CHENNAI: Running a pre-school or crèche nowadays is obviously a lucrative enterprise, as every parent wants their child to be a go-getter right from kindergarten. But if someone had wanted to make a career in it two decades ago, when childcare was still rather undeveloped, it would have been purely out of an innate love for children and a desire to spend time with them. And as for Meena Kumari, her interest in children has not waned, even as her successful Kid Care play school enters its 21st year.As she talks, seated in one of her colourful classrooms, about her little students and her life with them, she is as lively and energetic as her pupils, and her voice shows no signs of strain. “My mom noticed that I had the knack to handle children and kept persuading me to pursue it,” she says. And that’s how she decided to take up the pre-school teacher’s training offered by Kothari Teaching Academy to be able to start her own school. Before that, she studied English literature in Ethiraj College, where Latha Rajinikanth and singer Sudha Raghunathan were her batch mates. Meena takes in toddlers when they’re three and prepares them to attend LKG in a regular school. She makes use of the Playway and Montessori teaching methods. “Joining a regular school is a very big thing for children, as they enter a structured system for the first time. So getting them ready for it is not an easy task,” says the 54-year-old teacher. Making sure to familiarise children with the regular school pattern by giving quarterly and half-yearly holidays, she also makes sure children enjoy themselves by organising excursions and celebrating different days. “Our students have designed greeting cards using their fingerprints to greet their dad on Father’s Day,” says proud Meena, displaying one of the cards. Ironically, though, Meena couldn’t take care of her second child when she turned three, because that was when she had to begin her teacher’s training. When Meena started her school, she charged `100 as admission fees, and `100 after every four months as tuition fees. “There were hardly any play schools in Anna Nagar then, and I used to get hundreds of students every year,” she recalls. While many of her students are pursuing different professions and in various colleges now, their parents still keep in touch with her. Now, however, Meena has restricted the intake to 30 students, just so that she can give each of them individual attention. “I’ve faced ups and downs in the last 20 years,” she says. “I get students only by word of mouth and never through advertisements. I’m happy and content with what I get. Above all, I don’t see this as a business.”Having been in the field for a long time, Meena is able to point out the change in attitudes of both parents and children. “Earlier, children were very silent and it was very difficult to make them talk. But it’s just the opposite now,” she says. “Also, expectations of parents are higher. They ask unnecessary questions like if I have AC classrooms and TVs.” She’s against both, however. Another interesting observation she makes is that fathers seem to pick up and drop their children, which, she says, “was not the case until recently.” Meena attributes her success to her husband Captain S Pullat, as he stands by her all the time. “My daughters, Gayathri and Savithri, are also supportive and encouraging of me and my work,” she says. With her experience, Meena can even start a pre-school teacher’s training institute, but she is thinking of starting a day care centre on repeated requests from parents. For more details, check www.kidcare.net.in.
Comments
0 comment