Last week, we wrote about Somaiya School’s CBSE program. This week, we once again return to Jamnabai Narsee School – but this time, we speak to Meghana Merchant and her experience as being a parent with children in the school’s ICSE program.
WHICH SCHOOL IS RIGHT FOR YOUR CHILD?
School: Jamnabai Narsee School
Curriculum: ICSE
Parent: Meghana Merchant
Children: Riona Merchant and Aarushi Merchant
Grades: 6 and 3
What made you choose Jamnabai Narsee School over other ICSE schools?
M: My husband and I studied in Jamnabai, and additionally, the school is very close to my home. Because of this, JNS was my first choice – in fact, it was my only choice, and I hadn’t even applied elsewhere.
I already knew that it is a good school, and the education that it provides is top notch. The teachers are brilliant, and while I know other people have concerns about it, I don’t mind the fact that the classrooms are large and there is a large student to teacher ratio. In fact, I feel that this experience has helped her handle herself better – she has opened up, has learned to talk to a variety of people, and is happy being part of a classroom with many students.
Jamnabai gives students a lot of opportunities to interact with all sorts of people. The children’s divisions are changed every year, so that they learn to make new friends every year. It makes sure that they don’t get lost in unknown places and amongst new people when they encounter them, and is therefore an advantage for children.
What made you choose the ICSE curriculum for your child?
M: My elder daughter is in the 6th grade, and when we were admitting her into school, the IGCSE curriculum was very new. In fact, at that point of time, JNS did not have the ICSE option available for primary school students, and we felt that both, IGCSE and the IB PYP in general were risky, as schools were essentially doing a lot of trial and error, and learning the curricula themselves. In contrast, ICSE is an established curriculum, and it is one in which both my husband and I have studied under. We knew the syllabus, and were confident in the education it would provide.
When it came time to admit my younger daughter, we did not want to admit her into a different syllabus as compared to her elder sister.
There was a time when I debated shifting her to the Rudolph education system that is available in Tridha in Parle East – she was very introverted, and I was afraid that she would not be able to handle a class of 50 students. However, at that point of time, the school was only in the process of being certified, and was also planning to shift to Andheri East, which was very far for me. While I had gone for the orientation, I found that the curriculum was still being developed and the teaching process was still very trial and error. I spoke to the teachers in JNS, and they reassured me that they would help her develop, which they have. In fact, I feel that she has really bloomed, and that the decision I took was ultimately the right one.
What has been you experience with Jamnabai Narsee School as a parent?
M: There has been a difference in experience between my elder and younger daughter’s education. There have been several new, younger primary school teachers employed after my elder daughter was admitted to JNS. While the elder, more experienced educators have taught Riona, Aarushi has been under the care of many of these new teachers.
There is a difference between the old and new teachers. With my elder daughter, she never had to do extra work at home – she was taught very thoroughly in school. Her teachers know her strengths and weaknesses well, while the younger teachers who teach my younger daughter and other primary school children do not know the children as well. Many of them are newly graduated, and this is probably their first teaching job, which definitely affects the quality of the education provided.
There have been many changes in the school between the admission of my elder and younger daughters, and not all have been positive. The children are being encouraged to write on perforated pages that can be torn out of the book in school to make their backpacks lighter. While this is a good eco-friendly move, the responsibility is too much for the young children. With exams starting from third grade onwards, the notes the children take are on these loose sheets, which are lost when needed.
The new teachers are less responsible, and are not concerned with anything but the child’s final grades. With younger children, I feel that teacher involvement in the educational process is key, and I have found with my younger daughter, the teachers have no idea if the children have even taken down the work taught in class. Even with the younger children, the teachers are only concerned with the children’s performance at the end of the year, not how they have done during the year.
On the positive side, the school provides a lot of opportunity to participate in a variety of extracurricular activities. Furthermore, their vacations are truly that – vacations. I have noticed that students from most other schools are either loaded with homework during the holidays, or their holidays are scheduled right before their exams. Unlike them, JNS makes sure that the vacations are timed well and are after exams, so that the children have the time to unwind and take a break.
The school also puts up a play during their annual day every year, and makes sure that all the children participate in it in some capacity. They ensure that the children have a chance to participate in activities other than those that are simply educational.
What has been your child’s experience with Jamnabai?
M: My children both love school. I am open to changing school or curricula if they need it, but they are very clear that they have no desire to change anything about their educational experience.
However, my children are both very young, and changing schools or curricula means leaving their friends behind, which they don’t want. They have no concern about the teaching style or what kind of education they are given. At the moment, they are completely care- and stress-free – in fact, I’m more stressed during their exam period than they are.
What advice would you give to parents applying for admission to Jamnabai Narsee School’s ICSE program?
M: I personally like the ICSE program. I think that it is unfortunate that in today’s day and age, students are forced to decide what they want to do by the 8th or 9th grade – in my time, we didn’t have to think about that until the 12th grade at the earliest. Now, both parents and students are forced to think about these things early.
IGCSE and IB both have different study methods, and while they seem to be interesting for students, my first hand experience with students who study in these boards is that those who are taught in these curricula almost always go overseas to study. While I feel that my daughters should do their higher education overseas, I am not comfortable with sending them until they have at least completed their graduation, and feel that the international curricula would thus be a waste. For parents with a similar outlook at sending their children overseas, ICSE is probably the board to stick with, as it opens up more options within the country.
Studying in international curricula is getting more and more expensive by the day. For me, spending that much money on primary and secondary education is a waste – I would rather save the money for my daughters’ overseas education.
If your children plan to study in the country at any point after their school education is complete, they will be studying in an Indian board. What this means is that at some point, they will be forced into rote learning, which I have found is one of the major reasons why parents shy away from Indian school curricula.
It is much easier for students to shift from the ICSE method of education to one of the international curricula than the other way around.
Ultimately, however, each child is different – parents must go with what they know of the children, and how well they know them.
