CHOOSING A SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL: IMPORTANT FACTS AND FACTORS

by Presidium School Presidium School

The time of the year has started when you are ready to choose a senior secondary school for your ward. The next academic session is just 6-7 months away, but it is best to prepare yourself beforehand.

Just like a university or college admission, the students and their parents have to go through the rigorous forms filling, interviews, and the stressful anxiety caused while waiting for the admission list. These are the few important first steps before you find a good senior secondary school.

For working parents living in metro cities, it is even more difficult to spend their time studying the list of the most famous schools in such cities. For cities like Delhi you have to spend much time in finding the curriculum choices, and teaching methods of some of the best schools in Delhi. Finding the schools that match up to their choices and priorities isn’t that difficult if you plan ahead.

Some important basic facts to consider while choosing from the best schools in Delhi are as follows:

Research

Start by identifying the top ten schools in India if you are considering boarding school options or the best schools in your city and compare each on the yardstick of proximity, feedback and curriculum. Meet the parents of the wards attending those schools. They will be a great source for first-hand feedback. Based on this feedback and your expectations, shorten the list to top three schools and then pick one of them. The fact is that parents want their children to attend the best school. It is unfortunate that in their keenness to provide the best education at times they only consider the financial factor before choosing the school for its curriculum. It sure is an important aspect but there are other factors too that need review to make the right decision.

Curriculum

Those days are gone when all that mattered was the state board of the school i.e. when CBSE, ICSE, and UP board etc. were considered the best. In today’s times, there are a lot of options, like the schools following the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE) or The International Baccalaureate (IB)/International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE).

For considering curriculum there are a few points one should consider before making a choice. For instance, there could be a situation where the parent/parents have a transferable job and the child has to change schools frequently, then a CBSE school would be the best option for them. The idea being ICSE schools are still a rare concept in smaller towns of the country. In case you might have to migrate to some other country, then opt for IGSCE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education) board.

Student-Centric Approach

A lot of schools today have learning centres to give coaching to students in after school hours to bring them at a par with their peers. Often we think and hope that our child will be the best student but actually the child might be struggling with the curriculum. Therefore, it is best to choose schools with such learning centres that can mould students. It is also necessary for a school to have an acceptable teacher-child ratio.

Financial concerns

The minimum consideration for an ICSE school is above 2 lakh for senior secondary. For IGSCE, it goes up to 3 lakh for resident Indians and above 5 lakh for NRI parents. Rather than being a one-time commitment, it is more of a recurring expense and it keeps increasing every year.

Let us consider an instance of breakup of expenses for easy understanding. If the fee is Rs 60,000, then make sure that you have Rs 1.8 lakh to Rs 2 lakh in a balanced fund or a mutual fund that you can cash in when necessary.

Other factors to consider are the class size, teacher quality, working conditions for teachers, and the school culture and philosophy.

It all comes down to what is important to you and your child. You might prefer a school with a balance between sports and academics, or an affiliation towards arts and music, or in science and maths. Choose according to the priorities that you have set for your children, keeping in mind their strengths and capabilities. If academic strength of a school is your choice, then Presidium Senior Secondary School being one of the best schools in Delhi, will prove the right choice for you.