While trying to understand what options we as parents get when we go out hunting for schools, I came across this article on Rediff that is so impractical that I was encouraged to write this post to give a clear and more practical approach to this million dollar question - "what questions every parent must ask?"
First of all - if you have ever been to a school for admissions - ask YOURSELF this question - are you given the choice or time to ask questions back to school? The 99% of us would answer this question with one word "No", what we are given usually left with is few minutes of time to scan through the list of to-dos or checklists that we need to fulfill in order to get our ward into that school; Or some of the 'branded' schools will handover a nicely done 'sales brochure' and we take that home hoping that this booklet will have answer to all our questions - but seldom thats true; and I am talking about any and all schools across India - you know of any exceptions? Most welcome - feel free to drop a note and I shall cover and highlight them on my portal and blog - they deserve to be appreciated - isn't it?
So the question of what to ask is hardly practical in today's scenario (realistically), so what I as parent myself and having over 8 years of close experience in Nursery Admissions and related issues and challenges, I can tell you that there is no way you get opportunity to ask questions. Specially in metro cities!
Rather, we as parent need to act more intelligently, do research of our own,
1) explore offline feedback from parents of existing students from same school, or
2) check for online reviews at sites like SchoolsWeLike.com or Google Plus profile page of that school for community reviews, or
3) check school sites, brouchers, past performance history etc if you can get handle to it, and
4) Discuss and get involved with other parents on community forums like one here
I don't think a school admin staff will ever give you enough time or opportunity to ask questions like the author has listed in his article.
Here are few quick links to get you started - Top 10 CBSE Schools In India, in Delhi, in Gurgaon, in Bangaluru
Note: I encourage and request all to take out few minutes and review school(s) you have been to, or your kids might be going to; to help community and other parents like us. Thanks!
First of all - if you have ever been to a school for admissions - ask YOURSELF this question - are you given the choice or time to ask questions back to school? The 99% of us would answer this question with one word "No", what we are given usually left with is few minutes of time to scan through the list of to-dos or checklists that we need to fulfill in order to get our ward into that school; Or some of the 'branded' schools will handover a nicely done 'sales brochure' and we take that home hoping that this booklet will have answer to all our questions - but seldom thats true; and I am talking about any and all schools across India - you know of any exceptions? Most welcome - feel free to drop a note and I shall cover and highlight them on my portal and blog - they deserve to be appreciated - isn't it?
So the question of what to ask is hardly practical in today's scenario (realistically), so what I as parent myself and having over 8 years of close experience in Nursery Admissions and related issues and challenges, I can tell you that there is no way you get opportunity to ask questions. Specially in metro cities!
Rather, we as parent need to act more intelligently, do research of our own,
1) explore offline feedback from parents of existing students from same school, or
2) check for online reviews at sites like SchoolsWeLike.com or Google Plus profile page of that school for community reviews, or
3) check school sites, brouchers, past performance history etc if you can get handle to it, and
4) Discuss and get involved with other parents on community forums like one here
I don't think a school admin staff will ever give you enough time or opportunity to ask questions like the author has listed in his article.
Here are few quick links to get you started - Top 10 CBSE Schools In India, in Delhi, in Gurgaon, in Bangaluru
Note: I encourage and request all to take out few minutes and review school(s) you have been to, or your kids might be going to; to help community and other parents like us. Thanks!