Not for those who seek high standards. Review on Oakridge International School, Hyderabad

Before you pay lakhs of rupees in one-time donation and get admission in Oakridge School in Hyderabad(flagship campus), here are some points to think about.

Oakridge has over 3200 students in a very small campus. Each year they admit more kids. There is lots of noise and chaos at all times. If a teacher is absent, there is hardly any provision for substitute teacher. So at any given point in time there are hundred of kids loitering in the corridors because they have a'free' period.

Infrastructure -  The school lacks substantially in providing basic amenities to kids. I have seen government schools with better facilities. The bathrooms never have soap or toilet paper. Often, there is no water in the flush. The'ayammas'(cleaning staff) tell kids that there is no need to wash hands after using toilets. I am paying over Rs 3L per child and I still have to send soap and toilet paper with my child. Not sure how hygiene is maintained in cafeteria and in other places. The classrooms are small, dark and poorly ventilated. The Early Years program(for grades under KG) is in a dingy basement. Poorly designed chairs that haven't been replaced in many years make very uncomfortable seating for the kids. They have a swimming pool but your child will get to use it for 2 hours in a month(and only in 3-4 months of the year). At a given time there are 3 sections that use the pool so your child will be in the pool with 75 other kids. They have a music room but the instruments are not taught. Computers in the ICT labs are extremely old and many not working. The primary library is very small with limited collection and most books are in sorry condition. Sports class is a joke as 100s of kids are handled by 2-3 PE teachers at a time. Food is too spicy for little kids and foreign kids. No amount of feedback has made them take the spice level down. The school clearly caters to way more kids than it should and definitely does not cater to kids from international backgrounds.

Safety - The school has really warped sense of what is acceptable for children's safety. They had fireworks literally 10 feet from the little kids who were performing on stage and were wearing synthetic costumes during the founders day celebration. I saw a few kids get scared and take several steps back when the fireworks started. Also, kids are free to roam about in the school and no one checks where they are going. It is especially worrisome to see this after hearing lot of stories about mishaps happening around the country in other schools.

Fee - Higher than most schools in the city. There are schools that charge similar(or lesser) fee but provide much better infrastructure and quality of teachers. Yes, new kids pay way more at Oakridge than older kids. Oakridge will definitely increase the fee by a minimum of 10-15% every year. In some years, they call these'slab change' years, they may even increase the fee by 30%.

Teachers - Many teachers are teaching well and doing their jobs with passion and compassion.  We were fortunate to have decent class teachers. Someone mentioned in another review that language teachers are the worst. I agree. For my child, I have not seen one homework sheet in Hindi that came without serious grammatical errors. The administration does not work towards improvement of teacher quality. Each year a bunch of good teachers leave often citing'family needs' as the reason. They later join other schools. I have heard their salaries are very low compared to other international schools but I don't have any proof for the same. However, the school claims they have low attrition among teachers.

Curriculum - I have no major issue with it as long as it is followed with discipline and thought by learned professionals who know their material. I would say the curriculum is just as good as other schools. Also, it seems they have one student who got full marks in 12th grade and celebration and advertisements haven't ended even after one year. Poor kid's picture is on the school posters are all over town. I am not sure how his parents feel but I would be horrified if my child's face was on posters all over town.

Propaganda Spend - Oakridge management spends a lot of money on'propaganda' in general and specifically on Founders Day. It is really silly. Each year it gets worse. This year, we got to endure several speeches and presentations with loud rock music and seizure inducing lazer lights that showed a bunch of journalists how great Oakridge is. Really!

Bullying - This is my biggest complaint from the school. While bullying happens in all schools(I am sure), Oakridge does not have any intent or staff to handle the issue. Kids are not systematically taught about'being nice' when they are little so they get really aggressive in 4th and 5th grade. They have one counselor in Primary school that handles over 1500 kids. She'handles' 15-20 new complaints in a day(I am told). The teachers blame the victim for not being a'sport' and for not'ignoring' the bully. The way Oakridge handles such an important topic is by making the kids hold posters that say'NO BULLYING' one day a year.

Please do your due diligence before paying lakhs of rupees in the form of admission fee. Talk to people who are sending their kids here. Ask pertinent and pointed questions from the admin staff. For example, when they show you off their lovely swimming pool you can ask how many sections use this pool and how often a section gets to use the pool. Check the washrooms next to your child's class and also next to the pool. Look inside the pool - is it clean? Can it hold a batch of 75 kids. You can easily understand the quality of their facilities by one 1/2 hour walk-through of the school premises.

In the end, I wouldn't recommend this school to those who are expecting international standard of education or think that the infrastructure will match even slightly the fee you are paying. I continue to keep my kids in this school because we move a lot and I don't want to add another school change within the city. I am sure a city change will happen soon and we will move away from Oakridge.