KinderKare Gachibowli: Bad Experience

KinderKare is one of the popular daycare cum preschools in Hyderabad, located in Gachibowli. But, we had a really bad experience with them and chose not to go ahead with the school.

Don't forget to read the follow up-  Response from KinderKare Gachibowli for my review : Disgusting!

Why did we shortlist? 

• Sounded like KinderKare focuses on middle of the band people- neither richies nor bottom of the pyramid people
• Located in a calm and pleasant area yet easily accessible from main road. Closer from J's office.
• A very positive feedback I received from a friend whose child goes there
• They would return tuition fee, if you plan to take your child off from the school. None of the schools I visited so far had this offer. Everyone has no refund at any circumstance policy.  This offer gave me a feeling that they are not money minded, but more credible because they are actually ensuring that the parents are paying for service not for product. For me, if someone tells, I'll return your money if you don't like our service they are actually building up trust and credibility upfront. 
• They had a nice play area. Though it is not big, it's just good. Clean, neat, spacious and A/C class rooms with a very impressive child : adult ratio. 
• Absolutely no teaching at nursery level. Purely 'learning by doing' concept.
• Hygiene - very hygienic and especially clean sanitaries. Liya was having hygiene issues in the toilets of her current school. So, this was very important for us. 
• Meals included. They have main meals plus mid meals and a nutritious menu.

Our experience at KinderKare: 

As it was closer to J's office, he went to the school alone to see if it's something worth giving a consideration. He liked the school and said the center head sounded like a very responsible lady. They had a good conversation, they discussed the teaching methodology, fee structure etc and he had all set his mind for KinderKare. We decided that Liya and I will take a look at the school before taking a final decision.

I had gone through their website in detail. They have a quality checklist in their website to help parents shortlist schools. The fourth point is Un-announced visits are vital in seeing firsthand, how the school staff interacts with visitors.

Well, let me give a try with them only. We went to the school on Saturday. We drove all the way from Begumpet to Gachibowli, which took nearly 45 minutes in Hyderabad traffic. But the school was holding parents- teachers meeting that day. They were badly busy. The teacher who was welcoming parents at the gate treated us well whilst having a really busy day. She apologized for being busy but promised we would be able to talk to center head (Mrs. G). The center head was not quite happy to see us. It was apparent on her face and she sounded like we are busy you may go more than we are busy, let me see if I can help you someway attitude. I totally understand their situation, but I personally feel that they could have treated us better. 

Finally I said we will come again on Monday and left. 

Monday, I had to take a half day off from work, again drove down all the way from Begumpet to Gachibowli. This time only Liya and I were there. We reached there around 10.00 am. Principal was again not so pleased to see us. I said her  "I am sorry that I had to come in the morning. First of all I am on half day leave. And secondly I am coming from such a distance, avoiding all peak traffic hours."

She explained everything in detail, she answered my queries. At some point of time, I sensed that she wanted to quickly wind up, but I forced to stay back with my set of questions. After all, I am taking a decision about the future of my kid. And I have the right to question as per their policy. 

She did not let me see any class rooms. They don't allow visitors to classrooms during work hours. I honestly didn't like it. Some parents may find it as a positive thing. But for me it's totally negative. Parents are no more redundant in the current education system. They play an equal and important role. If they can't see how you conduct classes, there is a kind of master-slave concept- I 'll tell, you believe. After all this is a preschool, kids are playing there, not writing IAS examination. 

Well, she showed me live CCTV scenes. As J had seen all the classrooms, toilets, play rooms etc, I was okay with it.

Now, after these 10-15 minutes of conversation, the real dram begun. This is how our conversation went into a twist. 

G: So, how old is she?

Me: She just turned three, born on 11th Oct 2009.

G: That means she would be going to nursery. We don't have seats open in nursery. 

Me: (all perplexed): But you spoke to my husband and said we can take admission next week. You said there are free seats in nursery plus you even discussed the fee in detail in case we are taking admission for Nov 15th and the reductions if we opt for 1st Dec. 

G: He asked me for play school not nursery. I promised about playschool. 

I was totally confused here. I was 99% sure that he discussed about nursery + daycare not play school. But, I didn't go and fight upfront because of the 1% chance that J might have mistaken. 

To confirm, she opened their enquiry register,  next to his name the enquiry was written as for "Nursery". Now, Ms. G was in real dilemma. She made a call to some teacher, they spoke in Telugu, which I have no clue about. After keeping the phone, she said we have one kid moving to US by Dec 1st. You may take admission at the earliest that we will block that seat for you.

Okay!  I said if I take admission, J will come next day and take it. She said all okay. I left the school. 

