‘Apeejay inspired my daughter to forge a career in public speaking’

Dr. Priyanka is a Medical Cosmetologist and runs her private clinic while her husband, Mahesh Ghatge, is an Engineer with Sparkle Clean Tech, a water treatment company. Their daughter, Mishti, is in class 7 and has been studying in Apeejay School Kharghar, since Nursery. In an interview, Dr. Priyanka elaborates how the school contributed to the holistic development of her daughter.

You must have had other options before you, so what made you pick Apeejay?

Not really. Apeejay was our first and only choice. The reason being many students from our locality were already enrolled in Apeejay and I received exceptional feedback from them about the school. Also, we wanted a recognised and well-established CBSE affiliated school and Apeejay fitted the bill perfectly. To top it all, the school is located in the vicinity of my house. Talking about the admission process, it went smoothly. The teachers were cooperative and extremely polite.  

How has the school contributed to the overall development of your child?

One thing that has stood out for me is Misht’s enhanced confidence. To begin with she was quite reserved and had stage fear, but with the support and guidance from her teachers she gradually opened up and slowly started participating in various speaking skills competitions. In class 5, she secured the first prize in the Hindi Poetry Recitation Competition and in the same year she was also among the winners of the Marathi Poem Recitation Competition.

In this day and age, how important is it to have effective public speaking skills?

It has become a necessity nowadays. I agree it’s important to have knowledge, but it’s equally essential to have impeccable presentation skills that allow you to express that knowledge. In our times, there was not much emphasis placed on public speaking, but now there’s a growing realisation that you can achieve a lot with communication skills. In fact, when I asked Mishti ‘what she wants to do in the future?’ She replied, ‘I want to forge a career in public speaking’. Mishti is also good at dancing and painting.

Apeejay is known for giving a lot of importance to value-based education. How has your experience been so far?

I believe education without values is incomplete. I am happy that Apeejay started the ‘Awakening Citizen Programme’ for its students. It is a unique programme which reinforces Swami Vivekananda’s belief that ‘the aim of education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man.’ Its aim is to empower students in real and tangible ways to develop as enlightened citizens. To make the programme interesting, exciting stories and activities are designed in such a way that students listen, imbibe, and learn by discussion, thinking, and speaking out their minds.  

Elaborate on the performance of teachers.

Teachers are the backbone of an education system. In Apeejay, teachers go to great lengths in explaining the topics in detail and removing the doubts of students. This is the reason why there was no learning loss during the pandemic. They ensure that all concepts are clear to students and provide timely feedback to parents on the progress made by their wards.