To pre-school or not? A good pre-school does not guarantee admission to a good school

Shubhangi Das, a 34-year-old freelance writer, has been practising dance moves for a month now. HeadStart, a Mumbai-based pre-school chain where her three-year-old daughter Pooja goes, wants parents to put up a dance show for their children. Besides dancing, the school has a monthly rota for each parent to provide snacks during recess to the entire class. This is done to initiate kids to different foods. But Shubhangi isn’t amused: “Parents find it annoying that the school charges such high fees and we end up doing all the work.” Shubhangi and her husband, an investment banker, pay Rs 85,000 a year for their daughter to attend HeadStart in Mumbai’s Shivaji Park, with the hope that Pooja gets into The Cathedral & John Connon School.

HeadStart, incidentally, was founded by a former Cathedral teacher. But there’s no assurance that she will, says Shubhangi. “We do not subscribe to the pre-school philosophy while preparing a child for admission into our schools,” adds Maya Das, vice-principal of The Cathedral. Parents, though, are subscribing in growing numbers. About 78% of parents surveyed in an Indalytics Advisors study on pre-schools in January 2010 said they want their kids to become “smarter than peers” and “excel in the interviews” of K-12 schools.

And they are willing to pay a fee equivalent to that of a school (See table). It’s worth the investment, believes Rajesh Bhatia, managing director of TreeHouse, a Mumbai-based pre-school chain. “There’s a demand for our pre-schoolers in K-12 schools,” he says. In June, TreeHouse started a chain of K-12 schools, TreeHouse High Schools. It has 12 schools across four cities, but it does not give preference to children from TreeHouse pre-schools. “Admission is on a first-come, first-served basis,” says Bhatia.

EuroKids, where Educomp owns 50%, also has K-12 schools. Kangaroo Kids, Kidzee and Mother Pride have also started high schools. Says Sudha Gupta, founder of Mother’s Pride, a Delhi-based pre-school chain: “We give preference to our pre-schoolers and 50% of our students in Presidium (its K-12 brand) are from Mother’s Pride.”

However, most old, sought-after schools scoff at the idea of a pre-school. “Kids who go to pre-schools learn what they are not supposed to learn at that age,” says P Machado, principal of Campion School. “They need to enjoy their childhood, and not do rigorous reading and writing.” The view on pre-schools remains divided. As does the view on whether they offer an advantage when it comes to obtaining admission in a K-12 school.

Four Common Questions

Many or few?

Apply to at least three schools, if not more. Most schools give preference to children of alumni or siblings of current students.

Early or late?

At least a year before your child reaches school-going age as different schools have different deadlines.

Nursery or not?

Some schools consider nursery or KG registration as a ‘waitlist’. Registering does not, however, guarantee admission.

New age or old, established?

If new methods of teaching and extra-curricular facilities is what you're looking for, new schools, provided you can afford them. Many reputed older schools have a proven record of excellent results and teaching.