It is time to gear up for the admission season in city schools, and harrowing as the experience is for parents of children about to enter school, there is one set of people whose worries at this time are seldom thought about. Barraged with queries from anxious parents, the principals of prominent city schools feel almost besieged at this time of year.
Dinakar Wilson, principal of Baldwin’s Boys’ School says, “I cannot understand how so many parents have access to my personal phone number. I wish I could just change that number.” Attending endless queries from anxious parents is no easy task, as Wilson will attest. At many schools, administrative staff is placed on alert, and instructed to screen calls.
Madhu Narayan, principal of the Gopalan International School says, “During the admission period, the administrative team is used to attending a large number of calls from parents who seek admission for their children. Many parents are keen on finding out all they can about the school, and the staff is sometimes unable to answer all those questions satisfactorily. However, they are careful that they do not just connect all those who call to me. They screen the calls.”
When DNA tried the numbers of a few principals for finding out about the pressures they face at this time of year, we found that many of them had switched off their phones, while some of the calls made to cell phones were re-directed to landline phones. “We do not entertain telephonic conversations with parents of prospective students. Many parents call us on the landline as well as on my personal number,” said Fr Celestine Sera, principal, St Joseph’s Boys’ High School. “That is the time when the phone never stops ringing—just two months before the admission process,” explained Fr Sera.
For months together, many school principals just stop using their cell phone at this time of year. “During the admission season, I switch off my phone. Some parents call even quite late in the night, and it is more convenient for me just to switch it off,” says Fr Gilbert Saldanha, principal of St. Joseph’s Indian High School.
The problem, however, is not one confined to principals of the most sought-after schools in the city. Even principals of preschools find their phone ringing incessantly. “There have been instances when anxious parents just call continuously; we cannot admit children beyond our capacity, but parents will continue to call. When someone is so persistent, I help by referring him or her to another school,” says Bharti Prakash, centre director of Euro Kids, RT Nagar.
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