‘My spouse and I lived in different cities for 6 years as we didn’t want our daughter to move out of Apeejay’

Shyamli Singh is a homemaker and a former bank employee. Her husband Jayakumar.P.V is working with Birla Cement as a Senior Manager. They are proud parents of Archie Singh, a class 7 student of Apeejay Nerul, who has been studying in the school since Nursery. In an interview, Shyamli highlights the excellent work done by Apeejay during the pandemic.

What made you go with Apeejay?

My father is a retired IAS officer and my two brothers are IITians. So we’ve always had an academic environment at home.  Hence, I wanted a school that could provide an atmosphere where Archie can flourish. When I shifted to Mumbai along with my husband, picking Apeejay was a natural choice. Here’s why: My elder sister’s two kids were already studying at Apeejay Nerul and I was impressed by their overall development. They were bright and intelligent. My sister advised me that ‘you won’t get a better school than Apeejay.’ I had sleepless nights after Archie’s Nursery admission interview process because I didn’t think about the second option. Apeejay was my first and only option. Fortunately, we got the admission. 

You stayed away from your husband for the last six years or so for the sake of your daughter. Please shed more light on it.

My husband used to work for a company for 15 years and it got shut down in 2015-16. He lost his job and began frantically searching for the new one. He tried his best to find a job in Mumbai itself, but that didn’t work out. Finally, after searching for 8 months he finally found a job in Jaipur. Archie had just finished her class 1 then. We both came to the conclusion that we won’t find a better school than Apeejay in Jaipur. We were happy with the rapid progress made by Archie and didn’t want to break her rhythm. Hence, we decided to live apart for the sake of Archie’s future. It was not an easy decision to make. My parents and in-laws were against our decision. However, we are satisfied with our decisions and till class 10 Archie is not going anywhere. We will take a call after that.  

Did Apeejay meet your expectations?

The school has performed beyond my expectations. I would especially highlight the work done by the school during the pandemic. Since March 7, 2020, my daughter and I have been in Jaipur where my husband is working. We didn’t feel the need to return to Nerul physically as the school commenced online education right after the pandemic. I can say with full confidence that despite online learning there’s zero compromise on academics. Archie and others follow a routine. They get up every morning at a fixed time to be ready for online classes, which are taking place without a hitch. It has helped bring order into the lives of students as a result they don’t waste time doing unproductive tasks. I have seen how children are getting spoiled due to Covid as they have nothing constructive to do and have got addicted to gadgets. As far as Apeejay is concerned, I never got the feeling in the last year or so that physical classes have stopped. The school has kept Archie occupied during lockdown.

Share with us your memorable moments.

When students are about to move from primary to secondary level, deserving ones are awarded based on their achievements from classes 1-5. During Annual Function of class 5, I was expecting Archie to win some award or another as she was a bright student and performed consistently in academics and otherwise. I was heartbroken as Archie didn’t win anything. However, a month later during Annual Day, which is different from Annual Function, she won the ‘Best turned out girl of primary section’ award. I was so happy. I had tears in my eyes.

“Due to the efforts put in by the school over the years my daughter has become smart, confident and good in studies. I also like that teachers give equal attention to all students. They provide detailed inputs to students so that they can work on their weaknesses.”

-Shyamli Singh