How do/did you choose schools for your children?

Discussion in 'Schools/Playschools/Daycares' started by Varloo, Oct 23, 2007.

  1. Varloo

    Varloo Gold IL'ite

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    I have been observing for some time now about enquiries for school. Every one want to put their ward in DAV, SBOA or such schools only. Nobody thinks of a good school in their area, just near their homes so that children need not travel long distance. Even those who are planning to shift from abroad prefer such schools, even though they are used to lighter syllabi abroad.
    As far as I have heard, almost all schools are working the same way.All the students are sent to tuitions, to very result giving tutors, paying a hefty fees there also over and above the school fees.
    Most of the well known schools literally sieve the students, they retain only children who are able to gain marks over 92%. Most of them do not even retain their old students in the higher classes, even though the children score 85%.
    This time, there was total confusion regarding admissions in the DAV-Mugappair. The parents of students who had passed 10th std filed a case, requesting admission in Plus 1 for their children in the same school. The case was won and the school had to admit all the chilren from 10th and could not take children from outside.
    The ruling is that whatever the mark of the student, he should be admitted in the same school for Higher sec. also, if he wishes so.
    Every where the student is the same, some aggressive, some studious , good bad etc. The capacity of the student is all that matters, doesn't it?
    Whichever be the school, the student will get admission in colleges only if they get good marks. Then why this craze for these schools?
    I welcome all of you to contribute your expereinces and views.
     
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  2. Shanvy

    Shanvy IL Hall of Fame

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    hi varloo,

    A topic very dear to my heart...you would have understood by now..how dear with all my posts.....

    It was a nightmare year last year the same time. ..which school...why...so many ideas....everybody says your child will get 100% results if she studies in this school. the extra curricular activities are taken care by the school.....mine was more bad because of the second language...with dd learning french from 5th standard...so trying to find a school teaching french from 6th standard was a ..you can imagine...

    So started my hunt...everybody i talked with would talk about the student/teacher ratio, and other criteria. My husband wanted to put them in sboa reason lot of his cousins, his niece and nephew have done well from the school...but the actual truth...is the number of tutions and the amount of money and time each of them invested in these children..ofcourse it is everywhere.... (But FIL did not want to move to anna nagar...and also the rents near the school...:shock:).

    Then thought chettinad vidyashram. the amount of to be exchanged for a seat was quite big..and also the distance...(but there are children who start at 7.00 from madipakkam and come home inthe evening around 6.00)
    so i dropped the idea.

    left was st.britto's.went to the school. It was just 10years old. the first batch came out last year with 94%. not bad. looked at the syllabus..it was fine. the entrance went on very well. the only glitch was the playground was small in the cbse compound. but they assured they had bigger playground near. So when i was waiting for the children to finish their test, talked to a few parents...was shocked about hearing what is happening in few reputed schools....which i would not quote here. Thought will give the school a trial for this year..if it does not work will take them to sboa as veda wanted. but god willing, it has clicked...and they are happy..i am happy.

    I agree with you absolutely...
    A school can make/break does not hold good too much.these days most of the 100% achievers schools have just kicked out all those 90% students....i question the integrity of these schools...it has become a business..:mad::mad:..

    I dont know if you have read a thread in schoolgoers about the daugher of an il padamavati_m....the trauma the child and the parent have undergone..what has happened to all the humanity...

    There is a particular school in south which gets 100% results..the insider information is shocking. the average students are locked in a small room..and are given answer sheets to copy from..yes it is absolutely true...

    A tenth standard student gets his ear screwed for not writing his homework...caned for not writing...(I dont understand..a tenth standard is grown up and he knows his responsibility..all minus a very few...)

    Am I deviating from the topic....

    But the other side of the coin is also bad...even if you get above 90% you dont get a b.com seat leave alone professional...( i know there is a sudden demand for b.com...).this is what should be driving the parents to these schools.....


