LKG admission: Those fearful days in life

Most of you must have been taken by surprise with this post, why this post of LKG admission now?

A simple answer to this, if you are parent of a child aged between 3 years 10 months and less than 4 years 10 months as on June 1, 2009 then you all need to go through this.

Now this is the most important criteria, even if the age of the child is less or more by a single day you do not qualify for the Junior KG admissions in this case. If you are looking for Nursery admissions you should look for 2 years 10months and less than 3 years 10 months. SO approximately for Junior KG, the date of birth of the child should be between 1-08-2004 to 31-07-2005. (This is an approximate date calculation)

First point is checking this out.
Now that you have found yourself in that age slot now what else needs to be done. Original birth certificate is needed to be submitted to the school if your child is admitted and many photo copies will be required at each of the schools as they check the birth certificate mandatorily before giving the forms. If you don’t have one, you still have time to get it done. Now the question where do we get it from, the local health office of the area in which hospital the child was born. For Example: all those born in hospitals of Chidambar nagar, Vadgaon will have to go to the primary health centre of Vadgaon. Birth certificates are issued up to 1 year from there and later on from the City corporation office.

Now that you have got hold of the birth certificate get a few id card photos of your child to be put on the forms, not all schools ask but now a day’s normally all ask for it, so photos must be kept ready.

Keep visiting the schools from now on and keep asking about when the admission process begins, last year I had a tough time as there was no information anywhere on the internet as to how the whole process works, this time you have this site at least.

Understanding the Process:
The admission process is somewhat similar in all schools. You are given forms on particular days, then you fill them up and submit in a time limit and then you are called in for interview of your child and also you. If you are lucky to get a seat in the first list go party if not then go and fall at the feet of the principal and committee members and try and cook something, something will cook for sure.

One more point in this; last year schools like DP and St.Josephs had made area wise admission means if you stay in camp then apply for St.Josephs etc. I had applied in both places but I did not get admission for my child in both, so I would request you to try any one of the two above.

Those long queues in the night outside the same school we studied, this time for only a form. Normally all will get forms as they print in thousands it’s only that you should be there on time.

Last year Herwadkar School began the process on 18th march and other prominent schools began on April 1. This time the timings could be changed keeping in view the loksabha elections, I am not sure but it could affect the admission process.

Now to the most important note, if you interested in some particular school then go and find someone on the committee as a reference, it could be easy for you and now to the dream point MONEY. Keep about 20 thousand ready to pay as development charges or any other name. 20 thousand is just a figure it could be more and you get very less time to pay in so keep those funds ready.

It’s not that all schools take development charges as high as 15 or 20 thousand some schools it is even 5 thousand but you need to be the lucky ones who come up on the first list.

There are some points I would like young parents to go through:
1. Apply in all schools, if you are looking for English medium, then all English medium schools, when I mean all, I mean ALL. St.Pauls, Xaviers, Marys, Herwadkar, Mahila Vidyalaya etc.2. When you apply start finding some influence or a person who could recommend your child’s name to the managing committee even before you submit the form.3. When the lists are out and you don’t find your name in the list try hard again and again for some more influence and of course be prepared to shell out more bucks.4. Even after all this you don’t find your luck, search for some other school.5. Even if you are there in the list the donations could hold you back, so be prepared to spend a lot, when I mean lot, I mean LOTS n lots on money.


All the above points have been compiled as I have gone all through it. I understand when your child does not make it in the first list what goes on with you.

Also see the previous year’s post which will help you understand the process much better.
Beggars cannot be choosers:LKG admissions
Admission tensions are boiling over!
Admission time: Is raat ki Subh Kabhi

As of today the KLE International school has begin giving forms and the admission process for the same kindly contact in the Lingraj College campus.

Beggars cannot be choosers:LKG admissions

I had blogged about LKG admission earlier Admission time: Is raat ki Subh Kabhi & my ending lines were “Hope all their dreams of getting admissions are fulfilled”
Mine was not fulfilled as in all the FOUR schools I had applied; I did not find my daughters name in the list of selected candidates.

I have seen this admission process since the beginning, from getting the forms to submitting them and then that waiting time for the result. I failed, my second failure in life (my first was in 3rd Std. in Maths).

In the earlier post, I had mentioned about area wise selection of students but I guess this norm was not 100% utilized. In DP student in Hindwadi did not get admission where as one living in Mahadwar Road got.

