Buffet meals. Being the passionate foodie I am, you’d think the dizzying variety on offer would titillate, tantilize the taste-buds, solicit anticipatory salivation & drooling, the prospect of feasting on an unending array of gastronomical delights.
In actual fact, what I experience is the polar opposite. Chaos, confusion reign supreme and I find myself pin-balling like an uncontrollable, misguided missile; though initially launched with a clear planned path, I drift and deviate as I inch precariously close to the envisaged target. The heady mix of aromas, sights, sounds glitches my systems and sends them into an unhinged flurry.
The result? What looks most attractive, stands out as the most colourful, newest, shiniest, gets the vote. Blatantly ignoring classics and eternal favourites that I know the particular restaurant does especially well, I dive into the uncharted!
The education landscape isn’t unlike this evolving spread. Newer, fancier, more international offerings mushroom on a monthly basis and a lot of our cities & towns are witnessing the birth of an altogether different breed of global schools that promise everything from Olympiad glory to Empathetic sensitivity. Most significantly, each institution presents itself as the absolute benchmark in terms of its infrastructure, the plethora of amenities basis which children will attain scholastic nirvana and bring laurels to school, family, community & country.
As parents, it is infinitely more complex than being at that tantilizing buffet I earlier referenced. The former is limited to ‘papi pet ka sawaal’. Here, it is ‘bache ka bhavishya aur vansh ki shaan’!
Maybe not quite with the same crass fervour of the ride-hungry autorickshaw drivers outside a train station, or wheeling-dealing vendors within the barely legal underbelly of Palika Bazaar; the schools mentioned above tug at the heart-strings, and more overtly, at the hitherto unfulfilled aspirations of us new-age parents, who want a no-compromise ecosystem to capitalize on our children’s maximum potential.
So what’s the catch? That it isn’t heart strings, or even head-leaning-logic that finally serves as the primary factor in the choice of school we make. It is, for many of us parents, admit it or not, what ‘looks’ the best. Like that un-trialled dish in the buffet, most captivating, the school that is most fancy, contemporary, modern, cutting edge, biggest, grandest, ultimately ends up tugging, in fact draining the purse strings (no other strings are harmed in this decision, at least not at the outset)
The catch though, on a perfectly sincere note, doesn’t end there. Not in the least. The real casualty of this war between institution & ancestry is the child. Because while there is no debate around parents wanting the absolute best for our children, whether we truly consider critical elements of our child as part of the school-choosing set of factors, is a different matter completely. I’m happy to go out on a limb and say that to a vast majority of parents, the child’s personality, disposition, intellectual and/or emotional make-up, wouldn’t even occur when shortlisting and making a final selection of school!
As someone who has been teaching for many years now, someone who is himself a product of one of country’s most widely regarded residential schools, someone who is father to a nine year old daughter, someone who is constantly asked for advice on which school to consider; I can tell you that if you had one factor alone that ought to decide which school you pick – it should be, your child!
Not unlike the detailed research and due diligence that is done at the stage of students applying to colleges abroad (perhaps at that time the intense scrutiny is justified since the investment & stakes are so much higher, or so it seems in sheer monetary terms); if anything, this level of ‘tehkikat’ must also be done when choosing schools for children. Unlike getting a college wrong, which ultimately will make precious little difference in and to the student’s life; a school will profoundly impact numerous facets of the child, through their most impressionable years.
And therefore, logic dictates that based on the specific child’s specifics, a school is sought, one that will support, bolster, supplement and compliment emotionally & intellectually. Little warning here. Schools, like brands, acquire a reputation. Some are known to be academic-focused, others more sport-oriented, still more, strive to a more holistic ideal. However, the ground-reality and currently prevailing ethos on-campus ought to be double checked because sometimes reputations precede ground realities. A head-of-school, a governing body, even monetary considerations, newer competition, several extraneous factors can bring about massive changes in the way the school is run and the values it espouses; and therefore to speak to the present parent community, recently graduated students, is always a good idea to get an accurate sense of actual facts.
I am often accused by parents, assuming I am propagating some marginalized, overtly sparse environment in which to learn; routinely being told “aap ko toh gaon ke school mein dal dena chahiye”. Not at all. My only and simple point is that values and child-appropriateness can not be compromised in lieu of infrastructure being made the only or chief priority.
Unfortunately, for parents today, this task has become truly arduous, much more so than it was for our folks. There are more schools, more systems, more boards, more everything to consider. But it is like casting the right actor for the right role. If one gets the casting right, the job is more than half done in one deft and initial stroke.
That brings me back to where it always begins for me – food. Just like I should have stuck to what I know works best for me, rather than being superficially captivated by the newer & fancier; perhaps a similar approach of a more informed choice is warranted when picking a school for our children.
by Kartik, Founder Driveway Devi
