‘Teachers promote inquiry-based learning in Apeejay Kharghar, encourage students to ask a lot of questions’

Rajeshwari is a Post Graduate in Environmental Science from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) and is currently working with KPMG as an Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Manager, while her husband Pradeep Nambiar is Assistant General Manager with IDBI Bank. Their daughter, Aadya Nambiar, has been studying in Apeejay School, Kharghar since Nursery and is now in class 7. In an interview, Rajeshwari explains why schools should focus more on quality education and holistic development of children rather than pampering them.

Q. What made you pick Apeejay over other schools?

When I was doing my higher studies in Delhi I saw my cousins struggling with nursery admissions. Like other parents, they wanted their children to get enrolled in the Capital’s best schools. I noticed them shortlisting Apeejay schools along with a couple of other schools for their kids. That’s how the Apeejay brand got stuck in my head. I have also seen from close quarters the progress made by my cousins’ children due to Apeejay.  When I got married and moved to Mumbai, I picked Apeejay for Aadya without giving a second thought.

What’s the best thing about the school?

The best thing I liked about Apeejay is that though their teaching method and curriculum is super modern, they are very much traditional in their approach to imparting education. They still use chalkboards. The best part is that there is no air conditioning in classrooms. As parents our endeavour is to give our child the best of everything. We don’t want them to face any trouble, but this mindset could also spoil them. Children already spend a lot of time in an air-conditioned environment in their homes and if they get the same cosy environment at schools, how will they learn to face hardships of life? We can’t keep our children in an artificial environment 24×7. We have to make them strong. They should know how to bear a little bit of heat or cold as you never know what the future has in store. Some of the greatest minds from our country studied in a traditional way. There were no fancy air-conditioning or whiteboard markers. Quality education can be imparted without these add-ons, as demonstrated by Apeejay.

Tell us about the progress made by Aadya?

My daughter has a lot of friends from other schools and I have observed how Aadya is way ahead of her peers in terms of maturity and knowledge. For example, I once overheard one of Aadya’s friends telling her about a new concept she learned in school. Aadya replied, ‘Ohh! It was taught to us two years ago.’ The teachers of Apeejay encourage students to ask a lot of questions and promote inquiry-based learning. You won’t believe that my daughter asks so many questions. You will speak a sentence and she will ask you 100 questions on it. Sometimes, I get fed up answering her questions, but her teachers are always calm and cool. During online classes, I have minutely observed how the teachers answer all the queries of students with utmost calm. They have ensured that students have hassle-free experience adapting to online learning.

“My daughter listens to her teachers more than she listens to me. Prior to the pandemic, Apeejay used to conduct parent-teacher meetings on the second Saturday of every month. Parents are in constant touch with teachers. Even during Covid, parents are given regular feedback on the progress made by the students.”

–Rajeshwari Pradeep Nambiar