Stress-free learning

FIRST PERSON

I decided to admit my six-year-old child in an international school because I wanted him to grow up as a ‘global citizen’, to broaden his horizon and to give him different perspectives on life, people and opportunities. I also believe that the vast acres that these schools are built on bring about a sense of openness and freedom in a child’s mind.

I was also very impressed with the well-stocked library that catered to my child’s imagination and also gave the teacher several choices to deliver the curriculum. The availability of curriculums like IGCSE, International Baccalaureate (IB) which stress on “learning beyond the classroom” than rote learning also seemed more relevant to the current market scenario. 

International schools have classrooms that are spacious  and each child has his/her own individual space in addition to the collective learning areas. Each class also has a reading corner, an art corner, learning labs, and a teacher-child ratio of 1:10 which makes the whole environment conducive to learning.

For slow learners

International schools also can afford to set up and maintain a resource room for children with learning difficulties, slow learners, children who need to catch up with missed classes, etc. A psychologist/ counsellor is also available to help teachers and children handle behaviour problems.

An advantage of international schools is the resources to recruit talented and well-trained teachers. The teachers who are paid well and get several perks. They are stress free which enables them to be creative.

They also have a lot of time on their time table allocated to workshops/ sharing best practices/ skill training/ lesson planning, etc., which helps them make lesson delivery more structured and serving multiple intelligences.

An international school also has great facilities for extra-curricular activities like sports, arts, culture, etc. These schools have experienced, trained and dedicated teachers for each of these activities who give the children professional training in the activities they have chosen. There is also ample opportunity for inter- and intra-school competitions. Their canteens also boast of world cuisine, offering healthy choices and made hygienically.

Other facilities include amphitheatres, auditoriums, badminton turfs, Olympic size pools, excellent hostel facilities with house parents, student exchange programmes, career counselling and placement facilities in the best universities abroad.

The downside

International schools, barring a few, stress more on whole education rather than academic rigour. So as your child grows older you might feel that he/she is missing out on a lot of topics other children learn in ICSE and CBSE curriculums. There might be a need to use external help to catch up with these, if your child is planning to take up competitive exams in India. 

If you want the child to continue higher education in India he/she might need help in learning how to rote memorise vast amounts of data, learn by themselves, how to take up examinations, etc. Also there are subject choices made in the IGCSE curriculum that might limit their career opportunities in India. For e.g., children might decide to drop math and physics if that’s difficult for them. Abroad they can still take up science and technical courses, but in India they will have only commerce and humanities to choose from.

However for globe trotters these curriculums serve well as they provide direct entry into various colleges and schools all over the world.

The two years spent at an international school gave my child an invaluable experience. He had friends from 28 countries around him and many of them are still his friends. His world-view is not limited to just Bangalore anymore. Interaction with teachers and children whose native language was English allowed him to get a good grip over the language and enabled him to understand several accents. 

The experience was as good, almost like going on a worldwide trip with academics thrown in!