Times Future Kids draws enthusiastic response

PUNE: From cognitive skills training and personality development to the best of pre-school and high school education, 'Times Future Kids,' a first-of-its-kind two-day exhibition of schools organised by The Times of India at Hotel Pride on Saturday, offered a bridge between academic opportunities and eager parents. Around 20 schools, offering CBSE, ICSE, IB and CIE syllabuses, lined up to entertain queries from parents.Interestingly, they also saw highly defined concepts and approaches to various syllabuses offered by participating schools.
Enquiries poured in at the Kothari National School stall: The changing concept of CBSE syllabus: "The CBSE syllabus is more in demand these days as there is a rise in the floating population in Pune. Parents are interested in putting their children in school that follow such syllabi, which their children can pursue even if they shift cities. The CBSE syllabus has that quality," said a representative from Kondhwa-based Kothari National School.
Parents are also queuing up for children's admissions in ICSE schools. "The ICSE syllabus lays prime focus on language, maths and science, which are essential for a child's academic development," said Kunal Mehta from India First Foundation School in Katraj, which teaches its students on the basis of a highly customised ICSE syllabus.
Not to forget syllabuses such as International Baccalaureate (IB), IGCSE and Cambridge International Primary Programme, which are the latest academic buzzwords. "A standardised IB curriculum exists in the US, Europe and Australia. For foreigners living in the city, admitting their wards in IB schools is advantageous. The syllabus focused on overall development through interactive learning and social skills training," said a representative from Victorius Kidds Educares.
Interactive learning tools, in the form of colourful toys, grabbed attention at the stall of Thinking Minds Pre-Primary School, which will open from this academic year. "We are putting more emphasis on interactive learning and innovative games for infants aged one-and-a-half years and above," said Maria Verma, principal, who also made a presentation on cognitive skills.
The idea is to make the toddlers independent, smart and socially and emotionally rooted, said Prriety Gosalia, operations head at Leapbridge International Pre-School. "Besides fun games and exercises that built the spirit of teamwork among children, we have also introduced jingles to help improve the vocabulary of the children. Also, at the pre-school level, parental counselling is crucial as they need to be very sensitive to their child's development," said Gosalia.
In this age of competition, the need for cognitive skills training was also emphasised at the exhibition. "Cognitive skills are about doing different tasks with ease and efficiency. These skills can be developed in every child andWe are trying to spread awareness about the significance of these skills among schools in a big way," said Avinash Bartakke, chairman and MD of Neural Space that provides one-on-one training on cognitive skills to students aged five and above.
Customised dance, music and fitness classes, too, are finding their way into school curriculum. "These classes contribute to a child's overall development and creative instincts and we are promoting this concept among various schools in the city," said Archana Kotwal from Kinderdance International.
Visiting parents checked from the very many options. "We would prefer our daughter to pursue CBSE syllabus as it's much easier to study when one is constantly changing places," said Prakash Dattatray.
For Abhijit and Sonal Mutha, an educational programme with the fundamentals in place is more important than high-end packages.
Around 100 children participated in a drawing competition organised by Navneet Publications. Colourful houses and blunt-edged trees appeared in myriad sizes as their creations on themes like 'My Pets,' 'My Garden' and 'Free Expression.' The exhibition will be held on Sunday at Hotel Pride from 10.30 am to 8 pm.