‘At Apeejay Nerul, the teachers are so accessible a parent can meet them and the Principal without appointment’

Mrs. Pushkala Ganesh is a customer reader with Tata Consultancy Services. Her daughter Ms. Vidita Ganesh is a class 10 student at Apeejay Nerul. In an interview, Mrs. Ganesh lists her reasons for choosing the school, highlights Vidita’s passion for singing and mentions the easy accessibility as a parent to the teachers of the school. Edited excerpts:

Why did you choose Apeejay School, Nerul, over other schools for Vidita’s admission?

We had heard a lot about the school. Apeejay Nerul enjoys a very good reputation and also has a wonderful teaching faculty. The school timings are perfect for working parents and the distance from our home is also not much. Apeejay Nerul has many seasoned senior teachers with rich experience of training children for multiple activities. So, these are the reasons that made me choose the school for my daughter.

Please tell us a bit about Vidita and take us through her progress at school?

Vidita is doing very well at school because she is guided well by her teacher. Besides academics, she is very good at singing and has participated in multiple singing competitions both inside and outside the school.  She has won many accolades in the same.

Vidita won the first prize in the Inter Apeejay school singing competition. In class 5 she had won an All Mumbai Elocution competition (across 17 schools) organised by the Hindustan Times. She has served as the president of the Interact club of her school. She is also a recipient of the prestigious Dr. Stya Paul award for human values during the class 10 session.

Are the teachers engaging well with the students?

The teachers are putting in lots of effort. In the current situation of the pandemic, there is a lot of ambiguity about the school routine. However the teachers are still doing as much as they can. They are putting in their best efforts. It is not easy for people in the education sector to become tech-savvy all of a sudden. I have all the appreciation for the teachers. They have really made that effort and have been taking online classes for so many months. Also, Vidita praises her class teacher, Ms. Monica Gupta a lot. She is a wonderful teacher.

How has the experience of the online classes been for Vidita?

The school maintains the same system of offline classes. The school has organised a lot of extra-curricular activities. Morning assemblies are organised to keep the routine intact. Special events like Republic day, Teacher’s day are also celebrated in the online class mode. All the cultural competitions also take place akin to offline class days.

What is the best thing about the school?

I think it is the easy accessibility to all the teachers. It is not the case that one has to take any prior appointment to meet any teacher or even the Principal. People at the school are ready to communicate with you. This is very important otherwise you are away from the reality of what happens in the school versus what the child says.

I really like the open nature of the school. It has a highly transparent environment. There is nothing behind the curtain. The way the feedback is given is also very transparent.