‘Our family has always reposed faith in the Apeejay Education Group’

Mrs. Komal Soni is a lecturer in the Department of Commerce, DAV College, Jalandhar. Her husband Mr. Puneet Soni is a Senior Project Officer with Lovely Professional University. They are proud parents of Navish Soni, kindergarten student at Apeejay Mahavir Marg, Jalandhar. In a wide ranging interview, she talks about her family’s faith in the Apeejay Education Group, her son’s progress at the school and the immense hard work and patience of the teachers behind it. Edited excerpts:

Why did you choose Apeejay School, Mahavir Marg, over other schools for your child’s admission?

Actually my husband is an Apeejay School Mahavir Marg alumnus. So there was no second choice. His entire family is educated from  Apeejay Schools. We have almost 9-10 kids from our family currently studying at different Apeejay school branches. My elder son Tavish Soni is also a class five student at Apeejay School, Mahavir Marg.

Our family has always had a faith in the Apeejay Education Group. The grooming that they give to the kids is really impressive. Plus, at Apeejay there is a good heritage of learning passing on from generations in our case. The new schools in the town are not bad but the old is certainly gold.

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

Navish loved to go to the play room in the Nursery class. He was crazy about the play room and the toy room (laughs). Now when he recently went to the school after many months, he loved going to the computer lab and even to the classroom. Due to the pandemic, the kids are now very eager to even just sit in the classroom benches and meet their teachers; participate in the class environment.

Navish likes Maths a lot. He loves to dance as well. He participated in all the dance events at school even in the Annual Day function.  Due to the pandemic he and other students missed out on the physical part of the teacher holding the student’s hand and making them write the alphabets. It is a matter of practice and personal touch which encourages the confidence of the child.

 He was going to the school for the past three months and he practiced on the writing part and improved considerably. That is why it is important for a little child to go to school. The teachers take care of the child and s/he begins to learn fast and improve. We are both working parents, so we are unable to give the entire time to Navish at home.

Are the teachers engaging well with the students?

Navish was enrolled in the school in September 2019 and he joined from the next month. So, he attended the school for 4-5 months while in Nursery class. The kind of hard work and patience that his class teacher Ms. Neelima put in was commendable.

 Navish lagged behind in the syllabus since he joined in October. But Ms. Neelima worked a lot on my child. She focused on him after the class, helped him adjust in the class. She covered all the alphabets and every other topic with Navish. Navish was then gradually able to compete with his entire class. So really, hats off to the teachers.

I would also like to thank the Headmistress Ms. Sushma Kharbhanda, Ms. Ruchika, Ms. Sanyukta Jyoti and Aruna Ma’am for their special efforts.

What is the best thing about the school?

I feel the best thing is the dedication towards excellence which the school instills in the child from an early age. Gradually the student becomes very confident. The environment and the aura the school gives to a student is really very warm and encouraging.

The teachers present the subject concepts beautifully even in the online classes. They put in a lot of hard work to keep the students engaged in learning.

My elder son is now interested in even tough subjects like Social Studies. I have never felt that the teacher is ignoring the question of a child. Teachers exhibit a lot of patience in listening to a child, especially in the online mode. That is very nice and reassuring.

What are your perceptions about the online classes?

As a teacher myself, I feel there is no comparison with the physical classes. However, the online classes are also good. I would say that all the teachers are Covid warriors as well, for they have been putting in a lot of effort for the education of their students.

It is a very tough job to make those students who have not even been properly to the school, sit for long hours but the teachers are doing it successfully. They are sending all the notes online. They are teaching by using many creative approaches. Yes, the personal touch of the physical classes is missing which is a necessity for the younger kids. But the teachers are putting in their best in the given situation.