Patna, Jan. 4: Anjali Kumar is praying hard these days. Not because she wants a windfall gain but for her four-year-old son Rohan. Anjali is one of the many parents in the state capital who are spending disquiet days worrying about which school to get their wards admitted to.

With most schools beginning the admission process with the sale of forms and prospectus this week, parents of prospective wards are spending restless nights.

“It is important to get my son admitted to a good school,” said Anjali. A good school means a good education, which in turn means a good career and a happy life, she added. The worried mother said: “It is my duty towards my son.”

This year some schools in the capital are taking students as young as three-year-old, and what school they get into is widely felt to make or break their educational fate.

“We will be taking admission from lower kindergarten to Class I. There are 100 seats for Class I, lower kindergarten and upper kindergarten have 50 each. Forms a will be sold from January 15 to January 30. They are priced at Rs 500 each,” said DAV Khagaul principal A.C. Jain.

Some parents have applied to 10 or 15 schools to ensure that the name of their ward comes up in at least one admission list.

Arjun Singh, a businessman, who had come to pick a form at a reputed city school, said it is important to have many options open. “Getting your child admitted to a good school can be a harrowing experience, as I am finding out,” said Singh.

He has already spent hours standing in long queues first to pick up admission forms and then to submit them.

An expert said the anxiety on part of the parents reflects a greater socio-economical formula — more demand, less supply. Government schools are out of question for everyone except the very poor. Parents, who can afford it, choose a private school, as it implies a good standard of education. Often parents who have worked hard in their childhood are ready to go the length for what they consider a better future for their child. They are also willing to make their child go the distance.

Some of them admit their wards to private tutorial centres to train their toddlers for the admission test.

“We are often not aware of the requirements or the pattern of admission tests,” said Anjana, a mother who has admitted her three-year-old son Ranjan to a tutorial centre. Anjana added: “It is best that my son get proper training before taking the admission test. It will better his chances.”