Team-BHP - The School & College Admissions Thread

What is the right age to enroll a child into school? Here is an interesting article which says that kids who begin schooling late are likely to have more self control.

Quote:

A study out of Stanford University has found kids whose parents waited to enroll them in kindergarten by age 6 (instead of 5) had measurably better scores on tests of self-control by the time they were 7 and 11.

Self-control - known to psychologists as “executive function“-is one of the more impor tant traits kids can possess in their early years. A strong degree of executive function signals kids are able to budget their time and maintain focus even when they're faced with distractions.

In the latest study , investigators Thomas Dee and Hans Henrik Sievertsen used the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) study to collect their data.

The DNBC included responses from 54,241 parents on measures of mental health when their children were 7 years old and 35,902 responses when the kids were 11.

Dee and Sievertsen found kids who started kindergarten a year later than average students had 73% better scores on tests of their hyperactivity and in attention four years later.

Full article at: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/A...22032017019016

Quote:

Originally Posted by A.R (Post 4125275)

Guys, need some recommendations for good CBSE schools in Trivandrum, planning to get my son into class 5, presently in Bangalore.
Also, is Malayalam a mandatory language as part of the curriculum?

There're a number of pre-eminent schools in the city of Trivandrum, and would state the St.Thomas Group of schools (reckon they've the largest school bus fleet too), Christ Nagar, Loyola (not co-ed), and Sarvodaya schools should feature amongst your list of options.

Reckon from Class 5 onward, the pupils get an option to choose French in addition to Malayalam- I'd advise you to please get in touch with these schools to know more.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dailydriver (Post 4167828)

What is the right age to enroll a child into school? Here is an interesting article which says that kids who begin schooling late are likely to have more self control.

Full article at: http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/A...22032017019016

I assume kindergarten here is equivalent to UKG or Montessori 3. As per our rules a kid should be atleast 6 as of June 1st to be in first standard. That's not too off from what the article mentions. But the intepretation and implementation of this rule varies greatly across the country. As a result you can have a ~5 year old in first standard. My daughter is 6 and is finishing UKG. And from my experience it is better to be older in a class than younger.

The other challenge is that now you have a whole sequence of things before 1st. Playgroup, nursery, lkg, ukg, Montessori systems etc. I think earlier there was only one kindergarten and then first standard. So the age of entry will vary. My calculation was 6+ in first and then work backwards.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacobvarughese (Post 4167865)

Thanks much. This summer vacation is dedicated for discovering the apt school for my kid. Any good residential schools out there? I've heard of the army school.

Quote:

Originally Posted by A.R (Post 4168676)

Thanks much. This summer vacation is dedicated for discovering the apt school for my kid. Any good residential schools out there? I've heard of the army school.

Good luck ! St.Thomas Group of Institutions in Mukkolakkal does have a Residential school, and unsure about the others- the 'Army school' you're alluding to is the Sainik School in Kazhakuttom, which tends to be farther away from the city (close to the Technopark campus).

Should money is not of a concern, I'd also suggest the Trivandrum International School- heard they do possess boarding facilities, and also the Greenvalley International school.

Here in Coimbatore, Delhi Public School charges 91000 INR per year and 75000 INR as donation. Books and uniform ~ 10000 INR.
Most CBSE schools in Coimbatore charges in the range of 75-90k.
Very much frustrated to see things happening like this.

Nothing happening from the government side to control the increase in fees like this. Each school charges whatever they feel like.

Also, not very sure if we really need to spend so much for school education.

Quote:

Originally Posted by dailydriver (Post 4161515)

Registration for seeking admission to Kendriya Vidyalayas across the nation is currently on. Here are the details:

This is interesting and I wasn't aware of this till now. Thanks for sharing.

What is the success rate for non central government employees to get admissions to these schools? Anyone has any first hand experience?

Quote:

Originally Posted by deemash (Post 4168756)

Why blame Government for everything? Why not the parents who send the children to such schools?

In Karnataka the rules are already in place as to how much the schools can charge. None of the schools follow the prescribed fee structure. The schools raise the fees by 10-15% and parents have to pay. No questions asked. One of the parents challenged this and his kids were forced out of the school.

The school managements pay the education department officials, politicians and all the sundries well to keep the "education system" running like any other business. :D. So one can complain but nothing will materialise.

I squarely blame the parents who pay the fees without asking the rationale behind the increase. There are parents who are willing to pay lakhs every year to the schools. There are some parents who consider it as their status symbol if the kids are studying in such schools. There are parents with black money who send the kids to such insanely costly schools. Then there are "regular IT folks" here in Bangalore (and also in other major cities) who can be milked at will by every one. So at the end of the day it is all "business".

Quote:

Originally Posted by deemash (Post 4168756)

Also, not very sure if we really need to spend so much for school education.

Nope, we need not spend. The money spent is not directly proportional to how much the child is "educated". Kids studying in Government schools are no less intelligent than the kids studying in "International" school.

Quote:

Originally Posted by C300 (Post 4168795)

lol: Comedy Gold.
Reminds me of recent joke where someone has asked for IIT prep institute for a 5th Grader on Quora.

lol. Hope they don't start the training right from 3rd month of conception by asking the ladies to start studying entrance exam books.

On seeing the trend in school admission, Now I'm thinking what have I done? Have I screwed up my kid's schooling career because she's going to be 5 month in few days and I still haven't looked out or registered in any school for her admission. :confused: :p

Quote:

Originally Posted by gm_arun (Post 4169184)

You never know at this rate probably yes!! stupid:lol:

I had been to one of the schools near my place for Pre-KG admission a couple of days late for my 2+yr old son. The first question was why are you late. Another pre-kg school connected to a very famous school mentioned that, they have already received 60+ applications for pre-KG. When I checked on the fees, and asked them if they would provide and snacks or fruit juices, the answer was no, since they would be there only for 3-4hrs only!! The fees was more than 60K last year and for this year it was yet to be fixed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by AltoLXI (Post 4168853)

Why blame Government for everything? Why not the parents who send the children to such schools?

Nope, we need not spend. The money spent is not directly proportional to how much the child is "educated". Kids studying in Government schools are no less intelligent than the kids studying in "International" school.

I totally agree! It has become a fashion statement "my kids go to this international school" so on and so forth! What I fail to understand is in the name of the kids education both parties are playing with money. At the end of the day if the child is being properly educated it sort of nullifies else it is a total waste of money.

When people are ready to pay why will the schools not demand? In one academic year if all parents decide to stay away from such schools, these guys will automatically bend on their knees, however how many will take that call?

I truly hope most of you are joking. My daughter turns 3 in April and she only goes to a playschool. Doesn't schooling start at 4? I haven't even bothered about this so far.

PS:
Unfortunately School demand is inelastic - implying no matter how much the cost is, people have to 'buy' it and in typical Indian heard mentality we all do the same. I have decided to put my kid (whenever the time is right) to a school, which has some sense of being a school and not a business. I think the environment is very important.

Questions for parents - we were sent to private tuition by our parents as a rule; I never liked it and I still don't. What are parents doing now?