    I think i can go on and on...will continue as i read the feedbacks from others.....
     
  3. Abha

    Abha Bronze IL'ite

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    Hi everyone

    I do not have children, but i can say from my experiences of education and my nephews education in New Delhi...

    Well I totally and wholly believe that, for the study part it doesnt matter which school you go to, it all depends on the student how he studies, his aptitude, his initiative to learn. School matters in one aspect for me, a child should study with children of his own class, what i mean to say here is, that the child should not be pushed to study in a school where all the richi rich are studying cos that means over the years a development of inferiority complex and many other things that parents wil have to deal with in future... So parents should take care that the school isnt very Posh and Hi Fi and neither very low so that a child cannot develop at all...

    As far as i know in New Delhi, the schools have now got some criteria of the distance from home, I guess there is some orders from court not to admit children outside
    3-5kms radius... and every state should have such rules, cos children get tired just in commuting.

    and i agree abt the college admission Shanvy said, even in Delhi University, for a course like B.com Pass, they want 95%, so i dont understand what a child can do just by doing this course. that is the reason these days, ppl go for correspondence grad and do something side by side, in Delhi, colleges have been left for rich and those with nothing to do... its quite a debatable topic... can say a lot on it... but will stop here.

    ~Abha
     
  4. latamurali

    latamurali Gold IL'ite

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    Dear Varloo madam

    I would like to convey my opinion for this

    i completed my schooling in 1990 and graduation in 1994........

    I read in English medium school till 5th std (they dont have more than that) and after that i joined in Government school English medium

    In that convent, they will be very strict in spoken english....each and everyone shld speak only in english,if anybody talk in tamil, they will be given some punishment.not severe....... their intention is to develop spoken english knowledge with the kids and does not mean that they hate tamil language.........lot of people from lower / middle class families (irrespective of caste) wont get chance to speak in english( inside their place nobody will be their to speak with him or motivate him ), even with the parents, neighbours or relatives ...... these kids if they fail to learn in school and use this opportunity , then they will be in position to face lot of Teasing from others , IN OUR SCOEITY , THEY WILL GIVE RESPECT ONLY TO PEOPLE WHO TALK,WALK EAT IN ENGLISH whether they are good or bad,educated or not,...........they dont mind............

    SO, MY FIRST THING IS TO SEE WHETHER THEY TEACH ENGLISH WELL.........
    ask kids to conversate in english .........write everything by their own............
    many schools they jus write it on board and students will copy......thats all........STUDENTS DONT KNOW TO WRITE ANYTHING BY THEIR OWN..............AND ATLAST IN THE FUTURE THEY FEEL SHY LIKE ME...............

    SO i want my kid to learn enligh very well ........want him to speak very fluently...without stammering.and write withtout mistakes.........LIKE MY FRIENDS IN IL.........

    And,secondly my focus on TEACHING METHODOLOGY , in my school days, the teaching is like THEY JUS TEACH A LESSON AND WRITE ANSWERS FOR ALL QUESTIONS IN THE BOARD from that lesson AND ASK STUDENTS TO COPY THAT........AND they also conduct exams based on that questions alone..........aprt from that lesson they dono anything...........but they very frequently conduct SPELLING TEST ..............but students will jus BYHEART all the words.........no phonetics like we have now..........I FEEL NO USE IN THAT.....THEY COME TO KNOW SPELLING OF WORDS FROM THAT LESSON ONLY..........

    But for my son, in his school, they dont give homeworks,no test,no mugup.........all ABL Activity Beased Learning.......innovative project works, worksheets,lot of field trips etc......they very well know what they are learning....... learn with the meaning ......
    though they teach a lesson from the book, but they ask students to answer lot of uestions relevant to that lesson/topic but not from that lesson .........

    And, ASTRENGTH OF THE SCHOOL AND INDIVIDUAL ATTENTION

    Where the strength is less, the quality will be more(my opinion) and individual attention will be there........

