Apr 18, 2009 01:52 PM
48530 Views
I am writing this review with a heavy heart and utter frustration. As any other parent, when it was time to enroll our daughter into a playschool, we looked around for the best option.
Having spent most of our life abroad, we wanted to make sure that our daughter went to the best of the schools in the city, where nurturing and caring would be the way of teaching. We talked to a lot of parents and shortlisted Chempaka and Rainbow as an option.
Although many parents told us that Chempaka was not the place to send your kid, and they even after staying in Jawahar nagar were not sending their preschoolers to Chempaka. Still we were impressed by their website and decided we will give it a try. We even shifted to a place near Chempaka in Jawahar Nagar, as we did not want our kid to travel long distances.
We were very happy the day we went to enroll our daughter in the school, the principal came across as a pleasant and polite lady, who assured us that our ward was in safe hands and she would be taken good care of. We asked her for an opportunity to have a look at the facility and if possible spend some time inside the classroom (Rainbow offered us this option) so that we could get a better idea of the school and the rest of the facilities and teaching methodology. This option was rejected outright and we were told that "due to security concerns we cannot let parents sit in the classroom".
Although it did not convince us, but still we had the confidence after meeting the Principal that my child would be assured of the best care. The first day, like any other kid my daughter too threw all kind of tantrums when we left her at the school. she cried continuously for 3 hours, her eyes were red, and on the way back when we enquired she said she did not want to go back as the teacher said "Karanjal Kamb Edukatte" (In malayalam it means, if you cry I will show you the stick).
There was no way that my daughter could have concocted such a story, as she is not too familiar with Malayalam as we mostly speak Hindi and English at home. I don't think that the child could have devised it, as she was only 2.5 years old at that time. The next three days were nightmarish, as she kept on crying continuously (Whereas the teacher told us, that she was ok the whole day but cried only when we came to pick her up). On the third day, she did not sleep in the night, the terror of school had caught her, she woke up in the midst of her sleep in the night and cried "I don’t want to go to Chempaka".
That night we were awake from 3 AM onwards, and we decided that we will not send her to school the next day, and talk to The Principal. I talked to principal the next day, and she gave us tips/advice so that the kid would be happier back at school. She was not willing to accept the fact that it was a problem with the school. When we told her that the teacher threatened to beat her with a stick, she said it is not possible (This is hard for me to believe).
She also reiterated that my daughter is a smart child (Which she definitely is, she is outgoing, enjoys company of kids and is a fast learner) and she should not be having a problem coping up. She then asked us to change her section, and also told us that they were busy with the Annual Day celebrations and hence the new kid would not have been taken care of well, so why not send her to school after the annual day. She also suggested us not to leave the kid in school at a stretch for 3 hours, and to let her be at school for 1 hour to start with and gradually increase the duration. On this meeting we insisted that we wanted to see the classroom and the facilities they have for a preschooler that are mentioned in Montessori method, the Principle just took us till the door of classroom and even after insisting so much she did not show us the facilities they have. I suspect they had nothing great to show us anyways... So 10 days later, on Feb 3rd'2009 we again sent her to school, this time we only allowed her to stay for 1 hour. And gradually, we kept on increasing the duration she spent at school. She was slowly getting accustomed, but still not very happy about her school and kept complaining that she was not allowed to play, she did not like the room (Which she would not, as it is kind of a dim lit dingy place) etc. Then on the 4th day of her school again, when our maid went to pick her up, she kept on crying all her way back home. When she reached home, she told us that the school Aunty did not change her panty after going to the toilet, she came home without panties and she could not bear it and hence cried all along. We found both the panties were kept in the same column of her bag and the teacher/aaya could have easily found it had she tried to. From next day on she again refused to go to the school. My experience with Champaka is not restricted to these issues. My daughter’s diary was missing from her bag, and teachers said they don't know where it had vanished. (The school boasts of security) Once when our maid went to pick my daughter an hour earlier than usual timings, as advised by the principal, she was scolded for the same and told that the kid cannot be left before 12 noon. (Miscommunication or no communication at all between the teachers and The Principal) My child was crying for 13 days that she went to school, but the teachers and the aayas would say that she did not cry at all and gave us wrong feedback even when we could see her swollen/scratched face. This when the kid is just 2.5 years old. (Talks a lot about attention and care!). So after going through all this, we decided that we will pull her out of the school. We went and talked to the Principal, and she agreed to adjust the fees if she joined later, but when we asked for a refund, the polite and professional principal lost her politeness. 1st two weeks she kept saying that we will get the deposit money back but latter on she started ignoring us and deliberately started avoiding us and postponing the decision (probably she realized we will never send our kid back to her school).After 2 months, she has not yet given a clear idea about whether she would refund the money to us or not (my kid had been in school for only 13 days). And when we asked for the email of the director, so that we could correspond with him, we were told that the emails are not read at all and managed by the webmaster and they don’t reply. Then what are emails for, I guess as everything else in Chempaka, it is just to show off...
