May 12, 2015 12:39 AM
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Recommended as the foremost educational institution providing early education to children starting the age of 2 and a half, they have also started another branch which houses children from class 1 to 12 in the recent past. They are the most coveted institution in Bangalore with unending waiting lists, ranked one 1 in Times of India rankings.
Their motto says let the child be, absolute freedom and about the teacher that the child is to man. The founder Samina Mahmood had a vision which had come true, a profound dream finding reality.
However, her zeal and vision seems to have been lost in the facilitators that they have today. Sadly, I and my child have been victim of the glossy exteriors to being pushed to question their care and outlook.
Today, I would like you to read through what we went through as a parent and student at HEADSTART. Caution long read! My son was selected for the 2013-2014 batch of Montessori, this was early June that we secured his admission to start school only by Nov 2013, when he turns exactly 2 and a half years( they are pretty strict about age).We were unaware of the fact that we were considered lucky to be in, we had a pretty easy entry a simple meeting and securing admission, though they gave us an afternoon batch starting 2:30 PM, we went with it. Trouble started Day 2, as parents the mother is allowed to observe the child from afar for the 1st week or untill the child settles. My child being easy-going and friendly settled soon, I was given a chair outside the classroom and was allowed to stay halfway, the children were taken to the playground downstairs. This was a lawn and a sand pit under a tree, about 3-4 classes were playing together about 20 or more kids per class. My child being new and unaware of the boundaries and rules, also haven't been made any new friends(as they introduce one child per week in a mix class of 2.5- 6 yr olds) who had already made groups. I was observing from the second floor, the facilitators were on the ground with the children. I saw my child being pushed out of every group, running helter-skelter on his own, at one moment of time winding a rope around his neck, though a few seconds later the teacher intervened. Then suddenly he fell and a few seconds later another older child ran over him after he fell kicking his eye, poor child was unattended and then I saw him running around again( I am not allowed to come near my child). after this he peeped through a wired meshed gate outside the playground to another vacant plot adjacent the school and then hug the tree. Once they came back from the playtime, his teacher asked me is your child allergic to mosquito bites(none that I know of, and it never ever happened even after this incident) she asked me to leave the school and wait outside. I panicked seeing bite marks all over my child and requested her to wash the bites with water and leave it at that. God alone knows, what did they apply that he came with swollen eye-lids, 15 mins later. His conditions worsened by the evening, he had fever by late night and the next morning his face and eyes had swollen beyond recognition. We had taken him to the doctor next morning and they could not figure out the reaction as they dint know what had been applied, his swelling and fever took a week to recover.(photo attached) We never got a call from school inquiring absence, however I had sent the picture over to the relationship manager. But, this was just the beginning of the souring experiences.
Next, was my toddler of 2 and a half year old who has only his mom tending him all day, on a random day tell me, Aunty rolls my pee-pee and smells it. I was horrified as this situation could have never been exposed to at home. On inquiring him again in different ways, all he could say was chimp Aunty, (Shilpa was his class teacher, but we had no evidence) days went by and he kept repeating the story, saying it happens in the loo. We approached the Principal, Rupa, who absolutely denied saying it was impossible as there are CCTV cameras, and said it is the child's imagination. But my question is even to imagine he needs to have some reference to the act, which was not happening at home. Later, I was at the front office and saw the footage played on the CCTV cameras randomly, all I could see was the entry and exit gates at the school was covered, never in the classrooms or loos. Still, we continued, now it was December 2013, we had Christmas Vacations and had gone to our Native, and came back after an extended holiday till The January 16th 2014, my child attended school and being a super active and bright kid, was always a handful to anyone together with wits and physically. He would finish his work and jump around the class, most topics being brushed though already at home much earlier. Came PTA, we were expecting very good reviews knowing our child and also that he had mentioned his love for school.
However, I think our words with the Principal earlier was not appreciated by the facilitators, all we could here was he is not restricting himself to the mat, you should make him sit at one place at home was what I was told(are you kidding me for a 2 year old sitting at one place for a whole min is difficult you are asking an hour?) another point was he is not attached to anyone in particular, no best friends, he keeps changing the kind of people he plays with(? did they expect him to talk to only one or two kids in his class, ignore the rest, I was happy my child was interacting with everyone at once) and at the end one of the facilitators wanted to save the discussion and said however, the child is brilliant, did you notice he knows the parts of his body and very fluent and ranging vocabulary
. Yes, thank you very much I have been working in those, my child has always been a very early starter. Speech, full sentences and complex words were already out before he turned 2 and I taught him quite a bit at home, also thanks to television. To that they objected, but I give full credit to Disney Junior and NIck Jr for teaching my kid diction, concepts about practical life and basic colours, counting and alphabets, also manners.
We did not return after that to Headstart, pertaining to logistics which the school dint agree to do any adjustments to his timings so my husband could drop him one way, I being pregnant travelling up and down 4 times was taxing. They do not have transport and have strict rules about only guardians dropping or picking up kids. The most horrifying and surprising part was, we had paid full tuition( unjustified but apportioned for Nov till Mar) for the entire term for the 3 and a half months that he attended, but they never enquired, no calls to either parent, no emalis, no letters about the absence of the student, nor the fee for the next school year nothing till date.
A year and more passed today, we made the best decision regarding choosing another school which is by far more engaging, more inclusive that my child loves and prospered. No word yet from Headstart.
