Choosing the best school for a child is one of the toughest decisions a parent has to make. Since I have a toddler who is about to take her first step to school in May, I found myself in this difficult situation. Yes! Difficult situation I would say because it's a matter of choosing the right future for your child and that he/she should be given in the right hands. There are lots of things going on in my mind regarding this so I thought I should share them to you all, who knows it might help some of you in choosing the "Best School"
The very first thought that occured to me is to define exactly what do I mean by "Best School"Is it the school that is the oldest in town or the school that has a very attractive and beautiful name or the school that is renowned and is 'in' at the moment? NO! I don't want to go for just the name of the school. I would want to know what they offer in terms of education as well as extra-curricular activities.
So let's start our search with the below given points.
1. Location- The most important point to be considered is the location of the school whether you would want it near your house or workplace if you have transport problem but otherwise you can think of schools from one corner of the city to the other.
2. List- Make a list of schools that you can think of in your desired vicinity. The list should contain each and every school that you can think of in that area from lowest to highest category.
3. Priority- Arrange your list from most desired to least desired school. You can arrange it by considering the name plus the reputation. Most of you might be hearing or getting information about some schools from friends and family so do have that in mind as well. In my case, I'm aware about lots of schools from the inside as well since I'm already in the field so I would consider the name, reputation, feedback from parents and teachers who have experience with that school, their system etc and arrange my list accordingly.
4. Visit/Call- Make a timetable for visiting the schools you have listed. If it's easy to visit then go for it, if not search for the telephone numbers of the school and the following information:
a. When will admissions start for the desired level?
b. Procedure of admission-whether they would conduct an interview only or will take entrance test too. (most schools would ask you to visit for details of entrance tests)
c. Fee structure
Note: Remove the schools you are not interested in at all from your list to avoid wasting time.
5. Shortlist- Now, here comes the real job. Consider the fees of each and every school and prepare another list of the affordable schools.
6. Visit- Visit the schools and gather the rest of the information you need i.e details of the entrance test like what is expected to come esp for toddlers for whom entrance tests don't make sense at all but yes most of the renowned school conduct this for their new admission and ask all the questions that occurs in your mind like what should you expect in the first 6 months of your child's schooling, how many teachers are handling what number of children, what are the books used. Ask them for how long the current teacher has been with them so you would know what to expect since frequent change of teachers is very common in most schools and by asking this question at least you won't get a shock in the near future. Don't forget to ask for any extra or hidden that they charge upon admission.
7. Others' opinion- Show all the information to your spouse or any elders at home that you think can give a wise advice to you or maybe someone that can help you think what to do next. There's no harm in taking people's opinion. But the final decision should be of both the parents.
Here's an outline of some thinking that I did regarding schools. I want my child to be in a school with big name but at the same time which offers quality education where my child would come home with lots of stories about her school so in that way I'll get to know more about her life outside the life I provided her. But sad to same most of the renowned schools in our place have become merely commercial with no quality and no longer serve their purpose. So what I've decided is I can go for smaller schools where I get to meet some friendly heads and teachers who I know would concentrate on improving the education they are offering to kids, and yes there are schools like that. One will have to compromise on something for a better result.
The very first thought that occured to me is to define exactly what do I mean by "Best School"Is it the school that is the oldest in town or the school that has a very attractive and beautiful name or the school that is renowned and is 'in' at the moment? NO! I don't want to go for just the name of the school. I would want to know what they offer in terms of education as well as extra-curricular activities.
So let's start our search with the below given points.
1. Location- The most important point to be considered is the location of the school whether you would want it near your house or workplace if you have transport problem but otherwise you can think of schools from one corner of the city to the other.
2. List- Make a list of schools that you can think of in your desired vicinity. The list should contain each and every school that you can think of in that area from lowest to highest category.
3. Priority- Arrange your list from most desired to least desired school. You can arrange it by considering the name plus the reputation. Most of you might be hearing or getting information about some schools from friends and family so do have that in mind as well. In my case, I'm aware about lots of schools from the inside as well since I'm already in the field so I would consider the name, reputation, feedback from parents and teachers who have experience with that school, their system etc and arrange my list accordingly.
4. Visit/Call- Make a timetable for visiting the schools you have listed. If it's easy to visit then go for it, if not search for the telephone numbers of the school and the following information:
a. When will admissions start for the desired level?
b. Procedure of admission-whether they would conduct an interview only or will take entrance test too. (most schools would ask you to visit for details of entrance tests)
c. Fee structure
Note: Remove the schools you are not interested in at all from your list to avoid wasting time.
5. Shortlist- Now, here comes the real job. Consider the fees of each and every school and prepare another list of the affordable schools.
6. Visit- Visit the schools and gather the rest of the information you need i.e details of the entrance test like what is expected to come esp for toddlers for whom entrance tests don't make sense at all but yes most of the renowned school conduct this for their new admission and ask all the questions that occurs in your mind like what should you expect in the first 6 months of your child's schooling, how many teachers are handling what number of children, what are the books used. Ask them for how long the current teacher has been with them so you would know what to expect since frequent change of teachers is very common in most schools and by asking this question at least you won't get a shock in the near future. Don't forget to ask for any extra or hidden that they charge upon admission.
7. Others' opinion- Show all the information to your spouse or any elders at home that you think can give a wise advice to you or maybe someone that can help you think what to do next. There's no harm in taking people's opinion. But the final decision should be of both the parents.
Here's an outline of some thinking that I did regarding schools. I want my child to be in a school with big name but at the same time which offers quality education where my child would come home with lots of stories about her school so in that way I'll get to know more about her life outside the life I provided her. But sad to same most of the renowned schools in our place have become merely commercial with no quality and no longer serve their purpose. So what I've decided is I can go for smaller schools where I get to meet some friendly heads and teachers who I know would concentrate on improving the education they are offering to kids, and yes there are schools like that. One will have to compromise on something for a better result.
