Learning never stops at Apeejay Noida

Mr. Sumanto Saha is a Senior Manager at Indian Oil Corporation Ltd. His wife, Mrs. Sanchayita Saha is a computer engineer by profession but currently embodies the role of a homemaker. They are proud parents of Apeejay Noida Nursery student, Soumika Saha. In an exclusive interview, the parents share their reasons for choosing the school, Soumika’s progress at school and their perception about the online classes. Edited Excerpts:

Why did you choose Apeejay Noida over other schools for your child’s admission?

Mrs. Sanchayita Saha – Apeejay Noida has a name for giving traditional education with a modern touch. Many schools have changed their way of teaching but Apeejay has continued with its trademark way. We like the way they teach the students. We wanted that for our child.

Mr. Sumanto Saha– Apeejay has maintained the ethos of what proper schooling should be like. There is a balance between the extra-curricular activities and the traditional way of studying and knowing the world. They have maintained the schooling ethos of what we experienced at school in our time.

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

Mrs. Sanchayita Saha– She likes writing and reading. She tries to read a lot. I have given 3-4 letter word books. She makes dots under the letters and makes a line to pronounce them. It is due to her class teacher Meenu maa’m. She always stresses on the importance of phonetics, to repeat the sound of the words and alphabets. So, Soumika is doing all that.

She is an extrovert. She has participated in many events in the school. I think in an inter school competition of Fairy Tale Fancy Dress competition. She dressed up as a mermaid and got a prize as well. She loves to study. She always tells Meenu ma’am, “Lets study!”(Laughs.)

She loves dancing and painting. Actually, I am a painter as well. So, Soumika copies me. All the walls at our home have her paintings and drawings scribbled over them. She also loves music.

Mr. Sumanto Saha– Soumika is doing very well since she has joined Apeejay Noida. Due to the pandemic, we faced a bit of a problem as all the physical interaction and other activities of the children were stopped. But the way she coped with all this was very nice. She is learning very fast. She has made friends in the class and is eager to attend the class. She is very excited to go to school, which was not the case before in her play-school. After the pandemic, schooling will be the most exciting thing in the life of kids. They’ll experience it for the first time physically.

She loves painting and drawing as said by her mother. She loves to speak and write. She is also very safety conscious. Whatever she does, she first ensures if it is safe or not.

Such as, if she is stepping down from stairs, she’ll ask if it is safe or not. I don’t know how this thought developed in her. But it is very good because it saves the child from doing any dangerous thing at home or anywhere else.

Mrs. Sanchayita Saha – It is because of Meenu maam that this habit has developed. She teaches the children that before doing any task they have to take a permission or ask for a thing before taking it. These moral values and safety concerns are instilled in them by the school.

Are the teachers engaging well with the students?

Mrs. Sanchayita Saha – Soumika was a little shy earlier. She could do only half an academic year at her play-school due to the pandemic. So we were tense about her adjustment in the class. But after putting her in Apeejay Noida, Meenu Kaushal maa’m, her class teacher took care of everything. She is a very experienced teacher and she takes care of every child so well. I told her that being a Bengali family, we don’t speak Hindi much. We speak in Bengali and English with her at home. So, she isn’t fluent in Hindi. But Soumika learned it gradually thanks to her teacher. Now, she talks in the class, asks questions and that was what we always wanted for our child. She is progressing a lot. She is learning so much in the class. I must say this that it is because of Apeejay Noida and Meenu Kaushal ma’am. The curriculam that the school management is providing is wonderful.

Meenu maam is giving us more than enough time. But still Soumika wants to be with Meenu maam. She doesn’t want to go out of the class. She will start crying, “Maam why are you going?” and ma’am would then reply “The class is over, you go now” (laughs). Hats off to Meenu mam and all the activities she is doing in the class such as story-telling, teaching good manners and personal hygiene to students. Teaching all this in an online class and making the children learn is not an easy job.

Mr. Sumanto Saha– I don’t think I have anything more to add to this. Her mother has covered everything. (Laughs)

What do you think is the best thing about Apeejay Noida?

Mrs. Sanchayita Saha– There are so many things. Apeejay Noida is building super-humans out of the students (laughs). The students are going to become very good human beings, well educated, literate and everything. They are inculcating all the positive things in a child. That is the most important thing that we wanted. We are very happy with that.

Mr. Sumanto Saha– Apeejay Noida is nurturing the human values in students. The best thing about the school is that they don’t promote any superficial development in the child like many other schools do. They are nurturing core human values. I think it will add up to the growth of each and every student of Apeejay Noida.

What is your perception about the online classes?

Mrs. Sanchayita Saha –At first we were apprehensive that will online education be good for our child. We thought their eyes would be harmed by staring at the screen for so long. But ultimately they are watching Television or the internet for long hours as well. But in the two hours of the online class they are getting a proper education. Due to the pandemic, I am very scared to send my child to the school.  She is very small to follow proper social distancing, masks and other precautionary norms. So online classes are a boon for me. She is learning well, reading, writing and doing all the things that children at her age are doing.

Mr Sumanto Saha– Initially we weren’t in support of online classes. We were of the view that what would a child learn in the absence of physical interaction and human interface. But after the sessions started as the phrase goes ‘seeing is believing’ so we realized that studies can be done virtually as well. Learning never stops. There is a gap of a human interface which needs to be bridged. So, I hope the pandemic will be over soon and students will interact physically and develop more. But this experience is not at all a waste like many believe.