Friday 15 / November / 2024
Muscat: More than 1,600 school students are on the waiting list for admissions at six Indian schools in the capital region.
These students were kept on a waiting list after the results from the first draw for admissions were announced on Tuesday.
Speaking to the Times of Oman, Wilson George, chairman, board of directors, Indian schools in the Sultanate of Oman, said around 1,600 students have been waitlisted as the number of applicants had far exceeded the number of available seats in the six Indian schools.
“This year, the Board received around 5,100 eligible applications for admissions to various classes in Indian schools in the capital, but only 3,485 children were admitted in the first draw as only 3,485 seats could be made available in the first round of the admission process.”
He also said demand for seats were high this time for KG1, KG2 and Class I in Indian Schools.
For KG1, the board received 2,427 new applications, of which 1,938 children were admitted.
For KG2, the board received 597 new applications, of which 410 students got admissions.
Then in Class I, 550 students were admitted out of the 776 applications received.
“Since a couple of private schools have been shut and the CBSE withdrew the CBSE-I, we have received more applications,” a Board official said.
The Chairman said the board hopes to accommodate all the children in the next draw, which is scheduled for March-end. “We have already gotten all the necessary approvals for opening up afternoon shifts in some of the schools and some of them are still awaited. So hopefully, we will be using those to accommodate everybody. Then there are plans to increase some sections’ size to fill them up further. Parents will be given an opportunity to re-mark their choices for the second draw and we will try our best to offer a seat to every child who applied, even though it may not be necessarily in the school or the shift they wanted,” he asserted.
Those who got admissions have been asked to pay their fees to secure their place as early as possible. “Applicants have been notified by SMS and e-mail about their seat allotments. In case, any applicant fails to do so, the allotment will be considered cancelled and the seat will be considered as vacant. The vacant seat will be allocated to the next candidate in the waitlisted merit list. In line with the declared policy, the board has strived hard to provide a seat to every applicant, so that no child stays back without access to education,” Wilson said.
But for Indian school students, a waiting list is scant hope. “See even if we get admission, most likely the schools will be far away from the city. So it is better to take admission in a private nursery in Muscat this year and then try for next year,” a parent said, who has been kept in waiting list.
He, however, admitted that studying in some nursery schools will not be the same as studying in Indian Schools. “But what else can to do? I stay and work in Wadi Kabir and I can’t send my three-year-old child to far flung areas, such as Mabela and Seeb for school,” he said.
Then there are lucky parents like Adil, who got lucky the second time around. “I was trying for admission for my child for the last two years and eventually I got admission this time in Indian School Muscat in the afternoon section for KG II.”
