It's nearing end of October; it is that time of the year when the school admission process is in full swing in Bengaluru and many parents are trying to find schools that will work best for their children.

This article provides a checklist of criteria to look for before narrowing down on schools. This guide is primarily aimed at parents looking at Montessori and Kindergarten admissions.

How does one go about figuring out the “right” school? Your precious 4-year-old probably gives you very little clue about his or her preference. The logical way of going about school-hunting is to consider the various criteria on hand, pick what you think are absolutely essential for your child and try to find schools that meet the criteria. And most importantly talk to parents whose children are studying in schools you are considering.

Parents queue up for their wards' admissions in front of National Public School. Pic: Chitra Aiyer.

Commute distance and time: One of the criteria that has been on the list of every parent I spoke with was the commute distance. Bangalore traffic is not user-friendly, and definitely not children-friendly. Some parents are extremely particular about the school being really close by, and some are not so particular if the transportation is taken care of.

Anita Murthy, a mom to a 6 year old said, “I wanted a school that was nearby and that was good.” Clearly for her, location was the top-most criteria. She works as a freelance consultant from her Koramangala home and chose National Public School.

Academic standards: While this used to be the only criteria probably for most parents in the 70s and 80s, things have changed a lot now. Some are absolutely sure that academics is the prime factor of consideration in a school and some others don’t seem to think so.

The former, even as they understand the need for a wholesome development of the child, are more willing to take that upon themselves as long as they know academics will be delivered at school. The second set of parents seem to completely believe that schools must be more like personality development centers that cater to the child’s development in totality while not compromising on the academics as well. Along with academics, they would want the child to have dabbled in art, music, theatre, community service, sports including swimming, tennis, chess, and some form of martial arts too.

In Poonam Kuruganti’s words, “I owe most of what I have come to have to the education I had. The rigor of my early years of education made all the difference to my approach to higher education and what I went on to do. So, yes, academics was the prime factor while considering schools.” She is a post-doc scientist who went to the US for higher education. She and her family returned to India last year from the US.

School fees: These days, school fees are very expensive and are like nothing we saw ever before. Many schools charge fees that vary from a few tens of thousands to a few lakhs of rupees per annum. Some schools also charge a one-time donation fee at the time of admission and some of these schools do not give receipt for all of the money collected as donation. If you are not comfortable with such a practice, then you must find out beforehand if the school you are trying for is transparent with all the fees it will collect from you. Some schools have varying fees for different students depending on the parents’ affordability. Some schools also have quotas for children from the not-so-well-off economical background.

While affordability is in itself a criterion, you may also want to consider the kind of peers that a child is likely to have at school. A school's fee structure also influences what background the students come from.

Students-to-teacher ratio: Different parents seem to have comfort levels with different ratio numbers. Some parents are comfortable with students-to-teacher ratio of 40:1 and there are parents who prefer if this ratio is as low as 20:1. This is a personal preference. See what would work well for you child. Some kids will do well no matter what.

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