‘Even if one student has a doubt, Apeejay Model Town teachers explain a concept till all students understand it’

Mr. Himanshu Bajaj is a businessman dealing in wholesale medicines. His children Eraaj Bajaj and Atibha Bajaj are class 4 and 2 students at Apeejay School Model Town, Jalandhar.

In an interview, Mr Bajaj highlights how the teachers at Apeejay Model Town nurture the curiosity of the students. Edited excerpts:

Why did you choose Apeejay Model Town ahead of other schools for the admission of both your children?

We had initially enrolled Eraaj in a different school but that school shut down very soon. We then had two options in schools. We chose to go ahead with Apeejay Model Town since one of my close friends had also studied in an Apeejay School. The kind of exposure he got there was simply remarkable.  Actually, a lot of my friends were from Apeejay schools.

The two years my son spent in Apeejay Rhythms Kinderworld were so good that they made us feel at home. So in Atibha’s case, we only had one option in mind that Apeejay is the best.

Please tell us a bit about Atibha and Eraaj and take us through their progress at school?

Eraaj is extremely sharp by nature while Atibha is the hard working child. Eraaj loves Math, Atibha on the other hand does not have a favourite subject, she likes them all. Both of them play badminton in school.

Eraaj enjoys the fact that he gets a lot of freedom at school. He is a very hands-on person, he is always working on gadgets or toys. He is a curious child. He discusses it with his teacher and always gets a very good response. There are many schools where the curiosity of children is shut down by the teachers. Syllabus is imposed upon their free mind. This is never the case at Apeejay School, Model Town.

Sinia Ma’am firmly believes that children should be given the freedom and encouragement to explore things. At school, all the children are given ample time to play and express themselves.

When I was a student, if a class 2 student would go to the library, s/he would be shunned out. It was so since the library would begin for students in or older than class 5. The other day I was surprised to see that Atibha came to me and said that she wants to get her library card made. It was so because she likes a book in the library and wants to issue it and read it. For us, this was a great thing.

Are the teachers engaging well with the students?

The teachers have been very supportive. The curriculum is managed in a planned and focused manner.

In other schools, the students face a lot of pressure. There are so many topics to cover in the syllabus that at times the teachers would tell the students to cover one or two topics by themselves. But nothing like this has ever occured at Apeejay Model Town.

The teacher is very clear and focused that the student must get the concept. It doesn’t matter if one student or the entire class has a doubt, for the teachers it is important that all students are able to understand the concepts. I noticed this during the online classes as I sat beside my children.

What is the best thing about Apeejay Model Town?

The best thing about the school is that the children get a very good environment to grow. The first senior school they have gone to is Apeejay Model Town. Earlier students would go to Apeejay Rhythms Kinderworld for the junior classes and then change to Apeejay Mahavir Marg for the higher classes. That hassle is over now. My children are so comfortable in the school environment that Atibha fell ill today but still she wanted to go to school. We had to restrain her and keep her at home. This is the love and warmth they get from the school.

How has the experience of the online classes been for Atibha and Eraaj?

It was very nice. Special appreciation for all the teachers. They handled the children very well in the online class. In a physical class, it is easy to control the children as they are all present together in the class within the school environment. But in online classes, all the students are attending the classes from different situational aspects. The teachers have managed all the children very well in the online classes since the past two years.

Now that the school has reopened are both the children happy to be back at school?

They are more than happy. It is very difficult to keep them back as I just said.