The Hindustan Times article

Many of you will have seen the article in yesterday's Hindustan Times with headings like FAILED STUDENTS ASKED TO LEAVE and PARENTS CLAIM MOTHERS INTERNATIONAL DOESNT WANT TO PROMOTE WEAK STUDENTS. I think its necessary for us all to take notice of this and have an open discussion.

One parent has written a comment on the blog, which I reproduce in part: I have never seen so much of nonsense written in an article. MIS will never ruin the life of a child for the sake of looking good in some petty exams. ... Our children are the best, not only in their behavior but also in sports debating music and any other activity you can think of. And all this is not out of some spirit of competition but out of a true spirit of learning.

The school is perfectly right in detaining children who are not ready to go to the next class.or offering them subjects that they would do well in after the required talk with the parents but to accuse the school of expelling the students just because the failed some stupid maths test-----nonsense---lies and mischief mongering.

Let me strongly state that this article has just played around with words to show the school in a bad light.

The rest of the comments can be read where they appear, namely on the post below, but the issues that we all need to address are

0. What has actually happened?
1. Has the article been fair to the children/parents/School?
2. What do we expect from the School management?

As far as the events are concerned, here, as I understand it, is what happened:

About 25 students of Class XI have not secured 40% marks in a number of subjects that they had opted for. These students were called, along with their parents, and given a set of options: (a) withdraw from the School, (b) stay back in Class XI, or (c) change streams since they were not coping well with the subjects they had chosen after the Class X Boards.

Some parents have pointed out that the CBSE guidelines put 33% as the pass percentage, while 40% is what the MIS follows, and most of the students would have been deemed to pass with this lower criterion.

Since the HT Reporter is interested in a story, I am not sure that all the facts of the case have been presented, and perhaps the affected parent could have exercised caution.

There are some important issues that have to be confronted. Tuitions. Teaching. Counseling. Board performance.

• Tuitions and Teaching: Many parents tell me that the teaching has been 'slipping' and that teachers don't pay as much attention in the senior classes because most childrent are taking "tuitions". Clearly, responsibility cuts both ways, and parents also need to worry about things during the year, and not just when promotion to the next class is an issue. I know most of us do, but still...
• Counseling: The School has an impeccable record in this regard. None of the children who were called up were called up for the first time. I know of teachers who even visit the homes of children to counsel them and parents. And there is only so much that can be done...
• Board Performance: Where, in your opinion, does the reputation of the School lie? While the MIS has never given too much importance to the overall performance (like some schools we know of, that take in toppers from other schools in Class XI) is it OK to us as a body if the School were to not care at all. Namely, by setting a 40% bar, does that help students by raising the standards, or is it something that is not fair.
  

Speaking personally, I think that having a better standard to aspire to has always helped...

Anyhow, these are complicated matters, and it would be good to have your feedback.

Pay peanuts... and get monkeys

A comment on an earlier post [with some minimal editing] which is a heartfelt plea to the School Management:

I just cannot understand as to why the the school management is destroying the school by underpaying the good teachers that they have-----or have had.

Do they realize that they have lost so many good teachers for this reason ??? Do they know that they can lose another big lot of disgrunted teachers if their salaries are not improved.
I think that it is time that the management looks beyond old fashioned ideas and the boundaries of the Ashram walls and do a reality check.

Today there is a huge global demand for good teachers. And every parent of our school knows on how much they can earn by giving tutions.

Why should the teachers pay for the ideas of someone who has deceided on what is good for them.

And can the management really have control over the performance of people who are always mulling over their options.

I think this is something that we should think seriously about. What are the statistics? Are good teachers leaving? In large enough numbers? Most of us have been very supportive of the arrears payments, so I think that we will be similarly supportive of the management if they wish to take concrete steps in these directions.

Please write in! And make sure that more concerned people read this!

Greetings!

HAPPY HOLI!!!!!

One from the heart....

A comment posted on my post, Career Choices was hearfelt enough that I thought I would give it a bit more prominence. (By the way, I do hope that many more of you are seeing the blog these days... Please do tell other parents also, especially the ones who are not either aware or net-savvy. Thanks!)

S/he writes It is amazing as to how many of us are so concerned about the career choices, the Board Exams, subjects to be "counted" and dropped and other such issues for our small children.

Have we ever taken a step back and seen if we really love them, care about them, are interested in what they really want to do. Do we care about what they eat, what they play, what they do on the net - and how they are releasing their energies? Has any of us ever done anything to really get some happiness in their lives - have we ever bought any joy to them - have we ever played with them - have we spent quality time with them to do something that the children really enjoy doing? Is it really about concern for them or is it about our petty egos?

All we are bothered about is that they get "good" marks - "good" meaning better then their friends, their class mates and winning the rat race.

What we do not look at is that ninety percent of them are bound to fail as they require at least 95% marks to get into a college like St. Stephens. Anything less is considered a failure. But most of us are flogging our children to death to make sure that they get that 95% - even if in our hearts we know that they are incapable of it.

All children are different - each child cannot be a topper. Instead of realising this fact most of us parents still spend all of our time and energy to make our children top the Board exams.

Can we all take a step back to think why we made our child join this School rather than any other School - because we thought that this was the best School. Can we look back at the progress the School has made in the fields of art, music, debates and sports - do we remember that this School was once the best in these areas - and this was one of the main factors why we considered ourselves so lucky to get our children into this School.

I really thought that this was the best School - I am no longer sure. It is very fast on the way to becoming like any other School. Is the management aware of what is happening and do they really care?

I would be very glad if the parents can take this debate forward. I am not too sure if the management of the School is taking steps in the right direction - or whether they have a game plan for this institution that The Mother had blessed.

OK. Some of it is extreme (few of us actually flog our children to death, and not all of us are quite so insensitive to our childrens' individualities), but the sentiment is in resonance with what I have heard many parents say often...

Please do discuss this more, and also let the management know. They do care, this much I can vouchsafe. How they will respond, I cannot tell.

Arrears

The latest circular from the School is regarding the arrears payable as a consequence of the 6th Pay Commission implementation. This post has been a little late in coming- but maybe thats not so bad, since all of us have had time to reflect on things.

Before the notifications were made, some parents were quite concerned about what would happen, and the extent of arrears that needed to be recovered... The Principal's note is fairly clear, but in case there needs to be some discussion, this is a place. Basically, the School does not have the ability to absorb the entire burden created by (the much needed!) pay revisions. Since these have to be given with retrospective effect, it turns out that the total amount that has to be paid out to teachers as pay arrears comes to something like Rs 2 crore. That is the sum that is being shared out among all of us, amounting to Rs 7266 for those who have had children in the school admitted before March 2007, Rs 6100 if between March 2007 and March 2008, and Rs 4933 if between March 2008 and March 2009.

The accounts maintained by the School are quite transparent, so these numbers are pretty straightforward.

There will necessarily be a fee increase, starting April 1, 2009. Some part of this is going to be what is mandated by the Delhi Government, namely Rs 400 per month, but as the Principal has said, this will not actually cover costs. At any rate, other schools that are in the same general category as the MIS charge substantially more as monthly fees.