Time for parents to go school-hunting

It is only October. But parents are worried over the tough admission process for their children to pre-primary schools. Most parents now spend long hours checking out the availability of good schools in their locality. With the pre-primary admissions scheduled in December, there has been a growing demand for those schools affiliated to the ICSE board as against the SSC and CBSE board.

“The pressure is mounting on children as their parents want them to learn everything. Through our Montessori school, we train kids with the basic skills and making them confident to get adjusted to the bigger classrooms. Parents have become more demanding as they want us to prepare kids to face the informal interviews conducted by some schools,” said Lata Nair, a teacher at Blue Bells Montessori School.

Concerned parents have also given up their “traditional way of thinking” that their kids should go to neighbourhood schools. “If it’s a good school providing the best education to my kid, I am ready to compromise on the distance. As parents, we are comfortable with an informal interview at the time of the admission as it examines kids’  psychological skills and their concentration level. But such interviews prove to be quite time-consuming and also tests kids’ patience,” said an anxious parent Nisha Solanki.

Some are totally against interviews. “I have decided to admit my child in the Bombay Scottish School affiliated to the ICSE board. I am totally against the concept of interviews. The school is just a kilometer away from our home thus making traveling easier for my child,” said Deepa Suvarna.