Striking the Right Balance

by kritika

I enjoyed school when I was growing up, but I always felt that more emphasis was given to academics, and I never got a chance to try my hand at acting or sports. Apart from one Physical Training class and one Value Education class we didn’t get to stay back after school to playing any games. After school, we had to rush straight for tuitions or home to study. If we didn’t get into any of the sports teams then we didn’t really get to play but had to sit on the side-lines and just watch. Sports day got over in October-November and after that we didn’t get to play any sports.

Now that I am parent I was hoping that things had changed and children got to be involved in extracurricular activities. We put our children in a very good school in Mumbai and though they had sports and extra-curricular activities, only those students who were really talented were given a chance to represent the team. And since both my children were average in sports and had stage fright they didn’t participate in anything. I was disappointed but then they were good in academics so I was happy.

We had to move to Bangalore in 2012 and I got a job in Electronic City. We were looking for schools in Bangalore when someone told us about Candor International that had just started the previous year. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to try out a new school but then I heard that commuting in Bangalore was such a big problem and I didn’t want my children spending so much time travelling up and down. Candor International School may have not been around too long but their campus was super impressive. They had so many outdoor and indoor sports facilities, music studios, big laboratories and libraries. When I spoke to the administrator and other teachers they told me that children were encouraged to take part in everything. If they liked acting, they could be part of the drama team. If they liked a particular sport but wasn’t good in that sport they would receive special training. Even if they didn’t make any team, they could still play sports after school and on Saturdays.

My children have spent two years in Candor and they really love it.  They are good in studies and enjoy being part of other activities as well. It’s great to see that there are schools that strike a right balance between academics and extracurricular activities.  To learn about Candor’s Creativity, Action, Service (CAS) programme visithttp://www.candorschool.edu.in/cas.htm