There are some points I would like to the young parents who will have to go through this next year.

1. Apply in all schools, if you are looking for English medium, then all English medium schools, when I mean all, I mean ALL. St.Pauls, Xaviers, Marys, Herwadkar, Mahila Vidyalaya etc.
2. When you apply start finding some influence or a person who could recommend your child’s name to the managing committee even before you submit the form.
3. When the lists are out and you don’t find your name in the list try hard again and again for some more influence and of course be prepared to shell out more bucks.
4. Even after all this you don’t find your luck, search for some other school.
5. Even if you are there in the list the donations could hold you back, so be prepared to spend a lot, when I mean lot, I mean LOTS n lots on money.

Some donations paid are at a all time high just like inflation. St.Pauls, I have heard people paid 50 thousand and above that, these are a selected lot of 25-30 people others will be less as still the list is to be declared. In schools wherein you name is not there in the list you can pay a minimum 30 thousand or more and influence of course to get the child admitted. This time the English medium schools had greater demand as the vernacular schools (predominantly non–Kanada) were banned by the Karnatak government for not teaching in Kannada. Many schools had taken permission saying they would teach Kannada but switched to teaching in English. Having received this ban, these schools appealed to the court but unfortunately the court refrained them from teaching in any other language other than the one they applied for.
In these schools a flat rate of 10 thousand prevailed till yesterday which might go up with time. I believe, as you don’t have long queues and you take the form fill it pay money and your child is admitted; to face the competitive world. It is said the world is very competitive, hey friends the world is competitive from the day the child is born.

After all deliberations I have settled for an ICSE applied school by paying a part amount of the donation. I am trying the other tricks I told you above to see if I can put my daughter through those so-called very good schools. If nothing happens I am happy with the school I applied for, after all ‘Beggars cannot be choosers’.

Protest planned against donation menace in schools

Source: The Hindu, Staff Correspondent Belgaum
Many government-aided schools collecting donations: KRV leader
Parents will also participate in the demonstration

‘Government should ensure transparency in admission process’

The Karnataka Rakshana Vedike (KRV) will hold a demonstration in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office on Monday to protest against “donation menace” in English-medium schools in Belgaum city.

Parents will also participate in the demonstration, KRV district unit president Rajeev Topannavar said here on Sunday.
He said that many government-aided schools in the city were illegally collecting donations ranging up to Rs. 50,000 for admission to pre-primary and primary classes. Despite the State Government’s direction to Deputy Directors of Public Instruction to ensure that no school collected donations, no steps had been taken to check the menace, he said.
Donations were being collected in the name of third party to avoid action from the Government, Mr. Topannavar said.

The Government should either ensure that there was transparency in the admission process or take over the schools that were collecting donations, he added. K.U. Kumar, a parent told The Hindu on Sunday that some schools were demanding a minimum donation of Rs. 15,000 besides recommendation by influential persons for admission to LKG. The maximum donation being demanded was about Rs. 40,000, he said. The donation menace was rampant in English-medium schools, he said and added that some schools had increased the donation amount this year and were collecting it in the name of third party. In addition, the schools were collecting money for expansion fund and poor student fund which would add up to more than the tuition fee fixed by the Government.

Dyanoba B.P., a parent, said that providing education had become a business now days. “Private managements (including those of aided institutions) have converted the education system into a profit-earning venture as there is no one to control them,” he said.

Time for Results

The picture is taken in St.Xavier's School, Where the list of successful candidates for LKG has been put up. I was not so lucky to see my daughters name. This time the candidates were selected by lottery system and I missed the number by 2. Many missed by one. Being optimistic other parents also said "Chalta hai, still we have other schools" God Bless.

Admission tensions are boiling over!

I had blogged about LKG admission earlier [link].

Here is an important follow up. All schools, especially English medium, saw long lines of parents to obtain forms. This time the English medium schools had greater demand as the vernacular schools (predominantly non–Kanada) were banned by the Karnatak government for not teaching in Kannada. Many schools had taken permission saying they would teach Kannada but switched to teaching in English. Having received this ban, these schools appealed to the court but unfortunately the court refrained them from teaching in any other language other than the one they applied for.

"I was one amongst the thousands of parents waiting in line for their child's admission. The best part about the process is that I made friends with parents of other children. While waiting in these long queues, we would share information about other schools (like St Xavier's forms availability on Apr 17th) and discuss strategies of obtaining new forms."

