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Scramble for admissions to Indian schools

by Rahul Das
March 20, 2013 , 7 : 46 am | 4 comments

The results of the first draw for admission to the six Indian schools in the Omani capital were announced on Monday, leaving 1,500 students on the waiting list.

Muscat: The results of the first draw for admission to the six Indian schools in the Omani capital were announced on Monday, leaving 1,500 students on the waiting list.

Speaking to Times of Oman, Tonny George Alexander, chairman of the board of directors for the Indian schools in the Sultanate, noted that 1,500 students had been waitlisted since the number of applicants had far exceeded the number of available seats in the six Indian schools in the capital. "But we are trying to accommodate everybody in the next draw," he said.

This year, the board received some 4,200 applications for admission to various classes in Indian schools. "But on the first list, we have managed to accommodate only 2,700 students because only 2,400 seats were available when we started the admissions process this year," the chairman claimed.

All six Indian schools in Muscat had a combined total of approximately 1,100 seats for KG1. The quota was severely strained when it received more than 1,900 applicants for this class alone.

For KG2, there were some 200 vacant seats, and for Class I, there were some 300 seats available, across the six schools.

It seems as if admission to Indian schools in Muscat has become a mad scramble. "I have been trying to get my daughter admitted for the last six months," stated A. Bhattacharjee, an exasperated Indian expatriate looking to move to Muscat from New Delhi.

'Nightmare'
Another mother, P. Mishra, pointed out that finding an Indian school for her kid had been nothing short of "a nightmare."

"I was shocked to find out on Monday that my son's name hadn't figured on the first list. Now, if his name is not on the second list, I may have to go back to Kanpur. I never thought it would be so difficult here," she added.

But the Indian board announced that the waitlisted candidates would be given seats if any became vacant after the Phase 1 random draw and the fee-payment cut-off date of March 25.

"The [available] seats will enter a second random draw [for those on] the waiting list. This draw will take place on March 30," the chairman confirmed.

After Phase 2, all the remaining applicants, who did not win seats, will be given a chance to join Indian School Mabelah, Indian School Darsait, and a new school in Al Awabi (with a feeder school in Al Ghubrah), which are currently creating additional capacity to meet the demand.

"But in any case, it is sometimes found during the verification process at the time of admission that an applicant has furnished inaccurate information.

"In that case, the seat allotment will be cancelled, and the applicant will not be considered for admission for the year 2013," the chairman asserted.

He also noted that the demand for seats in KG1, KG2, Class I, and Class II in Indian schools was high this year. "To cope with this [demand], we are again offering around 350 seats in Indian School Muscat's afternoon shift for KG1, which was not available when the registration process began in 2013," the chairman pointed out.

At present, Indian School Muscat and Indian School Wadi Kabir have a double-shift system in place (morning and afternoon).

"Now, we are planning to implement this system in Indian School Darsait, Indian School Mabelah, and Indian School Ibra. In this way, we will be able to provide admissions for more newcomers to a certain extent," he added.

In addition, a new school offering the CBSE curriculum is under construction in Al Awabi (near Al Ansab).

"During the first phase, this school will conduct primary classes (KG1 to Class V). The session will commence, tentatively, in April 2014. The feeder for this school will commence at a temporary location in Al Ghubrah for KG1, KG 2, and Class 1. [From there], the children will be moved to the new school premises in Al Awabi for the next academic year in April 2014," he affirmed.

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Reader Comments

simi | April 25 at 9 : 56 am

i was an ex student of indian school darsait, and i think just having latest gadgets and fancy equipments does not make any school a GOOD school. The quality of teachers is very poor in this school, and if you are not a bright south indian geeky kid, then god save you. I was a weak student and instead of getting extra help, sadly i was only run down and always humiliated and even beaten up despite being a girl by teachers from this school, this school did nothing for my confidence level. luckily i moved to bombay where the school i joined was so simple, had no air condition but yet such warm teachers, i then started re gaining my confidence and am now proud to say that i am a sucessful business woman. Yet i cannot put my miserable days in ism behind but i definitely can save and help other young kids from going through the humiliation i went through. To all the parents there in the gulf, looking to put your kids in the indian school, please do some research and teach your kids NOT to put up with any phisical abuse from anyone.

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puja | March 23 at 8 : 46 pm

Afternoon shifts are not a viable solution for this problem especially so for these very young children. how does the school expect these children to begin studying around 1 in the afternoon. And more parents need to have a heart of stone to be sending their 4 or 5 year old to places so far from the city maelah and al ansa. I wonder the think tanks of indian school boards in muscat...

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c.p.sajikumar | March 20 at 2 : 56 pm

the number of students in each class must be around 25 for a better learning. here it is unfortunate that more than 75 students are to be taught in a period by a teacher. in such a classroom, neither the students nor teacher finds satisfaction. we must look into other schools student-teacher ratio. it is around 15 to 24. we cant expect more facilities for our future citizens unless adequate number of schools are constructed every year in view of the increasing number of Indian expatriates.

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Fatima | March 20 at 11 : 48 am

Why is it so difficult to get admissions in Indian Schools in Muscat.
When it is crystal clear from the statistics of the past few years that the number of applicants is increasing every year, why cant the authorities plan well in advance and construct new schools with quality education to accommodate all the children. Also, the concept of afternoon shift is an extremely poor idea. No efforts have been made to eradicate this afternoon shift process which is a nightmare for all the parents and students who have to attend it.

Instead authorities are planning to introduce more afternoon shifts. How easy it is for them to say that the applicants will be accommodated in the afternoon shift. Only the students and their parents can understand better the difficulty of an afternoon shift. In spite of paying such high fees every year, the services of Indian Schools are not improving at all. Its a pity to tell people that our kids study in such schools. At times it seems we are doing a sin by staying in such a place where we cant even provide quality education to our kids. I wonder what sort of future these kids will have.

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