If we choose to, formal education starts when the child is almost 2 years old. The decision on which institute we choose starts when the child is not even born. Isn’t it what most of us parents worry about?

I had a tough time deciding on a school for my child. When it came to Kindergarten I had a short checklist – distance, safety, fees, hygiene, teachers, refer online reviews and it was comparatively easy to shortlist based on these requirements. However, when my son was about to start his primary level school education it was then the checklist grew bigger.

I believe as parents it’s important to understand the education system clearly as well as the options available before making the final decision. It is important to gather, research, and evaluate our options when we investigate the schools available. I remember starting my research from the housing complex I live in. I would stop and request people, whom I came across with school going kids, if they could spare some time to let me know the feedback on their children’s school. I would not shy checking on feedback from parents even if they were strangers. I phoned, emailed had personal conversations with people who had friends working as teachers in various schools (missionary, international, private, government) offering various boards (SSC, ICSE, CBSE, IB). I remember having day excursions visiting schools around my area, surprisingly distance up to 20kms started adding into my area.

Finally, after a lot of struggle I realized that requirements vary at each level for every individual. One may prefer a large or small school, or a similar school to the one they attended. Some believed in a specific board. Shockingly, few parents believed that “you get what you pay for” they believed that higher fees means high quality education. Some considered reputation as the biggest factor. To my surprise, there were parents who chose not to move out of the city, though they had wonderful job opportunities because their children went to one of the most reputed missionary schools in the city.

My research helped me understand the key factors for me in deciding the school.

I understood that the factors for choosing a kindergarten are totally different than those for choosing a primary school. These are the following questions I asked myself before deciding on which school I should choose for my child.

·         Is there a balanced, comprehensive way in imparting the curriculum – no matter which board the school follows?

·         Are the children learning how to learn?

·         Is there genuine warmth between pupils and teachers?

·         Does the school cater for children’s individual differences - remedial assistance or satisfy needs of talented students?

·         What values are implied- do they match or approximate your own values?

·         What specialist staff – librarian, physical education, music, art, computer teachers – does the school have?

·         How are parents involved in the school?

·         Are the school grounds neat and safe?

·         Do classrooms offer an inviting environment?

·         How are the other students - they make up the community your child will become part of?

·         Is children’s work displayed with pride?

·         Is there a commitment to educate each student completely?

At Kider brook, Pune I am glad I found most of these qualities and quite satisfied by the kind of growth I have seen in my shy child. I have seen him performing excellent in academics (Being a working woman I hardly get time to look into his academics and his performance definitely shows the teachers efforts). I was also amazed to see him participate and perform in every activity conducted at school be it sports, annual function, drama, recitation, and many more specially when I know he is a very shy child. I would appreciate all the staff and the school head who took efforts to get the actor out in my child.

To summarize, what matters at a primary level education is not only the school reputation but priority should be to how capable the school is in building your child’s foundation. A school where not only the teachers but even the principal is involved at every step will ensure that there is a commitment to educate each student completely. If all these factors exist then there is no stopping to see that your child is groomed well for the higher education. 

One final note, do read online reviews or reviews from other parents but remember one thing - be judicious about community opinion. School’s reputations change slowly, so a popular school may be trading off a reputation gained years ago which may or may not be still justified. Another school may be doing everything right but still unnoticed and needs time to develop a rapport, of course that doesn’t mean they are not worth.