“Rs 3 lakhs a 12 months for Jr KG. What precisely are we paying for?” That’s the query a Mumbai mom is asking after a college tour that felt extra like a luxurious model pitch than a peek into her 3-year-old’s future.
Sowmya Mani took to LinkedIn to explain her surreal expertise inside one in every of Mumbai’s so-called “worldwide faculties.” From being supplied cappuccinos in a high-end café-style foyer to filling out types detailing their work titles and levels — she says the whole course of felt extra company than academic.
The college tour was meticulously choreographed: sensible elevators, slick convention rooms, uniformed caretakers exterior every class, and a counselor who confidently linked Mani’s profession to the virtues of the Cambridge curriculum.
“KYC carried out proper,” she wrote.
They have been proven innovation labs, auditoriums, makerspaces. However one thing was lacking. “The college lacked a soul,” she wrote. No laughter, no chaos — simply silence, construction, and branding.
Her husband lastly exhaled once they reached the pre-primary flooring and heard youngsters operating round.
Then got here the value tag — slipped in on the very finish. Rs 3 lakh per 12 months for a 3.5-year-old, with an 8% annual hike. “Two kids — goodbye annual journeys!” Mani wrote.
“Does it make fiscal sense to spend over Rs 6 lakhs per 12 months for Jr KG?”
With no readability on educating high quality and no room for negotiation, she questioned if the charge was paying for schooling or optics. “If it’s nearly AC school rooms, fancy infrastructure and large promoting budgets, it’s one thing to ponder over.”
The clincher? A follow-up name from the college asking her to charge the counselor on a scale of 1 to five. “Flabbergasted,” she mentioned. “I had simply skilled essentially the most elaborate gross sales pitch of my life.”
