"Why how and when” we decided to relocate - that is another
story and for the time being I would say some where some stars aligned, and we
booked our tickets. The prep work started with school hunting for my 7th
grader daughter. It was a unique experience; we were carefree and never gave
much attention in learning any particular regional language of India. For us
learning should come naturally. As my daughter had been a keen reader, we were
sure that she will learn anything she pursues.
We are Bengali and we settled our jobs in Pune. At this point we
wanted her to be familiar with Hindi and Marathi language. We arranged an
online tutor from Pune who introduced Hindi and to some extent Marathi to her.
I started calling each and
every school near our work location in Pune and came to know that she must take
Marathi as a language – either second or third. My daughter was learning French
as a second language in USA and we wanted her to continue learning French. The
best thing we found that some schools have options for French, German or
Spanish as 2nd or 3rdlanguage. So, the first round of short
listing of schools was done based on availability of French as language. We
somehow extended our searching radius by few kilometers, acknowledging the fact
that the commute to office was going to be the greatest hurdle if we settle for
a school based on our criteria.
Most CBSE schools offer Marathi or Hindi as second or third
language. In my personal opinion Indian education system is well structured, the
system is capable to deliver in depth and well spread knowledge in each subject,
with the help of good teachers. So pursuing Hindi or Marathi as second language
would be challenging to my daughter, especially when she is moving in between
school year, there is a strong possibility that she might not meet the expected
standards. If someone does not have such fear, I will recommend CBSE board as
it will be easier to adapt the new school environment – with fewer subjects to
study and less syllabus to cover. However, I learnt from my experienced teacher
friends that ICSE board covers more topics in middle school level, and thus helps
in smoother transition to high school. IGCSE was another option, personally I
did not feel the board is well established yet in India and teachers are well
trained for such kind of course work. Some schools are exceptional and has a
hefty price tag on the education they provide – in short beyond my
affordability.
One eye opener here is, in USA public school is free, but college is
pricy! In India if you manage to conquer entrance exams, your college tuition is
pretty much affordable. Though not all public schools are of good standards in
USA, in such areas increasing trends of private schooling are clearly visible. In
my experience, the schools where Indian and Chinese students are more are better
performing.
Now back to my episode of school searching, in India good schools
with affordable fee structure are already filled from the nursery, so for the
kids who are relocating in higher classes, it is better to try for the private schools
who have seats available but charge tuition fees higher than average. I am not
talking about donation, that is so primitive – its infrastructure fees and totally
justified when they are providing AC classrooms and AC transportation. Only I
wish there could be a streamlined teacher recruitment process which at least guarantee
that the kids are in safe hands – be it private school or government run. I
finalized my plan to try for ICSE board affiliated private schools as of now and
later we must try for those high ranked established schools who I believe have
better teachers because of the stringent recruitment process.
With very few short-listed schools in hand we landed in Mumbai in
September 2020 and isolated ourselves in a Pune hotel following COVID mandate.
I kept calling those established schools along with the short-listed ones with high
hopes. But because of the pandemic, majority of the schools were either closed
or they did not have any seat available as the session had already started – only
two private schools from my list responded and scheduled online interaction
sessions for my daughter. The interaction was short, they started with friendly
manner and mostly quizzed on math and science. It seems more like a formality
than a selection process for the obvious reason. She was admitted as soon as we
filled up the forms and paid the fees. The process was smooth and totally
online - and she started her school within 15 days of reaching India. First
term was already done, so she had to start in second term. For the very first
time she was learning 9 scoop of subjects – with Marathi toppings. Because of
online mode of school, I could see how she is adapting – from getting used to
with Indian accent, digesting one class after other without any break,
assimilating Mughal’s to staring to the sky when Marathi class is going on – a
difficult but enriching phase of her life indeed. Somehow, we could manage the
greatest hurdle of Marathi with the help of google translator and continuous
practice. The expectation for third language is to make one able to read and
write without the implications of grammar. Where as French as second language
is more difficult than USA curriculum and needs fair amount of study effort. It took her around a month or so to understand
the new format of schooling – she found it more rigorous, more demanding – she
made few friends and to her surprise they shared the same interest in music,
writing, reading and nevertheless chatting – “Discord” the new form of “Adda”
session kept them engaged for hours! These super long chat sessions were annoying
to me but that’s how she understood her peers.
Days passed, and our life took another turn once again! We had to
relocate to our hometown Kolkata. She continued her 7th grade in
Pune school in online mode and cleared the final exam with all straight A’s – even
in Marathi. To all anxious Indian parents there who are thinking of relocating –
it’s not difficult at all! It is only us
who are skeptical, they only need our vote of confidence to overcome this sprint
of change!
It’s been 11 months, and she is an eighth grader now, A new
school, with a new third language – Bengali! We found the process of admission
in Kolkata schools are little tough, it is a true selection process with written
exams (online format)! My daughter could not make it for one school, due to her
lack of general knowledge! So far so good, I see her getting better in
understanding the concepts and framing relevant questions, she is being
inspired by her cousins and slowly choosing her favorites! She is happy to be surrounded by her near and
dear ones, she can’t wait to join the real school here!
P.S. We thought she will never get enough time to pursue her hobbies like playing guitar, painting, reading books or writing because of enormous study pressure given to Indian students, but those are myths!
