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Consider this before you admit your child to school

building of a school
(source:ronedmondson)
Written by RelevantStuff

In today’s world, what concerns most parents, especially in crowded cities, is to enroll their child to a school before the commencement of the session. Not that they don’t care a whit about their child’s well being and future, most of the parents want to ensure their child does not miss out on a full year. But with the way crimes are growing among school children, there’s every reason for parents to be more cautious than ever before shortlisting of prospective schools.

In one of the most recent acts of juvenile crimes in India, a sixth grader was abused and assaulted by his own classmates. The incident took place in a centrally located school on a day with full-attendance, in one of the world’s most crowded cities, with the entire staff present in the campus. The culprits took advantage of the slightest opportunity, and tortured the victim for little under half an hour.

Even after our best efforts, it’s hard to say that our child won’t encounter any issues related to safety and personal well-being. However, there are a few safety measures we can take so that we don’t regret not doing our bit.

(1) Do a background check: Most parents start preparing themselves as well as their child for school much before the admission rounds, but it is important to consider a few factors that most of us ignore while shortlisting the schools for application. Rather than just reviewing the academic history, review the school’s staff and student balance.

No, this is not only the student-staff ratio, but individually looking at the distribution of the staff as well as the students. This also includes the girl-boy ratio, the number of students per teacher, classroom strength and the school’s accountability for all in-house activities.

(2) Study the prospectus carefully: The school prospectus available online or in print must be thoroughly examined. Study the staff portfolio, as well as the school’s statistics, and try to verify from reliable sources, if any. Try to obtain genuine reviews, and even if there are any strong recommendations from a past alumnus or parent, try to analyze the situation in context of the current scenario.

(3) Subjects offered: This is the core academic part, and can make or break the student’s career. Make sure that the school has at least the minimum subjects available for a worldwide acceptability. The language of instruction must be easy to interpret for the student, as well as serve his or her long term goals. The more the number of foreign languages and streams a school offers, the more will be the number of options available to the student when she or he grows up.

 

 

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