Parents are getting ready for their wards’ schooling and all they need is luck.

Those days are long gone when residents checked which school had the best infrastructure and teachers before admitting their children. Now, most schools in the city have lotteries during the admission season and parents have to bank on their luck.

Kadamkuan resident Swati Sinha said: “Most schools in the city have a limited number of application forms. The process does not end there. After submitting the forms, we have to sit for an interactive session with the schools where the parents, as well as the child, are interviewed. I’m going to fill up application forms of all major schools in the city so that we have some hope of our son getting admission in a school. The lottery system scares me, as all of it depends on our luck.”

Gayatri Sharma, a resident of Bank Road, wants her daughter to get admission in St Xavier’s High School or St Joseph’s Convent. She also said: “My daughter is only three-and-a-half years old and these two schools would be the best for her. These institutions are closest to our home. Now, everything depends on the lucky draw.”

St Xavier’s High School takes admission only on the basis of lottery.

The vice-principal, Father Albert, said: “The application forms would be available from the third week of January 2015. The new session is expected to start from the last week of March. The number of seats would be decided at the school meeting next month.”

Apart from St Xavier’s, Loyola High School, Notre Dame Academy and St Joseph’s Convent High School depend on lucky draw for new admissions. So does St Michael’s High School.

Father Peter Arockiasamy, the principal, said: “Admission forms would be available from December 6. A committee will select the candidates in a random method. Admissions would be taken only based on the students’ ability.”