Parent Warns of Stress, Bullying, and Rote Learning at Bengaluru International School

A parent shared the stress their children had to undergo when they switched from a US school to an international school in Bengaluru, India.

A parent, a US citizen who lived in India for four years, shared the harrowing experience they had with their children at a very expensive international school in Bengaluru. As many Indian parents with school-going kids often consider going back to India and enrolling the kids at international schools, the Redditor warned them about the huge cultural difference and suggested that they first speak to the parents whose children attend the school. The Redditor said they were now back in the US, and the children who never shared anything when they were in India, opened up about the immense stress they faced. Even international schools in India focus a lot on memorizing things instead of understanding the concepts. There was bullying by children belonging to influential families, and this particular school turned a blind eye to the complaints. The Redditor also said that there was a lot of push for Christianity. "The one thing which was easily obvious was the immense stress. The curriculum, even for a school which claimed to implement IB/ be based on IGCSE, relied a lot on information to be memorised than on projects or true understanding, esp in science. Being constantly on top of every little thing which was being taught was a must for parents, esp for those whose children were not naturally well-organised," the Redditor wrote. "This school had an impressive list of USA and UK univs where their students got admitted, so that was what drew us to it. And frankly, it did work for my daughter, as she got admission in a very good univ along with a substantial scholarship." "But the general atmosphere in school was harsh and toxic and not respectful to students, to say the least," the post added. "My younger one experienced bullying which was glossed over by the teachers bcos the students who were the bullies belonged to influential families with contacts." "There was a general attitude of we-know-best or disrespect. for example, the school's trustees are non-Christian, but the principals were Christian. There would be regular bible readings in this school, which was extremely disrespectful, as parents sent their children to this school, thinking it was secular. In fact my children said that Christianity was pushed much more on them in India than they have experienced in the USA," the post added.

'Robotics was taught through rote learning'

The Redditor also revealed the lack of experiments in classes. "In my local USA school, kids go on a stayover trip near the ocean in 6th grade and do dissections; there was nothing of this sort in this Indian school. No experiments in physics or chem either. Robotics was rote learning, which is certainly far from the way it is taught in the USA. Children defn don't need to memorise robot code for a written exam in middle school," the person added.