The online interaction for admission to nursery has become a more informal and comfortable experience for children as parents log in from their homes, heads of several schools said.

Many parents are getting the opportunity to log in from other countries, cities or their offices in the same city, the heads said.

Some of the heads who have been conducting such online interactions for two or three-year-olds have felt that children are “at ease” because they are in a familiar space and at times “more responsive” than they would be during an interaction on the school campus.

In the principal’s office they are intimidated by the “foreign environment” but in their homes they are jumping on the bed, bringing their toys to show over the screen and running across the house with their mothers following them with phones, at least heads of two schools said from their experience of conducting the interaction online this year.

In one school parents have “bribed the child” with a chocolate to make him sit and the interaction was conducted in between mouthfuls of chocolate.

There have been instances of parents preparing themselves while in the waiting room, applying make-up and adjusting their hair and completely unaware that they have already been let in the meeting room.

Calcutta International School, South Point, Indus Valley World School, South City International School are some of the schools conducting online interactions at present. Many more will start in September.

“When we planned we didn’t realise what the interaction would be like; but it has been a heartwarming process so far. Children look more comfortable and at times more responsive than they are when they attend the interactions in school,” Dalbir Kaur Chadda, principal, South Point School, said.

In one of the interactions at South Point, the grandparents joined and the school did not object to it. “They were curious to know how the interaction was being conducted and we did not object because they did not interfere,” Chadda said.

Often, the big school gates, the waiting time or moving from one room to another can be intimidating for the child, a teacher said.

“Our interactions have been informal always but the big difference is that the school is an unfamiliar environment for the child. The nature of the questions have not changed and we ask them to point out objects or pictures on the screen but the comfort level of the child is more because they are in a familiar terrain,” Amita Prasad, director of Indus Valley World School, said.

To give the interaction more structure Calcutta International School communicate to parents beforehand a set of things that they have to keep with themselves before the start of the interactions. It includes stationery such as a set of crayons, drawing book and blocks.

“These are aids used during the interaction. We observe the child’s behaviour, which gives us an insight into the family and how the family is dealing with their behaviour,” Farishta Dastur Mukerji, psychotherapist and counsellor at Calcutta International School, said.

Online interaction gives children an edge as they are in their own territory, Mukerji said. “There is no separation anxiety for the child. For children as young as three or four they often end up crying when separated from their parents, all of which is now taken care of,” Mukerji said.

The online interaction allows parents to join the interview from other countries, too.

“We have had parents logging in for the interaction from abroad. For one child, the father was in Mumbai, the mother in London and the child is here with grandparents. Even doctors have attended the interaction before going for a surgery,” Chadda said.

South City International School has been helping parents who are abroad. “We have scheduled interviews taking into account the time lag between countries because parents are abroad,” principal John Bagul said.

This generation is hooked to devices and their responses are quick, Bagul said. “There is no hesitation while they interact.”

In the past few months many children have been making video calls to other members of the family, which perhaps familiarised them with the new mode, a teacher said.

“There are some who cannot perform to their actual ability because they are not exposed to the screen. The online interaction has been with known family members but for the school interaction they see new faces,” Mukerji said.