SPEAK UP

MUMBAI | THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2010

SURVEY NUMEROLOGICSI
According to the Quality of Life Survey conducted
jointly by DNA - AZ Research, it was observed that
overall in Mumbai, most adults find the process of
child admission neither easy nor difficult. The
pattern is slightly different among South Mumbai,
New Mumbai and Thane where the respondents
said its difficult to get admissions for kids, when
compared to other parts of the city. Navi Mumbai
came out tops amongst those surveyed with 27%
describing it as difficult.
(Sample: 1200, SEC A/B, Age: 28-60 years, M/F)
ADMISSION WOES
The following pie charts represent the
challenges parents face during child
admissions. They indicate how difficult the
process is in schools across Mumbai.
are not a great start
Overall
19%
Mumbai
www.dnaindia.com | epaper.dnaindia.com 6
‘Child admissions are now
just a money making racket’
Being asked for A top painter’s grandson is guaranteed ad-
mission to a top school in exchange for one
donation money, of his paintings. A couple from Bandra
denying admission gave the principal of a school a Honda
Civic, after which their child was accepted
to reserve some as a late-admission for that year’s session.
The owner of a paints company offers to
seats for the have the entire school painted so that his
principal’s friends child may be accepted by the institute of his
choice. The new principal of a top school
and a questionable sets aside seats for political connections.
method of Brokers intermediate between parents and
principals, and sums upwards of Rs20
evaluating your lakh exchange hands. Children are reject-
ed from the school of their choice because
child’s capabilities, their parents are not ‘suitable’.
Isha Sejpal’s daughter will turn two
years old in April. But the toddler’s future
to school life in is already being planned by her anxious
parents, who are faced by looming appli-
Mumbai, finds
Apoorva Dutt
cation deadlines. “We have started
preparing, and have shortlisted two
schools,” says Sejpal. “The most impor-
tant things are the study patterns and the
security that the school provides. It’s also
very important that we pick the right
Board for her, because this is something
she will study for years to come.” Sejpal
is considering the ICSE, as she believes
it is the new trend in the market right
now. “But this entire admission process
is a very stressful matter and I am appre-
hensive,” she admits.
Childhood has become a fast-disap-
pearing ideal as admissions to preschools

17% around the city have become more com-

petitive with every passing year.
DNA’s Quality of Life survey found
that upto 79% of parents do not find the
admission process to city schools a pain-
less one, with the process being particu-
larly problematic in the areas of Thane
and South Mumbai.
Approximately 10%-15% find the
process ‘extremely difficult’, which is a
sentiment child psychologist Minu
Navi Bhaskar relates to. “The parents are un-
Mumbai der a great deal of peer-pressure to make
Hema Talati dressing up sure their child doesn’t ‘fall behind’. They
prepares children from the age of three
(and above) for the process, says that
there is no other option for harried par-
ents. “But parents have this habit of
comparing notes with others and then
worrying whether their child will match
up or not. I see a lot of politics and cor-
ruption in the entire process; the par-
ents have little or no control. Every
school in Mumbai has a quota of seats
schools conducting parent-interviews and
evaluations, which go as far as to reject
potential students based on their parent’s
qualifications.
“I was happy that Children’s Acade-
my did not accept parents who were be-
low graduate level,” says Talati, who ad-
mitted her daughter to the institute re-
cently. “The classroom environment’s in-
fluence upon my child is very important.”
Picture for representational purposes only
Kandivli. Ramila Patil admitted her
child to a school near her home in Ashok
Nagar, keeping in mind the commute and
the quality of education. With schools
being pushed to give preference to neigh-
bourhood children, other parents are
crying foul as their children are denied
admission.
Child psychologist Bhaskar remembers
distressed parents who came to her with

27% her daughter, Charmi, for

school at her residence
in Kandivli
—Pramod Thakur DNA
compare notes, and buy into the hype that
this decision will make or break your
child’s life. It’s just a money making rack-
et. It is the child who suffers the most in
the process.”
Tara Hemant, an educationist who
that they sell. Others they keep for de-
serving students so that their academic
average doesn’t drop.”
The 2004 ruling by the Supreme Court
for Delhi schools has had no impact on
school policy in Mumbai, with most
Talati took various criteria into ac-
count before making her decision, the
paramount one being the distance be-
tween home and school. She did not want
her child to travel unnecessarily, and
picked a school near her residence in
their three-year old son, pleading with her
to make him overcome his shyness. “How
can anyone change a child’s basic charac-
ter? Parents need to be stronger and defend
their child from this rat race.”
d_apoorva@dnaindia.net

History is witness to several famous personalities who didn’t benefit from regular
WE DON’T NEED NO EDUCATION schooling, but went on to achieve great things. Here are some examples...

