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A lot has been said and further can be argued about this topic. There are opinions from both side of the table where one side says that the type of schools you select for your kid can actually make or break a child’s future. However, I am of a little different opinion here and this does not mean that I’m right and all else is wrong.
What I feel is that just by ensuring that your kid gets into the swankiest of the schools in town cannot make sure that He/she will have a secure future always. The future can go away as there are multiple factors involved in deciding that for your child. As money cannot buy happiness or ensure long life, same way I feel that even the best school cannot guarantee that your child will grow up to be successful in life.
First we need to understand the need for education. Why this institution was formed and how does this work for betterment of lives of millions of children over the globe. Its initial purpose may have been to impart knowledge to its pupil, but over the last 30-40 years, it has become more of a money making racket.
We as parents want to do away with our moral responsibility of being a good guardian by completing our responsibility for providing admission to a high end school for our kids and then think our duty is done for next 10 to 12 years. Next phase will only start when they are due for choosing college.
Why we need to educate our kids? What is the purpose and what they need to learn?
Thinking about this I have studied in a hostel (military school) where our main objective in life was always to join armed forces and serve the country. The main exam for National defence academy (NDA) happened while we were in class 12th and we always focussed more on preparing for NDA exam with class 12th exams nowhere on our main agenda.
Only after some of us failed in NDA exam (of course many of us passed and went on to join Army, navy and air force as officers) that it dawned on us that we never actually seriously prepared for our school exams and our entire future after class 12th will be decided on the marks we are going to get now.
All my classmates were cream of the top when we were selected by an entrance exam for this school and never lacked ability to perform in any of the exams. But incorrect (or rather unidirectional) focus on another target led us to place where we found ourselves at a crossroad in a world outside our secure hostel life with hardly any percentages on our mark sheet, where college admission cut offs were just shy of a full 100%.
I never thought for a second that either my school was to be blamed for this or I felt that we lacked potential. What we needed was a hard kick in our guts to realize that we need to start over again and WE DID. I am very proud of my class mates who flunked in a certain science subject and then completed their entire college specializing in that very subject. One of them further went on to even teach that very subject to engineering students. He never lacked ability, but his focus was somewhere else.
At the same time we see kids from prestigious schools sometimes (not always and not all of them of course) going down the drain, getting into bad habits. Who is responsible for these kids? Is it the school or the parents?
No parent would ever wish their child to fail in life, not even in their dreams. But just wishing success for your child will not ensure it. How many times we take it for granted not attending their school plays, soccer or cricket practice, parent teacher meetings. We always think that I can save on this one leave and add that up to our annual holiday to an exotic destination and we even lie to ourselves that this is for the sake of our kids only. But that is not true. Even I feel it that I have not been true to my little kiddo, always missing on these interactions at school and hoping that my wife is okay to attend. NO Big Deal?? But this matters a lot. The time we spend with our children is what will decide how they will be turning out tomorrow. The encouragement that they will get from us matters a lot in larger scheme of things. Schools may or may not make such big difference but what they learn from us will make huge impact in their lives.
Just thinking about it, I had an idea about schools charging their fees partly in funds and partly in TIME of parents. Maybe 80% of the fees paid in cash/funds, but 20% of that to be compensated (NON Negotiable) in volunteering time by each parent. There are so many things that can be achieved by asking parents to take time out (just a couple of hours once in a while) and come forward to conduct little outdoor picnics or excursions to close by museum. I have seen the joy on my kids face when mommy went onto as a volunteer on one of the school trips. The kids will feel so happy and also proud. These hours can be utilised for managing even day to day activities depending on the expertise of the volunteers involved. I mean each of us has something to give to these kids, why not share it with all of them. It can be as simple as a story telling session. Of course there will be challenges to start anything of this sort, but it will surely help you to be a part of your child’s life which you know very less about.
The idea of this page is to just ignite this thought about what we want our children to actually learn that they can use in their lives further down the line, say even after 20-30 years after passing the grad school.
A child weak in calculus or physics can still live a normal life but a kid without high morals is a waste of life.
It comes down to morals and ethics. Good schools can teach etiquette but good morals are always passed on by the parents and family. That is the foundation of each child which will be always laid at home and not at a five star hotel of school. Thomas Edison never completed his formal schooling and was mostly taught by his mother. We may argue that he was a brain extraordinary but we have seen many examples throughout the history. Even now, we come across articles in news where a child from not very well to do family has done much better in exams than kids taught in those big schools.
So I just want to rest my case concluding that status of your child’s school may also be important but will never be the only deciding factor in their future success.
And once again we need to know what their true success actually means! Remember, it was never only about a great paying job, a big car or a bigger house.
A Beautiful Life 