Add to it the lack of good schools in Delhi, a point often repeated by parents who have to queue up for days and shell out huge amounts just to secure a seat in some of the reputed schools in the city. The ongoing battle for nursery admissions is testimony to that. “We realised that that there is a good opportunity to make a difference,” said Zee Schools CEO Sumeet Mehta. “It is a natural progression for us.”

The Subash Chandra-owned Essel Group will invest Rs 350 crore over the next five years to establish 300 schools across India. In Delhi, the first school will come up in East Delhi, an area which many complain has very few good schools. Another one will be launched in the National Capital Region in 2009.

The city’s top schools are mostly clustered in South Delhi and that gives the Zee Schools a definite advantage, Mehta said. Being a playschool that is spread over the city (there are about 30 Kidzees all over the city), it can hope to retain children who attend its playschools and promote them to the next level, Mehta said. “We had a lot of parents writing in to us and suggesting why don’t we start our own school,” he said.

The company already has 25 schools under its brand name and the decision to test the bigger cities comes after studying the market. The chain made its forays in formal schooling in 2006 in Bhopal and then Patna. The plan to enter cities like Mumbai and Delhi was shelved at the time.

“The problem with big cities is that we don’t get the kind of land we need to start a good school. And we did not want to compromise on land,” Mehta said. But now the group is ready. It has land for at least two schools and there are definite plans for more, according to the Zee Group.

Another play school chain that will be entering the formal school arena in the city soon is Shemrock Group. According to the group, the first school should be up and running by 2010. Already, plans are being finalised and sites are being considered, officials said. Founded in 1989, the group is ready with plans of launching a full-fledged school, Amol Arora of the Shemrock Group said.

“I think we will be a success, given the demand for good schools,” Arora said.

The demand for quality education at a premium is also the reason play schools are getting into formal schooling. It is an opportunity that is hard to miss and while small players exist, many play school chains have successfully launched full-fledged schools like Mother’s Pride.

Satish Mohindra, who owns a play school in Nehru Enclave, said in a few years, these playschool chains will give others tough competition. “It is good because children from here will automatically move to the higher level. Give them time, they will be able to compete,” he said.