orn in Spain in 1904, as a child, Sal-

B vador Dali showed strange behav- H ilary Swank, who played a teacher
in the movie Freedom Writers, was T he writer and film director who
is best known for movies like T he self-made multi-millionaire was
the most famous and productive in-
ior and often interrupted his class a high school dropout. When Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill, Reservoir ventor of all time, he invented the
Thane in school. As he grew older, he be- asked why she chose to drop out of Dogs, Inglourious Basterds was filament electric light bulb, phono-
gan to paint pictures school, she was born March 27, 1963 graph and motion
Every school in
24% Mumbai has a
quota of seats that
that came from his
dreams. His dreams
and his paintings
quick to reply that
she didn’t like the
rules and the fact
and dropped out of
high school in
ninth grade. At 22,
picture camera. He
was also an electri-
cal power usage pio-
they sell. Others were scary and un- she was often cited he worked at the neer, a Congression-
real. Dali went to art for “talking exces- Video Archives, a al Gold Medal recip-
they keep for school in Madrid. He sively” on her re- defunct video ient and was knight-
deserving students Salvador got kicked out and Hilary port cards. She did Quentin rental store in Man- Thomas ed for good measure.
so that their Dali never finished. Dal Swank emphasise her be- Tarantino hattan Beach where Edison In school, the young
was expelled from lief in the impor- he and fellow movie Edison’s mind often
academic average the Academia in 1926, shortly be- tance of education and claims she buffs, like Roger Avary, spent all wandered, and his teacher, the Rev-
doesn’t drop fore his final exams, when he stat- would encourage kids to stay in day discussing cinema and rec- erend Engle, was overheard calling
ed that no one on the faculty was school. Despite her lack of formal ommending videos to customers. him “addled”. This ended Edison’s
—Tara Hemant, competent enough to examine him. education, Hilary was able to He went on to become one of the three months of official schooling.
educationist He even spent time in jail. Howev- achieve the status of an Academy most successful movie/writers in Much of his education came from
er, he continued to paint. Award winning actress. Hollywood today. reading texts independently.

Inbox SUCH IS LIFEI Sudhir Shetty

Carrying work home is

common today
In response to ‘I’m totally rest-
less until I’ve checked all my
unread e-mails?’ (Speak Up,
September 7)
Today, almost every-
one is bitten by this
disease. If you don’t
have internet access
in office, one can’t
even start working as
most of the work is
paperless. If one goes
by the book, then ac-
tual working hours are only
got eight hours (9-5) but no
one really works all the time
during that time frame. Peo-
ple are busy talking to col-
leagues, chatting or talking on
IFEEDBACKI
Do you have a story to share about getting your child
admitted into a school in Mumbai? What were the
difficulties you faced? Feel free to write to us at
speakup@dnaindia.net
phone with family and
friends. Therefore, to finish
the work, people end-up tak-
ing it home. People need to
learn how to utilise their time
properly so that they can fin-
ish their work at
home and be free to
spend time with
family or friends.
However, some job
profiles needs are
such that one has to
be connected with
other almost all the
time. And don’t
mind working from home as
they can spend time with
loved ones rather than work-
ing till late hours in the office.
—Pravin Kamath,
assistant manager
‘No sensitivity to the child’s needs’
Dr Vrinda Datta is a professor
at the Tata Institute of Social
Sciences (TISS) and the presi-
dent of the Association for Ear-
ly Childhood Education and
Development. Apoorva Dutt
spoke to her about the lacunae
in the current admission
process and what alternatives
parents have in the current cir-
cumstances. Excerpts:
How would you describe the
current admission process?
There is a lack of sensitivity
to the child’s needs and abili-
ties. Peer pressure and anxi-
ety can have a negative impact
on the child’s psyche. It’s a vi-
cious circle. Parents blame the
schools for putting such de-
mands upon the child during
admissions and schools blame
parents for putting their child
through such a strenuous
preparation. Ultimately it is
the child who’ll have to un-
dergo this. There are many
children who reach their de-
The effectiveness of
alternative systems
needs to be
investigated; they
might be good initially,
but later the child has
to be integrated back
Vrinda Datta
velopment milestones, but viduals, trusts, franchises
only because they lack the and large corporations back-
ability to perform in public ing them. Admission needs to
and on-demand, they are not be programme-based and the
given the same consideration. norms that are being set up
should be examined. The
What do you think is the role guidelines should be such
of the government in light of that they cannot be over-rid-
the monopoly of private
educational systems?
den by loopholes, for example
a school that was banned
The problem is not just with from taking donations start-
private institutes, but with ed taking them at the pre-
the system of education as a school level instead. We
whole. Education remains an should know who we are ad-
unregulated field, with dif- dressing with the norms,
ferent entities such as indi- only then will they be effec-
tive. Only then can we do jus-
tice to a sytem that is over-
flowing with stakeholders.
Are there any educational
alternatives available to
parents outside the system?
Some parents also opt for al-
ternative schools with a dif-
ferent approach, some opt for
home-schooling. It’s a par-
ent’s choice to make the best
decision for their child, but it
should not be one made per-
force because the educational
system is inadequate. The ef-
fectiveness of alternative sys-
tems needs to be investigated;
they might be a good option in
the initial stages, after a few
years the question of how the
child will be integrated back
into the system arises. There
are successful cases, but there
needs to be a further under-
standing of how to go about it.
The state’s responsibility for
education of every child can-
not be rejected.

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Crossword no 1724

horizontal rows or 3x 3 grids. Do not repeat any letters in a line.

man! (6)
9 A Gallic disposition is
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Each puzzle has only one solution.
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Yesterday’s solution

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(5)
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23 Mince pie and preserve for a
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25 A lust that’s understood (6)
Down
1 Cheap newspaper has a stock
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Solution No: 1723
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Impedes, 13 Enslave, 14 Asides, 16 GET IN TOUCH: Please email us your views at speakup@dnaindia.net , or call on 022- 43888455 or post
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