I came home, called J and he was quite surprised to hear that she spoke to me this way. His was 101% sure that they discussed about Nursery. 

Post lunch, I called the school asking about the formalities if I have to block the seat or take admission. Her reply was just too awkward. She spoke as if I have never gone and we had a conversation just a few hours ago. 

G: "Mam, we don't have seats in nursery." 

Now I was just more than angry. 

I: Why did you waste my all day today? Why did you tell that one kid is moving out by next month?  

G: "Oh yes, we have a kid moving from Hyderabad to Bangalore by first december."

I: "What? That kid was moving to US in the morning then suddenly going to Bangalore?"

No answer for this from the other end.

G: But we aren't sure that if he is moving. So, I'll give you a call if at all he is moving. You can not block the seat. If you don't get a call by 26th Nov, please call me back. 

I dropped the call. I had anyways decided not to go ahead with this school, nor I am gonna recommend this to anyone. 

~~~~~~~

Dear KinderKare management, 

A school is not only responsible to teach kids academics, but more importantly you are owed to teach values and mold best citizens. If you utterly lie in front of a 3 year old, how am I gonna believe you at all in thee future? Even if you give admission for free of cost, I am not gonna join my kid in your school because I don't trust you anymore. If you can lie on my face, you will not mind lying about my child in future. I am paying for a service not for product (as you said in you website) and hence I don't want to purchase a 'lie driven service' for my hard earned money, at the cost of my child's future.

Secondly, please respect others and respect their valuable time. If you did not have seat, you could have just told that to my husband during his first visit. We are not gonna eat you up if you don't have seats. But you didn't have to play a drama.

Thirdly, don't fill stupid things in your website, if you don't follow it anymore. From your pre school quality checklist  I would honestly recommend you to remove/re-look at following points:

Un-announced visits are vital in seeing firsthand, how the school staff interacts with visitors - You fail 100% here. 

[If any parent has a contradictory opinion than me, that is probably because they haven't walked in to the school wearing a scarf. I don't see any other chance for this bad treatment towards me. Honestly, of all the schools I visited in Hyd, this was the only school where I had a personal bad experience like this. Every other school treated me well as a parent, despite their busy schedules. ] 

Take a quick tour and come back later with more questions. - You really don't encourage this in reality. I had to face unhappy face of your Center Head. 

From your FAQ checklist, please remove below points. 

Are you encouraged to drop in at any time to see your child ? - What's the point in coming into the school anytime, if the parent is not permitted to enter classroom? Dropping in at the school entrance doesn't make any difference to a parent more over you don't provide CCTV access to parents. 

Does the center have CCTV which would facilitate effective monitoring by the center head/for the parent to see the activities of the child inside the classroom? This is misleading. Their CCTV access is restricted only to center head, inside school premise  Parents will not get remote access, unlike many other schools. 

My other dislikes with the school:

• Though Liya was accompanying me, G did not pay any attention to her. Liya was coughing while we were seated in her cabinet (due to the fan revolving on her head, and plus morning  long drives in two days). She just asked if Liya wanted some water and asked an aaya to bring a glass of water for her. Other than that she didn't ask her name or try to build rapport or help her get a pleasant feeling about the school. I felt that she was not completely child friendly. In fact, Liya didn't like the school at all. It reminded me of the conventional education system.

(Again, of all the schools I visited in Hyd, this is the only school where the center head/teachers did not pay attention to her.)

• I spent nearly half and hour in a pre school and it was pin drop silence over there. Can you imagine a pre school with pin drop silence? Some parents may prefer it. But personally, I believe a pre school is not meant to follow a stringent military ruling, but should be concentrating on not spoiling the innate nature of the kid. Pre schools are for getting kids socialize, enjoy the luxury of childhood by shouting, cheering, fighting, crying and laughing. Do not let them someone whom they are not. 

Fee structure:

Nearly 40k  for Nov 2012- April 2013, only for nursery

Nursery + Daycare will come nearly Rs 50k for Nov-Apr (9 am to 6.30 PM)

To my reader:

If you have a really positive experience in this school, that's quite personal to you, it's not gonna influence me positively, any more. A single offending experience is more than enough to take a decision than 100 positive reviews. 

Disclaimer: I am just a parent not an expert in childcare. Whatever, I scribble here are my personal experiences or views and analysis according to my specific needs, which may be contradictory to yours or may not hold good for you. You have the freedom to speak out and if you a parent searching for pre schools, you are the decision maker. Please do not conside my posts are a point of reference. All the opinions I express here are purely personal and honest. Princess Liya is my personal blog not a commericial place and so none of my opinions are influenced by any offers or biases. 


If you reached here, you should definitely read this followup- Response from KinderKare Gachibowli for my review : Disgusting!