The bad news is baby mad dog #1 there does not appear to be a school place for the foreseeable future.
We have discovered through well connected sources (thank you) that baby mad dog #1 has slipped back down the waiting list. This was created by the kids who were already on the waiting list for a place in the year 07/08 (most never got a place) are now on the list for 08/09, subsequently pushing our daughter further down.
Enquiries about going onto the grade 7 waiting list came to nothing as she would be 8th.
In addition, there are now 240 kids on the waiting list for the school and the situation is deteriorating as number of ever increasing multi-national companies are expanding their operations in Chennai and in India in general. Only 23 kids are leaving the school this June the smallest number ever.
So my family are not the only one's who are struggling to find continuity in education, it appears there are many other families in the same boat. I'm probably not the only mother in the world having sleepless nights about how are their children are going to be educated while in Chennai!
If businesses are going to expand in India then they (the multi-national Companies) need to look at the schooling situation, fast.
Senior management in companies (of a certain age range) generally have kids in tow when doing an International Assignment and if decent International schooling cannot be offered, this will in time have a detrimental effect on the business as employees will be unable to take up postings or worse, Assignments will fail costing Companies.
HR managers in all these multi-national companies need to look at their demographics, establish predictions of where the most pressure will be for International Schooling and throw money at solutions. Fast.
In the meantime Mr Mad Dog is looking at other alternatives.
The emotional impact has been tears from my 11 yr old daughter this week as she struggled to come to terms with knowing she will not be going to school with her sister and has no idea where she will end up. The 7 yr old let this fact slip out (by genuine accident when she learned she had a place) during the week which is unfortunately SAT's week. Subsequently it all got too much for bmd#1 resulting flunking one of her papers this week, she's been teary ever since.
At the moment I question what I'm putting my children through.
I know one is bleating - but one still has steam coming out of ones ears!
Mrs Mad Dog.
3 comments:
Teresa
So sorry I accidently deleted your comment! Would love to find out what alternatives there are for schooling. Many thanks
Here's the schools that I know other expatriates have sent their children to:
http://www.sishya.com/Home.htm
This is an private Indian school that is very highly regarded in Chennai. An American family I know sent their girls there, though, and they didn't have a good experience with the rigid academic system and tough curriculum. Their kids were in jr and sr high school when they attended.
http://www.vaelsbillabonghigh.com/home.htm
Billabong is an Australian chain of schools. I think they are trying to open a high school but I am not sure they have succeeded.
http://www.gatewaytheschool.in/contact.html
I went to Gateways campus about a year ago. It was very small but did have air conditioning. They follow the Indian school calendar, which includes the year-end exams. If you don't pass the exams then you don't pass the year.
http://www.britishschool.in/
http://www.theschramacademy.com/
http://www.srividhyaacademy.com/
http://www.omegaschools.org/
I haven't been out to these but I would be interested in seeing them.
Here's an overview of private Indian school admissions:
http://www.tamilnow.com/articles/school-admissions-chennai.htm
and Wikipedia has a good chart which illustrates how the Indian school system works.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_India
and finally, here is an entire blog devoted to good schools in Chennai. These are all private
Indian schools.
http://goodschoolsofchennai.blogspot.com/
From touring the three schools last year, I would say that the biggest issues are the campus facilities (clean restrooms, pool, AC, etc.) and the teachers. AISC is the only facility I know of that has American or native-English-speaking teachers. The complaint I've heard about Sischya was that the school rejected parental involvement (which I have heard about other private Indian schools), and that the teachers did not answer questions or encourage interactive learning.
There is always the boarding school option. There is a well-respected American boarding school near Ooty that I've heard is really good. It was opened by missionaries decades ago to educate their children.
Good luck,
Teresa
Teresa
Thank you. What a lot of effort you have gone to :) I really appreciate it. We will look into these.
My email is mothermaddog@gmail.com.
I will add the link to my blog, once I figure out how to to it!
Thanks
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