Parents are again apprehensive about this year's nursery admission that will start soon

But if last year was any indication, getting admission for tiny tots will not be an easy task.

"I heard that Somerville School in Vasundhra Enclave had already finished giving out forms. But can they do it so early?" asked Aditya Grewal, parent.

Unfortunately, schools are not obliged to follow a common admission schedule.

Moreover, according to the interim order of the Supreme Court, schools are free to fix the parameters of admission.

"Schools do not need prior approval from the Directorate of Education (DoE) for fixing the parameters. They just have to inform the DoE," said S.L.

Jain, chairperson, National Progressive Schools' Conference, an association of some of the best schools in the capital.

He added that it was early days to comment on the criteria. Last year, points were given for proximity to school, sib lings, alumni, single child/single parent, children with special needs, girl child, transfer cases, parents' qualification, national achievers and linguistic minority .

And irrespective of whether these criteria are discriminatory or not, it seems they will be followed this year too.

"Schools have the liberty to decide how many points to give to each criterion," said Ashok Aggarwal, advocate.

"I wish the schools, the government and the courts would seriously think of the harassment parents go through each year before nursery admissions," said Anuradha Mittal, who managed to get admission for her daughter last year in one of the Bal Bharti Schools.

The biggest confusion last year was regarding the age of admission to nursery .

"We will take children aged 3+ for nursery," said Amita Wattal, principal of Springdales, Pusa Road. The date would be announced on the website and forms available for one whole week, she added.