    Varloo mam and friends, these are my own opinion, it may differ from u, but i hope iam not wrong....in my words and language.......

    latamurali
     
    Last edited: Oct 23, 2007
  5. Varloo

    Varloo Gold IL'ite

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    Dear Shanthi,
    you did a good thing by putting your child in the nearby school. We admitted our son in the nearby school which had a good reputation. It is just a 10 minute walk from our home. And later my son developed epilapsy and the school being near was a real blessing. This school co operated well in training my son - he had Attention Deficit Hyper Active Disorder. They gave extra time during exams and he was exempted from writing full sentences in fill up, choose etc.He overcame all his problems well due to that.
    The children who study in hifi schools also get many wrong habits and also misuse the technology more as they are exposed to these things.That problem is not there in smaller schools.
    When I went to the DAV school to look up the resutl of the entrance exam for Plus 1 last year, the HM told me very rudely that as my son had not gt the stipulated, he will not get admission and stuck out the application form in my presence. All the teachers and staff behaved somewhat superiorly with the parents.I did not like that, after all I was also working in a good position and I opted out to look after my child.
    Now that we felt that Aravindh needs more exposure we have put him in a different and big school. He loves this school also and enjoys his studies.
     
  6. Varloo

    Varloo Gold IL'ite

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    Dear lathamurali,
    you have a point when you say abou English being the yard stick. My elder sis's in laws all talk only in English all the time. They live in the North and abroad. She feels that I too should talk to my son in English all the time.Saying that you do not know your mother tongue is the norm now. But I do not like that and I want my son to talk in Tamil only at home.
    My son knows Tamil and English , can speak in Malayalam and understands Hindi a little. He is learning French as second language now.
    Talking in English does not make a person intelligent, isn't it?
    But I would be happy if the education system itself changed. The children need more play time too.
     
  7. Varloo

    Varloo Gold IL'ite

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    Dear Abha,
    The reply I made for your post got lost. Sorry for that.
    Yes, the vicinity factor should be given priority also. My neighbour's daughter goes to SBOA, Anna Nagar, which is around 11 km from Ambattur. I pity that child, it just sleeps off in the bus most of the days. But they have put the child in that school paying Rs.11,000 as capitation just because they wanted to put the child in a prestegious institution. Even in SBOA school, they filter the bad students from 9th. I do not know where the world is going.
     
  8. Shanvy

    Shanvy IL Hall of Fame

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    Hi varloo,

    I am really happy for aravindh, and three cheers to the considerate school which is becoming rare nowadays.
    ..yes the school is 20minutes by byelanes...but they go by school bus so one hour....

    The misuse of technology, the rubbish kids talk was well seen in the exhibition that was held for children two months back...i was a witness of that ...and it was shocking and an eye-opener to me.....that times are changing faster than the sand flowing through the hour glass....

    The same thing like what you talk about DAV happens in lot of schools.. ....Sishya ..they talk that way even when you enquire....:eek:mg: and what has happened to parent teachers rapport and all that is missing......
     
  9. Shanvy

    Shanvy IL Hall of Fame

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    hi lata,

    I really feel bad.. english as a yardstick. agreed english is being given too much importance...but do you mean to say that if you study in a good school, english is better...no ..i beg to differ...classic examples are me and veda...I am from a very proper convent and veda is from a corporation run school...you cannot make the difference until i come out and tell you....A school can only make you learn, a language but the effective use of the language by a person comes from the inbuilt drive and interest of the student....


    The same holds good for the academic performance and oustanding performance...
     
  10. Shanvy

    Shanvy IL Hall of Fame

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    Hi varloo,

    11,000 is outdated news.....will pm you the latest amount that you need to pay even with strong recommendations .......

    And each class has above 75 students...i really dont know how the teachers and the students manage...how will the teacher remember all the names....I admire them....in a way...with sections upto L..................
     

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