Common doubts and questions about schools in Pune.

I started to write this as a reply to a comment by a member but later when the words became too many, had to move it to this as an article.

The school discussed is Vidya Valley at Sus Village.

There are a too many parts in a comment that needs to be answered one by one:

Infrastructure:

This is an important feature when one looks for a school for a child. I too was initially in the same opinion that a good school must have a good infrastructure. But I am not ashamed to acknowledge that a good school has nothing to do with a good infrastructure hence I was wrong.

Aman Setu school proved me quite wrong. Its a lovely school which is run by a very experienced and conscious lady. Always look at a school’s head and the driving force than the infrastructure. Though Aman Setu is growing literally like a baby does, with a few classess added structurally each year, the school is a phenomena in itself and in the way they teach.

When I checked Vikhe Patil, there is only construction all around. Only imagination works there. The financial status of a school is definitely reflected by the structures like Sharad Pawar International, VPMS, DPS, BISHOPS, ST MARY”S, ST Arnold’s etc. But, mind you if the management is really stable, they will also not ask for under the table in the name of development cost.

Fee / Non refundable development fee / Donations / Bribe:

The fee is directly proportionate to the infrastructure or the age of the school.

If a school is 100 years old, it would have either been funded initially to be constructed by government or missionaries. As a result the fee is always nominal as there is no burden of loan repayment by the school management. Which means that all the fee charged,  is actually used for monthly expenditure only. Hence any such school like St Mary’s is there for making good profits as there is no EMI to be paid.

A school which is newly constructed, say in last 7-10 years will have to pay for the loans taken to construct the school. If they bought the land during the land boom time, then poor school will be shelling a huge amount as loan repayment, even considering all the subsidies.

Now how are they going to recover all this cost? No prize for that answer. 🙂 We the parents have to pay for it!  And hence the huge development cost that any such school demands and has to be paid for during admission time. Also it is non refundable, as its gone as part of the EMI payment to the banks! How will any school pay you back what they do not possess.!

So that again comes back to those old age school that demand development cost or admission fee. Now that’s nothing but pure profits. And why not ?  If it’s a missionary school, these will all be accounted for. Every penny will be well spent. But anything that is transacted under the table will be badaa boom badaa bing…;)

Boards:

Why are there so many international school all over the city? Did it ever occur to you?

Lemme tell you why?  It’s easy to get International School affiliation as compared to ICSE or CBSE. CBSE is the longest it takes.

So what is the way to work around? Simple, get an IB or IGCSE board. Wait for a few years and then move to ICSE or CBSE board.

So the benefit is that the school can claim to be IB / IGCSE, follow their syllabus, make the most out of the course and later shift over to the Indian board. That also starts another doubt?

Why do IB/ IGCSE boards charge such a huge fee?

Well the schools have no choice as they have to pay for per student fee back to the IB board, that too in dollars or pounds!

So if you want to put your kid in any school that is IB, make sure they throughly follow that board and its teaching methodology, as definitely I guess that is something that is the need of the hour. A board that does not pressurize our kids into useless subjects and rote system of learning.

Why some schools have compulsory bus?

Well it ensures safety as the school takes the responsibility of the transportation. But it’s the other reason that I prefer the bus compulsion, i.e. arrival of all kids on time. The headache of a parent lessened is definitely one more reason. But if the school is not taking kids out to field trips every month then they are making huge profits. DPS is now overloading the bus with 3 kids in one seat. I think I may have to write to their management, before writing a review.

The last point is the most interesting and I have come across the first time.

The school asking kids to change their subject line from Math n Science to Arts and Commerce!

The school in question, Vidya Valley.

The complaint that the parents of a few students were advised to change the line of subjects of their kids to arts and commerce line from Science and Maths.!!!!!!

I really have no idea if a school can or has the ability to do so! I will definitely look into this matter.

But, that has definitely started an interesting discussion in my mind, which is what I have been toying since last few months.

Suppose I were a parent whose kid was asked to change over from Maths, Science to Arts field, what would be my reaction!

I guess, earlier a few years back, I would have raised the hell! 🙂 But today I am more sensible and mature to the needs of my kids and their happiness than my own needs. It’s not important what makes me happy, it’s more important  what makes my kids’ happy. Trust me, it’s most difficult to let yourself believe that what you want is NOT what they want! So when a school advices me that my kid needs to shift over, it just means the kid is not able to handle these subjects intelligently! The best option would be no doubt for me to help my kid by getting rid of these subjects that don’t make any sense to him!

Why make your kid struggle and waste time on that subject which will be a burden on him life long! A burden that will never be enjoyed, hence your kid will never be happy!  And who has ever succeeded in life without following his happiness and passion? Passion is nothing but doing what you love the most and will do without anyone coaxing you ever.

Everything that I see or read or write boils down to one thing. Let your kid follow his heart, no one can stop him from succeeding, even if it’s not being a doctor or an engineer! 🙂

And thank that school that is giving an option to the kid to become successful not an average rat.

Well like a friend always quotes, even if we are number in a rat race, we will remain a RAT. So why not take a diversion and be something other than a RAT!  Trust me, it’s the most courageous act, yet will be the most satisfying one.