The Modern Plunder

Not quite long ago I happened to accompany my aunt to obtain an admission form of a reputed school in south Bangalore for my little cousin — who only turned 7 last month. The mere fact that I would be setting foot in a school left me rejuvenated. But, that day’s encounters left me horrified and aghast. Instead of reminiscing my past, I — paradoxically — ended up taking a peek into what might be ‘The Modern Plunder’.

What possibly could have happened you might wonder; It was around 9 am, my aunt, my 7-year-old cousin, and I, were all dressed up and we left for the school which was 15 minutes away — If you are in Bangalore, it’s wise to not measure distance in km. As we entered the premises, we were greeted by a fancily dressed lady who directed us to a long queue to buy the admission form.

Meanwhile, my eyes glanced across the hall, hoping to see young kids chirping like happy larks, Instead it found a bunch of 5 year old’ hooked to their smartphones and picking their noses. Having seen that enough, I excused myself and went to stand near the front porch only to see a 7th grader throw a plastic bottle from the bus which fell on a grandpa driving TVS-50; Ironically the school’s motto was “Value-based holistic education”. I clearly didn’t see the value in throwing stuff on an old grandpa driving a TVS-50.

A couple of minutes later, we all sat in an A/C room with my little cousin in the middle and the Principal facing us. The grumpy old woman sneered at my aunt and said “We cannot guarantee the seat, but if your son does get in, you will have to devote your evenings to coach him, for our curriculum is very intense”. mind you, she was talking about the curriculum of a 2nd grader.

And when asked about the tuition fee, The old principal’s face lit up and she blithely said “Madam, the tuition fee would be 150000 only”. She obviously didn’t include bus fees, books, donations, uniform fees, infrastructure fees, canteen fees, physical education cess, library insurance, and playground licence, with 18% SGST, 28% CGST and very-very-early-bird IIT-JEE coaching. As if that wasn’t enough, after a small pause she said, “we have horse riding sessions as well, would you like your kid to be enrolled?”. Although it was quite expected as the school advertised in about a thousand magazines, always showing some hotshot guy on a horse jumping over a fence. I didn’t even see a single horse on the premises, forget the horse, the only thing you could see from that school were concrete buildings, sorry, Concrete Jungle to be precise.

Some of you might think it’s too early for me to be having panic attacks over school fees and admissions, and the cost of living in Namma South Bengaluru considering that I’m only 25. But Having witnessed such blatant plunder of a common man’s hard-earned money by “e-techno schools” which promise to offer “Holistic Education”, I couldn’t help but wonder how the situation would worsen 10 years from now. Probably, my entire savings would have been spent on my child’s primary school. And perchance s/he wishes to study M.B.B.S, I’d probably have to pledge my two kidneys! Oh wait, I can’t pledge both, what if s/he demands an iPhone when s/he is of age?

In any case, what does a kid learn in school? How to Memorize 5 important questions a few hours before exams? How to copy assignments from a friend? I think I can transmit these skills to him/her, I am an engineering student you know…

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