Muscat: Braving the scorching heat, hundreds of parents queued in front of the Indian School Muscat last Wednesday to complete their children's admission procedures for the upcoming academic year.
Parents were seen at the school gates as early as 7am.
"It is just luck that my child received admission for KG1 class in the school where I opted. The arrangements made by the school authorities to complete the admission procedures are fine. There were no hassles in completing the procedures," Sunil Kumar S, a parent, told Times of Oman.
The results of the first draw for admission to the six Indian schools in the Omani capital were announced last Monday, leaving 1,500 students on the waiting list.
"Even though my child was admitted to the afternoon shift of KG1, I am satisfied. I know the fact that many have not been admitted to any schools and are pinning their hopes on the next admission draw," Premanand Nair, a parent, said.
Further, at least 1,500 students have been waitlisted, since the number of applicants far exceeded the number of available seats in the six Indian schools in the capital. According to the Indian schools' Board of Directors chairman, officials are hoping to accommodate all students in the next draw.
Also, staff at several counters were seen working to complete the admission procedures at
the school.
"We are happy that even though there was a long queue, we were able to run the admission procedures smoothly," a school official said.
This year, the board received about 4,200 applications for admission to various classes in Indian schools. But on the first list, the schools will be able to accommodate only 2,700 students because only 2,400 seats were available.
All six Indian schools in Muscat had a combined total of approximately 1,100 seats for KG1, and the quota was strained when more than 1,900 applicants applied just for this class.
For KG2, there were some 200 vacant seats, and for Class I there were some 300 seats available across the six schools.
The Indian School Board of Directors (BoD) has since decided to add double shifts at three more schools to accommodate the influx of students in the upcoming academic year.
At present, Indian School Muscat and Indian School Wadi Kabir have two shift systems in place for morning and afternoon. Currently, the Indian schools' Board is planning to implement this system at Indian School Darsait, Indian School Mabelah, and Indian School Ibra.