(MENAFN - Muscat Daily) The admission process for the 2013-14 academic year across six Indian schools in the capital area has begun, with online registration starting on Thursday for children seeking admission to KG1. For KG2, registration began on Saturday, while for classes 1-9, the process starts on Tuesday.Online registration was introduced from the 2012-13 academic year. For the 2013-14 session as well, it is mandatory for parents to fill an online common registration form. A unique login registration number and password will be generated and sent by e-mail and SMS as per the details submitted online.After online registration, the applicant has to take a printout of the completed application form, attach copies of the child's passport copy (Oman resident visa page) and father's or guardian's resident card, and submit it to the admission cell of any one of the six Indian schools along with a non-refundable processing fee of RO10 per application.On why the processing fee has been doubled from RO5 to RO10, Tony Alexander, chairman, board of directors, Indian Schools in Oman, said it was a one-time fee. ''There is no extra charge, this is the cost of the entire admission procedure.''This time all the six schools combined have 1,019 seats in KG1. The quota is going to come under severe strain as the last couple of years have seen an average of 1,800 applicants for this class alone.For KG2, there are just 189 vacant seats and for class one there are 303 seats across the six schools.With Indian School Muscat (ISM) offering only 300 seats in KG1 and none in the afternoon shift, there are concerns about many being put on a waiting list. Achuthan Madhav, principal, ISM, said that the school will not be able to admit students in the KG1 afternoon shift this time.''Unless infrastructure is expanded, it will be difficult to accommodate students in the afternoon shift. Moreover, there is constant pressure from parents to move children who are in the afternoon shift to the morning shift.''The submission of online applications for all the classes closes on January 26, 2013, while the last date for submitting the duly signed form with documents and fees at schools is January 28.
