"You'll have to deposit an amount of INR 100,000 for the form, Sir. And ... let me inform you that this amount is entirely non-refundable. The annual fees would be an amount of INR 575,000. You may add an additional 50,000 for other miscellaneous expenses, Sir" Thus rattled away the administrator-cum-counselor (So much for cost-cutting !) with a dead-pan expression during the entire verbal diarrhea , except for the quintessential, cosmetic, symmetrical smile that adorned her visage. Of courset, to my over-suspicious eye (I choose to believe it's sharp, though)it was an attempt to hide the trepidation regarding the possible acceptance of the absurdly, obscene amount, by me. But the years have added a lot of platinum not only to my mane but also to my demeanor. In that, quite opposed to her, I could hide my disbelief with a calm similar twist that adorned my lips.
The above talk was to do with the admission of my son in the involved school which has subscribed to the IGCSE stream. The amount, as of such, was not a shocker. I knew that many of the blue-chip 'international' schools in tony areas quoted amounts which were quite in the same range. But this school's no-great-shakes reputation and its location in a regular middle-class area granted the situation a ludicrousness , that could have sent a less poised person reeling into a coma. Lest you start thinking, why I would opt for a school of this cadre in the first place, the answer lies in the question itself. The ho-hum reputation of the school made me rightfully believe that the fees would be nothing more than 40% of the amount quoted. Being a parent who was almost predisposed to opting for a shift to the home-schooling system, I just needed a school close to my residence. Simply put, just in order to minimize the time investment that my son would have to chip in. For, schooling schedules are big-time time-killers. I have come to this conclusion. I am , of course,being more stoic than cynical here. So, this was the only school my 'closed' mind had considered. And this again was to allay the tiniest of self-doubt that my son, who had been conditioned to nine years of formal schooling, had started nurturing with regards to home-schooling.
At this point of giving vent to my constant itch to dole out opinions, I would like to reiterate that the charming lady in question must have felt the same level of shock, when she first got educated about the fee lolly that she had to quote. If I allow frivolous levity to get the better of me, I would like to emulate one of those page 3 , air-kissing types , who would go " 6 lakhs for a name like that ? Sisodia ? (name changed) Is tacky the name of the game ?"
Moving further, I went into the nitty-gritties of the process of justifying the princely amount. This met with a retaliatory blah-blah about 'an Olympic-sized swimming pool', which was, of course 'temperature-controlled' , an air-conditioned basketball court, an 'A-class auditorium', air-conditioned smart classrooms and other similar perks, which would challenge any taxonomist (if you have such a one ,for all such garish consumer fare !) worth his blood. My irreverent edge sharpened and honed, I asked innocently," Are we parents eligible to make use of the swimming facilities ?". And that met with , " Nooo...... Sir, how can that be possible ?" leaving me wondering whether it was a rhetoric or a question that warranted an answer. "What about handling the multiple-level academic dynamics for the children. Isn't that what IGCSE is known for ?", I continued without any waning of my pestilential assiduousness. And she went "Oh! That's something I am not sure of. But I suppose there will be some arrangement made. I'll have to check this part" My response was (silent one, of course) 'You said that ? You are not sure ? And you are the admission in-charge !
But quickly recovering , I could manage to veer the topic to a "And how will you convince your current students' parents to shell out more that 250% of the current fees ?" "Well, that will be labelled as the new building's fund". This was the reply that came in a jiffy with miraculous alacrity. Ooh la la la ! I could literally sense the blurring of the divide twixt hard-selling and marketing. I should be giving tips to corporate honchos on how to convince investors to pitch in so that the former's household expenses could be taken care of !!
And then came the salvo ! "Are you open to candidates with LDs? (which my son, appropriately corrupted by me, expands as L...d Deficiencies !) And the charming lady " Oh! What is that, Sir ? How do you spell that ? D..Y...S..L...E... Sir, I will have to check with the management. I will get back to you by tomorrow" Needless to say, to my relief, the reply given after a full day went as " Sorry Sir. But we cannot consider candidates with dys... dys . I mean, that disease". Since the speaker mode of my mobile phone was on, my son who was sitting next to me in the car, heard this declaration. And then followed a duet of rambunctious laughter seasoned with varied imitations of the word 'disease'. And we celebrated the shutting down ( sob! sob!) of the last door to schooling. And on a charmingly serious note, the more vibrant and unconstrained but structured arena of learning, by way of homeschooling, seemed visibly clearer. And the hyperbolic (seemingly so !) statement made by a wise man, "I dreamed of education ; schooling massacred that dream", got mapped and zeroed-in by my cerebral scanner.
Lest the impressionable lot of young parents fall into the trap of homeschooling, I would like to say that it's not exactly akin to a laissez-fare , fly-fly world inhabited by members of the class Aves. It's a pretty tough call that one has to take, as a parent. It involves the ability to hone your seeking abilities and skills - the ability to seek out all possible resources of learning - both for the parent and the child. It deeply involves the ability to take on the pleasure as well as the onus of designing a schedule, a system, where your personal vision can easily get wedded to the larger goals of education, both formal and informal. And these goals are, of course, about letting the fruits of your learning process seep into your life skills and life system. It also involves exploring your innate ability, as a parent, to work on developing new skills - vocational or purely academic - for your child as much as for yourself.
A parent may also have to seek out efficient ways of compensating for the lacuna created in terms of 'social skills' , which otherwise would continue with compulsory mingling with schoolmates. Ironically, in my case, this past one year of homeschooling has been a raging year for my son in terms of social dynamics. But then the so-called social skills are quite akin to a double-edged sword. The kid could end up, unwittingly and unwillingly, being pushed into groups of peers among schoolmates, who are not of his liking. Blame it on the we- do- not -have- much- choice situation !
Apart from all these, as a parent, you will have to move out of blindfold zone and banish out all thoughts that the system is going to serve as a panacea for all kind of ailments ! Then it will be no better than living under the illusion that regular schools are centers that offer turnkey solutions to all educational and developmental woes ! Also you need to follow the theory that your decision to lock a certain decision should be governed more by the keen attraction towards that decision than a repulsion against the opposite of that decision. In my case, we had a very fruitful stint with schooling and I am sure that my son's nine years of formal schooling have been a decent learning stint. But at this stage, the marginal benefits of schooling are either redundant or futile.
In a nut-shell and as a conclusion, I would like to strongly opine that the world of homeschooling is a beautiful world replete with immense scope for exploration , both for the parent and the child.But I would largely not be interested in promoting it. Just to avoid wasting mental energy on arguments with hardcore skeptics who are way too inert to get educated about the system that they are so steadfast about opposing. I could share a few more 'pearls of wisdom' (huge assumption, here !) with those parents who are seriously considering homeschooling as plan B. I would also like to pat the shoulders of those who are steadfast champions of the system. Simply because, they are cocksure of what they are doing. So what if they are bitter and at times even cynical about conventional schooling ! And so, if you belong to the third category, that is the aiyyo- aiyyo-arre -baap -re- udi- baba one, please spare me the 'pleasure'. Excusez moi !
