The nursery admission process for approximately 1,600 private schools in Delhi, the national capital, will begin from December 15 with the government imposing an upper age limit from this year.

Delhi government’s Directorate of Education (DoE) has released a detailed schedule as per which the last date of submitting application forms for nursery class admission for 2019-20 session is January 7. The first list of selected children, along with marks secured by them, will be out on February 4. The second list will be out on February 21 and the nursery admission process will conclude on March 31.

Twenty-five per cent seats in pre-school, pre-primary and Class 1 will be reserved for economically weaker sections/disadvantaged groups (EWS/DG) as per the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act
2009. The directorate has instructed all private schools to upload their criteria (with points for each criterion) for admission in open seats, on its official website by December 14.

The government has also set an upper age limit of less than four years to be eligible for nursery, less than five years for kindergarten, and less than six years for admission to Class 1. The proposal for an upper age limit was challenged in court last year. Though a Delhi High Court order last year had allowed the imposition of the upper age
limit, the DoE had decided that the order will be applicable only from 2019 academic session.

Apart from the abolished criteria, the schools have been given autonomy to come up with their own points system.