppers of Class 10 and 12 in 2008-09 scored 94 per cent and 94.8 per cent, respectively
Admission cost: Rs.55,000 per year.
No. of pre-primary admits: 240
Website: www.vis10dwarka

9. Air Force Golden Jubilee
At a glance
Numbers: 2,165 students, 82 teachers
Board: CBSE
Academic rigour: Toppers of Class 10 and 12 for 2008-09 scored 96 per cent and 94.8 per cent, respectively..
Nursery cost: Rs 28,730 for a year.
No. of KG admits: 105
Website: www.afgji.org

10. Tagore International
At a glance
Numbers: 1,854 students, 92 teachers
Board: CBSE
Academic rigour: Toppers of Class 10 and 12 for 2008-09 scored 94.6 per cent and 94.4 per cent, respectively..
Nursery cost: Rs40,850 per year.
No. of KG admits: 132
Website: www.tagoreint.com

Methodology: The survey was conducted in two phases by market research agency C fore (www.cfore.org) . In the first phase, a perception-based survey was conducted to zero in on a list of top 10 schools from six zones across Delhi — Central, North, Southeast, Southwest, East and West. In all, 1,200 respondents, comprising parents and teachers and spread uniformly across the city, took part in the survey. The respondents were asked to recall the top 10 schools in their zone. In the second phase, a similar survey was carried out, asking parents and teachers to rate those schools on a scale of 10 against various parameters (mentioned in the table on the left). The parents-and-teachers ratio in both phases of the survey was 80:20.

One of DPS Rohini’s strongest points, the Hindustan Times-C fore survey found, was its faculty. On the faculty competence front, the school scored 8 on a scale of 10, the highest in North Delhi.

The school uses a rigorous six-level selection process — including demo classes by the candidates — to select teachers who are not only well-versed in their respective fields but are also “young and spirited”, the school principal explains.

The good part about teaching in the school, say teachers, is that they are allowed to work on their own terms.

“Resources are available at the drop of a hat for both the students and the faculty members,” says Minakshi Khurana, headmistress of the junior section.

Working with the school since 1996, Khurana is one of the school’s oldest faculty members. “In DPSR you are given the freedom to teach in the style that suits you best,” she says.

Pallav Gupta, the only male teacher in the school, says: “The best thing about our school is its overall atmosphere.

One doesn’t have to worry about anything except one’s classes.” Class 12 coordinator and accounts teacher, Gupta believes the relaxed academic environment makes him deliver more as a teacher. “Though my day begins and ends with classes, it is just a great school to teach at,” he says.

It’s only 11 years old. Its first batch of Class 12 students passed out just seven years ago. It is so young, in fact, that its alumni base is still in its infancy. Yet, Sanskriti School was voted the best in Central Delhi by respondents of the HT-C fore survey.

Established in 1998 by the Civil Services Society in Chanakyapuri, Sanskriti scored high in almost all fields— from competence of faculty to infrastructure provision.

“It was set up to cater to the needs of government officers whose children had trouble getting admission to good schools due to their frequent transfers,” said Abha Sahgal, the school’s principal.

Sixty per cent of seats in the school are reserved for children of government servants.

One reason why Sanskriti has succeeded in achieving so much in such little time could be the individual attention each student receives here. There is one teacher for every 12 students, a student-teacher ratio higher than what most other schools in the city offer.

The infrastructure at Sanskriti is, again, what very few schools can boast of. The school has four libraries, a swimming pool, a diving pool, ramps for disabled students, amphitheatres, music recording rooms and separate rooms for dancers.

The school also recycles and makes its own paper.

“One of Sanskriti’s strengths is its stress on extra curricular activities,” says Tanvie Vinayak (17), a Class 12 student.

But Sanskriti is also often criticised for its excessive focus on co-curricular activities. This in some ways, say critics of the school, takes away the focus from academics.

But Ritika Khera, 23, an alumnus of the school and now a student of S.P mJain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, has a different take.

“Sanskriti doesn’t focus more on extra curricular activities, it actually balances academics with co-curricular, which other schools forget to do,” she said.

“I scored over 90 per cent in my Class 12 but it was the extra curricular participation that gave me an edge in my college education and later in job and MBA interviews.”

Among some unique co-curricular activities that students must take part in is a mandatory village trip for Class11 students.

“The trip was an eye opener and has inspired me to think about starting my own NGO one day,” said Vinayak, who had gone on the trip last year.

Reacting to the HRD ministry’s recent move to make the Class 10 board examinations optional from the next academic year, he says, “Yes, the very word ‘optional’ helps to take a substantial amount of stress off a student. But we must remember that sooner or later a person has to face pressure… during college admissions, during job interviews. So, the sooner a child is taught to face pressure, the better it is for him or her.”

Malhotra believes grading students, instead of awarding them marks, also helps them handle examination stress better.

Yes, the very word ‘optional (Class 10 boards)’ helps to take a substantial amount of stress off a student. But a child has to face pressure sooner or later…

Stalin Malhotra
Director, DPS Faridabad

Nursery Admissions have begun in Delhi and Parents from all across the city are gearing up for the admission of their children.

Here is the list of Schools across Delhi and the dates for admission process

• Aadharshila Vidyapeeth, Pitam Pura – Dec 15 to Jan 15 2010
• Ahlcon International School, Mayur Vihar – 15 Dec to 31st Dec
• Amity International School, Saket – 15 Dec to 26th Dec
• Apeejay School, Pitam Pura – 15 Dec to 22nd Dec
• The Banyan Tree School, Lodhi Road – 15 to 31st Dec
• D.A.V, Model Town – 15 Dec to 31st Dec
• Delhi Public School, R K Puram – 15 Dec 09 to 15 Jan 2010
• Delhi Public School, R.K.Puram – Dec 15 to Jan 15 2010
• Delhi Public School, Rohini – Dec 15 to Jan 15 2010
• DPS International, Saket – 15th Dec Onwards
• Heritage School, Rohini – 15 Dec to 12 Jan 10 ( Online )
• Kulachi Hansraj Model School, Ashok Vihar – 15 Dec to 31st Dec
• Modern Convent School, Dwarka – Dec 15 to Jan 15 2010
• Modern School, Vasant Vihar – 15 Dec onward
• Mother’s International School, Sri Aurobindo Marg – 15 Dec to 15th Jan 2010
• R.S. Junior Modern School, Humayun Road – 15 Dec Onwards
• Sanskriti School, Chanakya Puri – 15 Dec to 7th Jan 2010
• Sardar Patel Vidyalaya – Dec 15 to Dec 24
• Salwan Montessori School, Old Rajinder Nagar – Dec 15 to Jan 15 2010
• St. Andrews Scots Senior Secondary School, I.P.Extension – Dec 15 to Jan 15 2010
• The Srijan School, Model Town – Dec 15 to Dec 19th
• The Indian School, Joseph Broz Tito Marg – Dec 15 to Jan 15 2010
• Tagore International School, Vasant Vihar – 15 Dec to 31st Dec
• Tagore International School, East of Kailash – 15 Dec to 30th Dec
• The Shri Ram School, Vasant Vihar – 15 Dec to 15th Jan 200
• Springdales School – Dec 15 to Dec 22
• Queen Mary’s School, Mayur Vihar – Dec 15 to 31st Dec
• Vasant Valley School, Vasant Kunj – Dec 15 to Jan 15 2010