‘Apeejay Noida broke barriers to keep children, parents, teachers connected during the pandemic’

Ashish Gupta is working as a Lead Software Engineer with Total System Services, Inc, a leading global IT organisation, while his wife Dr. Preety Gupta, runs her dental clinic in Delhi. An alumnus of Apeejay Group, Ashish and his wife are proud parents of Kiaan Gupta, a student of Class 1 in Apeejay School, Noida. In an interview, Ashish highlights how well the school has aligned well with parents’ expectations during the lockdowns.

1. Why did you choose Apeejay Noida for your child?

A few of my friends already have their children studying in Apeejay School, Noida and they strongly recommended this school based on their children’s growth. Also, being an Apeejay alumnus myself, I already knew that they have a very good approach towards a child’s education roadmap.

They are rich in extra-curricular activities and have an extremely good infrastructure for all sorts of activities and sports such as swimming, skating, etc., and that is one of the key things which we were looking for.

2. Tell us about the progress made by your child over the years?

First, in primary sections, the teachers are focusing on inculcating discipline and working on building his confidence to overcome stage fear while encouraging him to participate in various events and competitions every month.

Second, ever since the pandemic hit, they have been very well-aligned with parents’ expectations and are always open for feedback. Teachers have been very supportive and made the children comfortable to study from home. Now my child can connect to classes even if we are not around. He is quite confident to discuss his doubts directly with the teacher and I must say, all credit goes to teachers to build up this kind of relation with students in making them confident and independent. In fact, as both of us are working and sometimes we are not available to sit next to Kiaan, he tells me what he learnt from the class and his conversations with the teacher. This gives me the confidence that he is learning well.

3. Do you think teachers are engaging the students well?

Yes, all the teachers make sure that children are taking back something from their classes by asking questions while conducting recapitulations every week. They also try to come up with new ideas such as explaining a concept via storytelling or through some animated videos or hands-on activities which normally children are interested in. Plus, they focus on every child and try to identify their weak areas and then work on it by taking some extra classes while providing the same feedback to parents.

4. Besides studies, what are some of the extra-curricular activities your child takes interest in at school?

He is taking computer classes and learning the basics of computers. Yoga classes where the yoga teacher is energetic, engaging and spreads positive vibes to her students and these have been so helpful throughout the pandemic. Kiaan also enjoys music and dance classes and so he always tries to participate in various activities held in these classes.

5. What is the best part about Apeejay School, Noida?

There are a couple of things which I like about the school. First, like I already mentioned, the approach of imparting different concepts to a child. Second, the cultural fest which used to be conducted before the pandemic kept children and their parents involved. I still miss those big events, especially the winter carnivals.

6. How do you view the experience of online classes during the pandemic?

The good part is the way the school has managed to keep children engaged in studies even though it was online. It broke the barrier between the parents and teachers to carve the best out of the students during such a tough time. However, I wish the school reopens soon as I would like to see my son going to school.