Review for National Public School (NPS), Indiranagar
NPS and its admission process
By NPS-Alum - Posted on January 31st, 2012
NPS admissions are among the fairest in Bangalore schools. The admission process is blind - they don't even meet the child or parents. What is there to "evaluate" in a kindergarten child? It would be unfair and cruel.
Seats are very limited. About 30-40 students to a class, and max 3-4 sections. That translates to less than 150 kids admitted into KG + Mont per year. Several thousands apply. The school does not misuse the demand and popularity to stuff classrooms or endlessly add sections.
Admission criteria are clearly mentioned on the notice boards: preference given to children of alumni and staff; siblings; children of transferrable parents; children in the neighbourhood, etc. Gender ratio is maintained. All other rumours - parent must earn more than 50L, mothers can't be working, children of parents in xyz industry preferred / not preferred, etc. are just that... baseless rumours.
Influence / recommendations do not work at all. The school doesn't take "donations" or "capitation fee" or "building fund". Fees are transparent. Enrolled students can expect 5% fee increase every year. Teachers are well paid and quite good. The teacher turnover / resignations are rare.
The school is definitely not for all kids. Issues are there, like in any other school. Academic pressure will be high in the higher grades. It is an excellent school for academics. Children find themselves in a peer group of academically-driven achievers mostly from middle class / umc, and are generally quite articulate and confident.
Kids who are not serious about studies can find it rigid and stifling. Kids who enjoy studies will love this school, and benefit most from it. The others might get stressed, but it is not possible to judge academic orientation in an LKG child. So some children do suffer in later grades. There are no regular parent-teacher meetings, but parents can always schedule meetings.
NPS is over 50-years old. NAFL and TISB are newer, excellent international schools established by the same management. The methodology in these schools is different compared to the NPSs. NAFL fee: around Rs. 1.5L pa; TISB: around Rs. 5L pa. These schools have less than 20 children in a class and max of 2 sections.
Because of the demand, seats fill up quickly. The staff might be terse over the phone - the phones are always ringing. Many parents find it understandably frustrating.
Lateral admissions are possible at every grade, although subject to availability. There are always kids leaving NPS from Grade 5 onwards because they can't cope, and prefer a more relaxed academic environment.
Apart from NPS, there are several other excellent schools in Bangalore. Some provide for better academic & extracurricular development. Key metrics are students per class, past academic / extracurricular record, and affordability.
Ultimately, a school is just one of the factors in education. Great individuals have emerged through all schools in cities and villages alike, and even no school at all!
- NPS Alumnus & NPS Parent
The school in my opinion is not good. A kid needs holistic development not just be "academically" bright. Even from academic perspective I do not rate their students high...Students tend to cram their way out due to the pressure , without giving emphasis to logical reasoning and analysis or understanding the concepts.. Try to obtain the statistics of how many people crack the JEE exam after 12th or top the Karnataka CET or entrance exams elsewhere in the country.
The truth is this is supposed to be high performance schooling, but their students don't really shine at the national level entrance exams.
During my time, the school used to average out 8th, 9th and 10th grades ( upto preparatory 2 ) for admissions to 11th and 12th. They used to select 60 students out of 120 , 30 each for Computer Science and Biology sections. I believe there is a commerce stream as well. In addition they conduct entrance exams for admissions to 11th and 12th for non-NPS students.. More often than not, its these kids who make it through the JEE and other competitive exams..
There is not much awareness of the NTSE exams etc atleast during my time, nor does the school do any form of work to prepare a student for such competitive exams.. At end of the day, these are the exams that matter, not the school !!! ...
What ever reason it is I have not got any response for the application submitted for my kid. I am not a alumini but I am staying nearby.