Imported toys and foreign syllabus are a big hit among nurseries

Kozhikode: Toys imported from UK, China and Russia, faculties from Philippines, UK and UAE and syllabuses from  Japan and Cambridge are the new methods  adopted by schools  to lure  pre-KG, LKG and UKG students to their schools. Children studying syllabuses that are foreign to our land and having faculty who speak only English is also becoming a status symbol among parents. Schools are quick to cash in on this trend by attaching a heavy price tag for these 'specialised' services. Children may also be excited as they get to play with imported toys.

Way ahead of the admission season, the schools have started preparing to cut an edge over others and have sent people to places like London, China, Russia and Middle East to procure specialized, tailor made toys and  study equipment for their kindergarten section. They have also conducted recruitment drives in these countries to bring in teachers to their schools. The move ensures that the schools can charge a premium from parents who seek admission for their wards in these schools.

A school in the outskirts of the city, Pazhashiraja International School, has  gone one step ahead and  imported all the furniture for their kindergarten students from China and have installed hi-tech class rooms and playground both for indoor and outdoor sports, specially designed by experts in Disneyworld in US.

Another international school in the city, Global International School, is offering  Cambridge syllabus and the management has brought in two specially trained teachers, one from UK and another one from Philippines. "This is to ensure that our children communicate only in English with their teachers and also develop excellent communication skills. So that they get the maximum benefit of studying the Cambridge syllabus," Abdul Latheef, HR manager of the Global International School said.

But the education comes at a price. Parents  who want to admit their wards to these schools will have to shell out several thousands to '2 lakh per annum towards donation, tuition fee, uniform, mess fee and transportation. The schools also hint at 'other expenditures' possible during the academic year.

With this trend catching up among parents, education experts who bat for a native-friendly education system are anxious. "This is not a healthy trend. Children should first get time to learn about their environment and their culture before being pushed into  foreign ways of learning," said M.A. Johnson, district coordinator of Children's Science club and the brain behind Darshanam, an educational initiative.

"Children belong to Nature and should be given an education in tune with  nature, running around in the  courtyard, surrounded by the smell of the soil and experience the beauty of the rains,   drenching in the open.  But now they are being wooed with  imported toys and foreign languages, which I fear will  lead to an alienation from their culture," he added.

"This system which invites alien notions reminds me of  British rule. This is the way neocolonialism makes a backdoor entry into our cultural lives thus enslaving us gradually," he noted.
"Let us fight hard to free our kids from such beautiful traps," he added.

Culture compromised

Thiruvananthapuram: The trend that is gradually gaining grip on our education system in the name of quality and modernization will lead to compromise in our rich culture and tradition, said Calicut University vice Chancellor Dr Abdul Salam.  
It is unethical to enforce  foreign culture or products on our budding generation at a tender age. The only solution for this situation is to make  ignorant parents aware of what their kids really need. An appropriate hybridization is the need of the era to keep harmony between tradition and modernity.

Though nurseries here have  pitched for foreign syllabus, imported toys and play materials in a bid to attract students to the kindergarten classes, nurseries do not prefer air conditioners as it is not conducive to the climate here, K. Jayaraj director Times Kids Jawahar Nagar in Thiruvananthapuram said.

Mr. Jayaraj told this newspaper  that about 20 percent of parents from the upper strata of society prefer air conditioned class rooms and such facilities. However, we discourage  it as children coming from hot and humid condition outside to the AC class rooms will create health problems. Besides it is  not  good for children to be exposed to such conditions at such an early age, said  Mr Jayaraj said.