Yesterday ,Credence High School took to wings (that’s how
the advertisement went !!).As I stood in the foyer and waited for the crowds to
come ,a number of thoughts flashed through my mind .Least of all comparing my
feelings with the feelings when I started the first school for the Child
Education Society in Bhopal in 1991 .Bal Bharti school was a school which was
run in collaboration with the Indian Railways and the atmosphere there was
completely different from the one here at Dubai .The building was not all that
swanky (infact even by Indian standards it was just average ).Construction work
was still on and we were happy when our
cement boards were made !!It still does not have a multipurpose hall.The
clientele was different .It was catering to the needs of the kids from the
Indian Railways Coach Repair Workshop factory at Nishatpura .Majority of the parents belonged to the working class
.And lastly –the reception we got as a school was one of hostility .We were a
private public school in hotbed of Indian Trade Unions –the Railways .Within a
few days ,and even before I could prove my credentials –I was gheraoed as I
alighted from my red Maruti 800 .It was baptism by fire .We never had a formal
opening ceremony .We just slipped into
our various responsibilities –of
teaching ,managing or managing accounts
.I was able to build a team of fabulous teachers who put up with my sharp tongue,temper
, and youthful impatience .
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| The Founding Staff. |
It is completely different here .There was a
sustained and creative build up to the start of the school which even by Dubai standards is really swanky .I
alighted from a Honda Accord with a uniformed chauffeur ,and though my hair
still refuses to settle in place it is all grey .I stepped into a
airconditioned school and onto corridors
that are spotlessly clean and reflecting
light .The classrooms have Hitachi smart boards ,the auditorium has telescopic
seating arrangements –the seats just slide out and occupy the multipurpose
hall.There is more than one library and
a cafeteria .There is a synthetic running track and a green football field
.There is a fabulous swimming pool ,a wonderful kindergarden play area and even
the toilets are airconditioned with air driers . .The catering was done by a Five Star
Hospitality Group .I was rubbing shoulders with the international jet
set .!!(can you imagine my discomfiture !!)The clientele is upper class and you
know that the kids belong to rich and educated families –mostly professionals .
Having said that ,I am fully aware that a good school is
never the one with good buildings and rich children .(The flip side is even truer -schools with substandard infrastructure are certainly more likely to be bad schools ,irrespective of the clientele.A school that gives peanuts as salary to its teachers will only attract monkeys !!).A good school is one in
which the teachers have a passion and ambition to teach and be looked upto,and in which they themselves looked after well .It
is a school in which if you ask children in the assembly, the question “how
many of you want to be teachers”,you see at least 20 percent hands going up
because their role models are teachers .It is a school in which the Principal is not
only literate but educated and wise .It is a good school if the Principal
stands up and says “no” many times instead of “yes” everytime because its not about his bread and butter
(and jam!!),but about the future of the globe .
As I looked at the hordes
of well heeled men and women walk
in and out ,I wondered whether I would
be able to help create a good school .That question may never be answered in my lifetime .But I
promise ,I am giving it my best shot and it requires a lot more effort than when
I joined as a Principal in 1991.!!Welcome to the world CREDENCE HIGH SCHOOL .