At Divine Providence School, I saw parents lined up at 10 pm the previous night – just to get forms. They even chose to sleep at the gates to be the first in line. I could not personally muster the courage to sleep overnight and instead went there at 4 am in the morning. I was amazed to see 200 parents already lined up at 4 am – all very anxiously waiting! Imagine the difficult scenario. By 7 am all the forms were given out and parents were asked to go into classrooms, about 50 in each – fill the form & pay Rs.10. After which parents sped off to St. Joesphs in Camp, Belgaum.

There are 180 odd seats and 2000+ applications in all schools. This discrepancy could be because some may be applying everywhere but still the demand and supply difference is huge! In some instances the school management is being considerate to parents who camp overnight – they are handed coupons so that their queue is marked, as a result of which they don’t have to stay over night. On this same day, the line for St. Pauls was most likely the longest.

After we submitted the forms, we were given an acknowledgement wherein the date of interview was mentioned. They completed all interviewing within two days. Most children were asked similar questions – What is your name baby? Who is this – your dad or uncle? Sing a rhyme and so on.

Now that the interviews over, the fate of admission is hanging in uncertainty. With God’s grace and a combination of the child’s ability & luck the admissions will be determined! If the child is selected the parents will certainly celebrate. If not, then what? Touch the management or some other VIP’s feet, pay a hefty donation and get the child in school (?)

At this moment all the parents are eagerly awaiting approval. All admission results are expected in the next week. Some schools have said they would post the decisions (via mail). This week will be a nightmare for most parents. Our innocent children are oblivious to these complicated & tense situations – they only have a pure wish of ending up in a big school soon.

Personally, I am under immense pressure! I have never had such tension in my entire life – for any exam or result. What if my child doesn’t get admission? What should be my future course? Many agents have surfaced in Belgaum city to plunge into the new trade of admissions. Most of them will be fake (from a qualitative perspective). All I can say to the parent community is to stay optimistic – things will hopefully workout for all of us – May God be with you!

Edited with inputs from PK.

Admission time: Is raat ki Subh Kabhi

Its that time of the year when all young parents will be praying and hoping to get their kids admitted to a school of their choice, if they are lucky or into any school otherwise.

Many parents start the school rounds (not those rounds during lunch break you used to take when you were in school) from January month itself just to know when the forms will be given for Jr.KG. As time passes by the blood pressure of the parents start to rise for no reason. Some might even think getting a baby born or delivering a baby was not so terrible.

This year February came and still the schools had not decided when the admission process would begin. Parents used to visit all the probable schools they could and check when the forms would be given.

March arrived and still the school authorities were uncertain about the dates. Some schools said by March 15 something will be made clear and yes at last the dates were out. I have seen happy faces when they just read the dates of the admission process on the board. But friends this is just the start.

Herwadkar School started the admission process on 18-03-2008. And in the morning there were about 200 parents lined in to get forms even before the school gates were opened. I had been there also and decided that I would try my luck the next day but luckily in the afternoon, just to see how much the rush is I went in and to my surprise the queue was very small only 30 parents and I said this is the time to get a form at least and make a Shri Ganesha. I got the forms in about 20 minutes and to tell you I wasn’t happy like this in my life not even when I passed my SSLC in distinction. Now I got the forms, from here the other story, fill the form submit it. Then the forms will be scrutinized and a list will be put and if my daughters name comes in it, wow my life has become fruitful. Not as easy as said. After the list is put up, there will be a parent’s interview and what I will be asked is quite clear, how much? Now that the biggest Q. How much? (All know how much in what context) Lets see cant say now until I have been there. Past experienced parents do help out with their experience.

The forms for Divine Providence and St.Joeshps Convent will be given form the 1st april to 3rd april. Last year scenes at the convent in camp were dreadful. Parents lined up at 9 pm in the previous night it self just to get the forms, leave admission aside, just forms. So this time special instructions have been put up for the same. See in the photo.

This time areas have been specified so if you don’t fall in those areas you might not be getting a seat I guess. See the photo for details.

I hope I get my daughter admitted to a school and my blood pressure comes down….

I wrote this post only as I thought many of those young parents, grand parents reading this might just feel, hey it's my story.
Hope all their dreams of getting admissions are fulfilled.