An Unusual Summer Vacation Part-1

Today the chirrup did not wait for the last bell to ring. Unlike other days, when the disciplined silence ruled till the second hour of the noon, corridors were ringing with joyous laughter and chirping. Today was nice and vibrant since the beginning. 

The beginning of the summer vacations marked this palpable difference. The otherwise well-ordered students would walk out in single files, standing in the order of their heights. Trudging towards the boarding school India, they were so aligned that you would wonder if it was an arranged swarm of bees. And yet, the entire charade was unsupervised and as easy going as it could be. You wouldn’t notice a single child go off track. 

But today was different!

At the Noida International School, the afternoon that marked the beginning of the summer vacation was the only occasion when you would find chaos in the school playground. And it was happily accepted. Children running astray waving goodbye, vowing on their friendships and hugging their mates make the scene a hubbub of activity. Soon, the huge iron gates would creak open and kids would run to the open arms of their waiting parents. 

But amid this clamour, Partho lacks the zeal of his mates. He is in no hurry to rush forward. He doesn’t make any attempt to get into the race till the door while everyone is waiting with baited breath for it to open. Neither is he willing to participate in any conversation, for he knows, he will have no summer vacation this year. 

To be continued!... 

The Initial Awkwardness

With privatization of Educational system promoting quality learning, the education sector is surely on a roll. With an upward surge in the economy inviting larger investment in the sector, the number of educational institutes in the country has shot up.

Moreover, immunity to recession to a certain extent, always makes education an investor’s game. Having said so, and understanding the economic value and prospect of the sector the top schools in India are going global. Sieved through decades of cultural resistance, Co- Education is the product of one of these global practices.

  Since I studied in an all- girls school in one of the public schools in Noida , my experience with encountering the “other sex” mostly springs from sharing the same workplace. The initial awkwardness and self- restraint soon transformed into some really healthy personal and professional relationships. It was late but I understood the world is definitely not obsessed with two sexes in a constant combat, but there certainly are some better and critical issues to deal with. I believe it is for this very reason that the top schools in India encourage and stand tall for co- education. Now that I laugh off my past apprehensions, I have learnt my lesson.

I remember having pushed my parents to admit me to a co-ed , since most of the renowned public schools in Noida were a part of the newly dawned on Co-educational system, their only response bordered on to some hypothetical discomfort which will come my way. Conditioned to years of prejudices  and judgements , there is a long way to go for this harmless system to be taken well. Needless to say there are limits to every societal make-up and institution but limits metamorphosizing into prior reservations are a dead end to our unrealized potentials.

Don’t appear this year- part (2)

I was the tiny-miny mice of our group, i was lucky enough to be registered in her good books. She made me the English monitor and i was chiefly responsible for collecting assignment notebooks and projects. I had no choice, but to maintain my assignment notebooks, which none of them would ever make an attempt. Mayank-my best friend out of the eight was though good with his communication skills, would never make an attempt to maintain his CW and HW copies, which unfortunately i had to do. He couldn’t escape speaking in English, we were in one of the best public schools. Be it boarding schools in india or co-education school, communicating in English is a must. At times, would do his homework or classwork, but yes, there were a few days, when i couldn’t make it. On the inspection day, he was caught by Mrs. Goswami and forget the bashing, I could literally recall her exact words that she said to Mayank, Mark my words boy, don’t appear this year, you won’t pass. You should be sent to residential schools in India to learn the basic etiquettes of life and so as your curriculum. 

 And she openly said, i will score A1 followed by him with D2,3 whatsoever. Her words hit him rightly. He did not made any gestures, but kept quiet for a while, which came to us as a shock. The boy who would always pop in here and there was suddenly very quiet. But finally he made it. He proved her wrong. Though he kept pretending as if he is not affected with her words in any way, but he was studying. Finally in boards, i scored 78 and here he is with ‘79’ man. That was the day when i could actually relate to how does it feel your friend fails, but how bad it feels if your best friend score more than you, no matter even if it’s just 1 more mark. Shuks! Shuks! Shuks! All i could say was Okay! I gave you a chance to be happy… but till the day when we meet, he taunts me saying loser…aah! It’s a pain to hear, but we all laugh it aloud…that’s life

Don’t appear this year- part (1)

School life is synonymous to fun, frolic, joy and enjoyment for everyone-isn’t it? For majority it is and for us it fortunately was. Now that I am done with graduation and doing a job, which keeps me hooked. If I will ever get a chance to fulfil my one wish, trust me…I would prefer going jumping back and relive my school life.  We had a group of nine and we were the most notorious gang in our class. No matter what, we would find our own ways and means to pass a snuff smile and teachers would always find their ways to purloin our smileys in PTM’s, but who cares? We would get back to our track, soon after weekends were over.  

