‘My son’s oral skills have improved since he joined this school’

One would think that when the parents are alumni of a school, they would blindly send their child to the school after they passed out. But this is not always the case. Dr Nupur Sud, a paediatrician and alumna of Apeejay School, Panchsheel Park, wanted to be doubly sure that Apeejay School, Mahavir Marg was the right choice.

“Though my husband and I are both Apeejayities, I still wanted to make sure that my son went to the right school. I am from Delhi and studied at Apeejay School, Mahavir Marg. While I am well aware of the brand and the name that Apeejay carries, I was not sure if the same was true for the Apeejay School, Mahavir Marg,” Dr Nupur said, who is since then happy with the progress her son has made at this branch.

Excerpts from an interview.

Was there a checklist while choosing a school for your son?

When I was looking for a school for Aakarsh, who is at present in LKG and going to UKG from the next session, I asked friends – doctors and non-medicos – about how the Mahavir Marg branch was. I didn’t blindly put my son in school. The review that I got was that this school also has a well-structured academic curriculum in place with an appropriate focus on co-curricular activities. I was also told that every child gets an opportunity to participate in the events that the school organises.

Why was it not enough that you and your husband are alumni of Apeejay?

As a mother, I wanted to know a lot more than what I knew as a student. One’s perspective also changes. As a parent, there are so many other things that one needs to look at. A student looks at the school differently than a parent.

What has been your son’s learning curve?

I am very happy so far. He joined the school in LKG only and in this one year, I can confidently say that there has been a huge difference in his oral skills primarily. The school plays a very important role in giving the child good oral skills. A lot of written stuff well-educated parents can teach but when it comes to oral, there is a lot more than the student can learn in class. Other than the routine academic curriculum, he has learnt a lot of moral values.

A lot of it is also about the knowledge of the environment, and how to protect it. These were some things that were over and above what was being taught at Apeejay as compared to other schools. There are a lot of activities that the school does like how to communicate with neighbours and deal with strangers and these were repeated over a few weeks.

The school plays a very important role in giving the child good oral skills. A lot of written stuff well-educated parents can teach but when it comes to oral, there is a lot more than the student can learn in class

–Dr Nupur Sud, Paediatrician and Mother of Student at Apeejay School, Mahavir Marg

With both of you working, how do you spend quality time?

We ensure that we spend as much time with him as possible. My husband is an orthopaedic surgeon so he is away a lot longer. So I work according to the school timings. In the evenings, when I go, he is with his grandparents. We also ensure that he is away from the gadgets; he only gets half an hour of TV time in the evening and that is also monitored. He also has no exposure to mobile.

Do you think the onus of teaching rests with teachers?

I think the school and parents need to be in sync. When the school gives guidelines to the parents it makes a lot more sense. The teachers are educators and know what is needed at a particular time. So, I don’t think that teachers alone need to be educators; it doesn’t work like this. From the guidelines that the school gives, parents can build on them.

How has your son adjusted to offline classes?

He is enjoying each day. He has been very regular with his classes. While online classes were the need of the hour, they could never replace in-class education even though the teachers were very good and the classes were well-structured.  

How is the parent-teacher interaction?

It is very good. Aakarsh’s class teacher, Sanyukta ma’am is very good. She is always available for the parents. We are allowed to go and speak with the teachers on Saturdays. For parents who go and pick up and drop off their kids, it becomes easier to meet them more often. On the whole, they give regular feedback sometimes in the form of pictures or videos about the activities in class. We also get updates on what is going to be done in the coming few days.