As parents, when we think back upon our schooling, which is more than a decade old now, a heavy thrust of memories flood our mind. Accommodating them alive for diving deep later, for now, appeared to be a waste of time! Why? Is it that we have grown highly mechanical or insensitive or are we tied up with work that we would like to spend time sparingly for cherishing memories? In my opinion, not really. The naughty friends; scattered but interesting, bizarre and curious incidents; the teachers whom we liked and disliked, the games, tours and excursions, etc, we often cherish them stealthily, sporadically. We take pride in unravelling them out to our children. Whereas, when it comes to sharing the memories pertaining only to teaching and learning processes and methods, with a wry smile and a resigned sigh, we retrieve; we stop being eloquent about it. The reason for the retrieval, in my opinion, is that we know we are the products of an education system that won’t interest or inspire our children who have already gained momentum in this fast treading, developing world! Our children may uphold the values that we inculcate in them but pity and shun our entire learning system calling it ‘incompatible’ or old-fashioned merely for the reason it was teacher-centred and technology unaided. I feel this urges us from within not to give them what we received. A school that is different from that of ours is what we look for! A school that creates citizens whose knowledge and experience the whole world can make use of without any compatibility issues.

As parents, our hunt starts here — the hunt for a school to enroll our children in– for a globally compatible school that explores the potentials, interests and skills of a child fully and deeply. We are still in an era in which for some schools it is a dream, whereas for others the rote learning still is the best. Schools with a vision of creating globally competent citizens are believed to be rare like unicorns, hardly numerous in any city. Hardly numerous definitely does not mean ‘none’! What matters is the willingness to make a discretionary selection!

This quote says it all:

Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they can from a lack of bread. ― Richard Wright, Native Son

If we wish to see our children identifying their interest and skills and exploring the scope of their potential, the most important thing we have to do is selecting a school that strives hard to provide global facilities without compromising on quality: may it be faculty members, curricular or co-curricular facilities, curricula, infrastructure or technology for communication and security, quality is an important aspect that ensures the fulfillment of this wish.

Children are like sponges, they just absorb what they are put into or onto. Exposing children to challenging but student-centred-teaching-learning environment, application based learning, technology-aided teaching and learning practices, events that explore and boost their confidence and enhance communication and grooming skills would not only aid easy knowledge accumulation, assimilation and application but also create global citizens who are curious, independent and happy learners capable of expressing their ideas and knowledge fearlessly and confidently. In my opinion, a school that provides globally competent facilities and opportunities only are capable of sculpting its students into globally competent citizens. School is the mould and the impression it gives out – students.

As parents, it is good to be aware that selecting the right mould gives out a bright future for our children.