Usually, everyone await weekends to enjoy, but we were a bit different, we would hate weekends. We were not allowed to step out and were made to study all day long, a big thanks to Mrs. Asha Goswami, who would taunt us saying…ask your parents not to pay this month’s fee. After all, their hard earned money is going down the drain.  But luckily, we were not those who not study or do not score well, but yes, none of us could pretend sitting silently in the class. She is one of those teachers of schools in India especially in public schools in Noida and Delhi who can make students cry with her sarcasm, but simultaneously make students excel in the long run. To put it frankly, we were not extraordinary, but we were not fools as well. Each one of us knew how much efforts our parents are putting in and have enrolled in NGFS, one of the highly rated schools in India. 

Rooting out Rote learning from the Education System!

How does it feel to be one of those students who constantly bears the brunt of abysmally poor quality of education- education that glorifies rote learning when in all its might, it should promote root learning? Definitely not good, yeah? 

Schools in India- public, private or boarding, have swords of fangled and shoddy education dangling over their heads. You would often come across several schools in the posh locations of Delhi-like the public schools in Noida or Gurgaon that would brag about their impeccable educational facilities. No matter how brilliant a school is in terms of its infrastructure or faculty, unless the deeply entrenched mediocre education system is pulled out of shambles of mediocrity, no best boarding school or public school in India can do much good to the youth. 

The most glaring aspect of the Indian education system is that it accentuates the students’ power to memorize rather than concentrating on the power to comprehend. The basics are often shoved off at the back bench and what prevails is the term called ‘cramming’. Intelligence is ruthlessly associated with gaining top marks in schools and colleges; whether the student understands the roots of the concepts, well the very thought is chucked away in a bin. 

Boarding or residential schools in India are garnering laurels for promoting practical education-the one that focuses on the very crux of concepts. Students in boarding schools are often taught to deal with real life situations – inside, as well as outside the classrooms. Yet, a great schooling system in India remains a shard in the oblivion. 

A lot needs to be done to uproot Indian education from the threatening shackles of rote learning. The entire curriculum needs to be analyzed, re-analyzed and re-structured to form a coherent and a more endearing system of learning. One that would rather test students on their I-Q levels, than on M( Memorizing)-Q levels.

Encourage hobbies, even the unusual ones!

With changing times the sternness in academic structures has mellowed down. The contemporary schools promote holistic growth rather than theoretical knowledge. Even parents understand the importance of excelling in multiple fields than just scoring good grades. This has encouraged learning and growth of multiple aspects of students’ personality.

However, even as the sentiment is shifting, children are still restricted with a closed box of options. Think ahead of studies and all you would come up with is sports or music and dance at the most. However, residential schools in India know better than this and promote unrestrained learning at their campuses. Few unconventional subjects like fine arts, sculpting, photograph, etc. are now introduced at some selective institutes.

However, the parents are still sceptical when it comes to encouraging unconventional hobbies. A child showing innate interest in art will be appreciated only till the time he keeps it as a hobby. As it begins to supersede other activities, the hobby becomes a hindrance. But the experts at a boarding school India disagree. Most experts in the education sector are of the view that diverse hobbies are a sign that your child has received good education, as an open mind and exposure is necessary for them to appreciate unusual skills. 

Choose a residential schools in India that gives that to your child instead of bookish knowledge which is available from other resources as well. If you are sending your child away from home, his stay at the school should be worth that sacrifice. Academic knowledge that can be obtained at an average day school as well is not a good enough reason for this. Let him explore the world with exposure to international subjects and art forms. 

Encourage him to enrol in various extracurricular activities and participate in them to the fullest. If he shows even slightest interest in something creative and constructive, appreciate him to pursue it further as it will broaden his horizons and improve his personality.

The Best School quandary: Points to look

There is always a stereotype hinged to the best school being, well, actually the best in every aspect. There are certain pre-decided parameters that make up for that best school tag. Well, Schools in India are a big, big problem. I can say this because I, myself, have spent almost an eternity in a school that had the most-prestigious school label plastered to it, but ask me, it was rather a foolish tag. 

Most people, rather parents find themselves in deep pit while figuring out the right place to furnish and polish their kids’ skills. And all the schools proudly as well as ignorantly claim to be the Best school in India. Well, there is so more to it than just a label. Shoot a look at the following points:

The Brand Name: So there are schools that bask in the glory of the ‘renowned’ schools. But not everything lives up to its brand name. Not all DPS’ are brilliant, and finding out the right branch amongst the pile of various branches gets tricky. Trust the oldest one in the progeny; the newer ones are likely to be dominated by the Gen Y, and the older ones by sheer originality and excellence. 

Study the Students: Public schools in Noida a quick assessment of the faculty is surely one of the most major things on the to-do list. But, no finer glimpse can be provided by the students who have already reaped the benefits of its reign. Talk to the students and observe them-their social and academic aspects of their behavior. No better mirror exists than a student of the school itself!

Scrutinize the infrastructure: Okay, by infrastructure, I don’t necessarily mean the tall, bulky building with beautiful tiles and stuff. Scrutinize the interior. The washrooms, the sports room, the ground- everything. It might take a long time, and can end up being a frustrating affair. But trust me, it would reflect the actual stature of the school- whether it truly stands true to its best school image or not!