The authorities of English-medium schools in Calcutta are contemplating a revamp of the admission procedure, after a Delhi High Court ruling opposing entrance tests and interviews of children for nursery and kindergarten. The focus will shift to group discussions with the guardians.

Though the court observation applies to institutions under Delhi?s education directorate, Calcutta?s English-medium schools are taking note. The reason: fear of parents moving court here to oppose the practice, citing the Delhi court directive.

?More interface with parents is always welcome, as it lets us know the home conditions of the child,? explained Terence Ireland, principal, St James School.

Guardians? interviews will be aimed at explaining certain basic requirements of English-medium education. The intention is to assess the financial stability of the child?s family, since course fees are high, and at the same time, ensure there are no dropouts.

Often, parents from business families, not very literate themselves, admit their children to English-medium schools for a few years.

Once the student has picked up enough English for effective communication, he is inducted into the family trade. The schools want to check this factor through group discussions.

Another facet of group discussions is to assess the health of the child. For instance, if the child is asthmatic, and the classroom can be reached only by scaling a staircase, the child may need extra care that the school may not be able to provide. In such cases, admission is discouraged and the guardians explained the situation.

Group discussions also lend insights into the home atmosphere of the child and determine how much effort the child and the school must make to achieve a desired academic standard.

With 400 English-medium schools (affiliated to the CBSE and ICSE) in the city, there are about 50,000 seats in the kindergarten and nursery classes combined, for which about six lakh applications are received.

The admission process for the next academic year started in October and will continue till the end of January. Forms, between Rs 50 and Rs 100, are being snapped up by queues of guardians outside the schools.

Most government-aided primary schools, however, do not face this situation, since the demand for seats is not so great and admissions are conducted by lottery.

The Delhi High Court observation says that ideally, admission to lower classes should be based on the distance factor ? that children living within a stipulated radius of a school should be accommodated.

?The factor exists even in our present system. But after the court ruling, we are trying to avoid interviewing students. We are concentrating more on other factors for screening candidates,? said C.R. Gasper, member, state board for Anglo-Indian education and principal of St Augustine?s Day School.

Schools like Loreto Day, in Sealdah, which admits students by lottery, have already abolished interviews and admission tests to nursery and kindergarten classes.

Madhu Kohli, principal, South Point School (junior section) and T.B. Jacob, principal of Don Bosco (Park Circus), said they were also considering the restructuring of their admission procedures.

?It is difficult for us to abolish interviews entirely, considering the fact that the number of applications we receive is much larger than the number of seats available in our school,? said Mukta Nain, principal, Birla High School.