‘My son’s love for this school is testimony enough’

This parent wanted an even playing field for his son. But destiny had something else in store. For Dr Saurabh Uppal, a paediatrician endocrinologist and his wife Dr Garima, a radiologist in Jalandhar, it was important that their son Divyam study in a school where he didn’t have an added advantage or a preferential from the school because Dr Saurabh is an alumnus of Apeejay.

“Despite knowing that Apeejay School, Mahavir Marg has a brand value and the teaching is excellent, I didn’t want my son to get any special treatment because I am an alumnus of the school. I was the head boy of the primary as well as the senior section of the school. I wanted him to be in a place where he is treated like any other student and make his own way. I am not in favour of children being brought up in a privileged environment. But as luck would have it, Divyam is today in the nursery at Apeejay School, Mahavir Marg,” Dr Saurabh said.

Excerpts from an interview.

You didn’t want your son to study at Apeejay, so how did he end up there?

It was not that I didn’t want him to study at this school, I just wanted my son to feel normal and not be singled out and be given preferential treatment which would have happened. I am a paediatrician and I see a lot of parents come with their kids from Apeejay. Plus we had a checklist and we compared the schools against this list. Slowly and steady all the schools started getting eliminated and the only school that did well on all counts was this school. The other schools failed on one count or the other.

What were the things on your checklist?

I was looking for a school where they didn’t go overboard with extracurricular activities. Over the years, I have seen that some of the top schools have shifted their focus from academics to co-curricular activities. This may sound very glamourous but I don’t think it does the child any good – at the end of the day children have to compete with others on academics alone.

What are some of the changes that have taken place since you were at the school?

This is a tough question to answer. When you are a student, you look at your school from a different perspective. As a parent, your vision is different. Therefore, what is important is to look at things that are still the same. What has not changed is the thrust that the school puts in bringing the student forward. Instead of making the student do something that will propel the school’s name, Apeejay pushed the student forward. And once the child does well, the school automatically benefits.

Second, parents are very happy with Apeejay once they put their child here. I see kids and parents who have changed schools. But parents of Apeejayites stay put. There are students who have shifted to this school and the parents are happy. Apeejay focuses on academics just as much as co-curricular activities. This works to the students’ advantage.

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The teachers are very cooperative. Divyam didn’t go to school for three months since my wife had given birth and she was at her parents’ place. Whatever work was done in the class was communicated. Ms Esha ma’am was very good with the updates

–Dr Saurabh Uppal, Paediatrician-endocrinologist & Father of Student
at Apeejay School, Mahavir Marg

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How is the parent-teacher interaction?

It is not as if all the teachers of the school know me. Only the principal of the pre-primary section knows me. Most of the teachers who taught me have since retired. All I can say is that the interaction has only improved over the years. Today, parents are in sync with what is being taught to their kids and what they are learning. My wife gets regular updates from our son’s teachers. We are also very involved with his education. The good part is that Divyam is very happy and involved with his teachers.

The teachers are just as cooperative. Divyam didn’t go to school for three months since my wife had given birth and she was at her parents’ place. What work was done in the class was communicated. Ms Esha ma’am was very good with the updates. There was nothing that he missed and now that he is back in school, he is at par with his peers.

How would you rate this school?

My son will rate it. When I drop him off at the daycare on Saturdays, he wants to know why he is not going to his school. If a school can manage a child who is in the nursery to say that he wants to go to school even on a holiday, it says a lot about the school. More than the parents’ testimony, it is the child’s testimony that speaks volumes!