Getting admitted to a school is like winning a lottery. At least, it is at a highly reputed school in Abu Dhabi.
The Abu Dhabi Indian School, which offers the CBSE curriculum, opened its admission process through a lot system last week, which will continue this week as well.
“The Draw Dates for the Admission 2013-2014 for classes KG-1 and Std-1 will be held on 11-02-2013 and for Classes 2 to 8 will be held on 19-02-2013,” read the official announcement on the school’s website.
So do you stand a chance? Many parents who lost out in the lucky draw are baffled by how schools can resort to such archaic methods for admission.
“I attended the draw held at Abu Dhabi Indian school, which was attended by around 4,500 applicants. But, only 75 lucky students got the admission,” a parent wrote in to 'Emirates24|7'.
“It’s unfair that a child’s future is determined by a lucky draw,” added another parent.
When this website spoke with a staff in the school’s admissions department, they acknowledged that they did issue a draw for new admissions.
“Parents are first asked to register online, and then submit a printout of the confirmation sheet to the school. Once that is completed, the staff puts an official stamp on the paper, and files it for the main draw,” elaborated the administrator.
“This year, we have successfully selected 75 students,” she added.
The staffer, however, was unable to reason why such a method was being used to allot new seats.
The principal of the school was unavailable for comment.
The reader added that securing kindergarten admission in the capital is turning out to be nightmarish for many parents.
“There are very limited seats for KG1 students in CBSE curriculum this year in Abu Dhabi.
“This year, Sunrise English Private School, Our Own English High School and St Joseph’s School in Abu Dhabi did not even take any new students for KG1.
“And, other schools like Bhavans, Emirates International School and New Model School are already packed and have a long waiting list.”
When Emirates 24|7 cross-checked, we found the information accurate.
Parents struggling to find a slot for their toddler are hoping that the officials “could step in and allot additional seats or shifts to the existing school”.
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