How to Choose the Right School for Your Child
A Guide for Pakistani Parents.
This note is intended to help families in making school choices for their children. There is no one “right” school; or no school that is the right fit for every child. A combination of considerations should be taken into account.
“Leadership”
For the last 150 years, we’ve been seeing various approaches being adopted by education systems to improve student success:
1. Giving teachers higher pay if their students perform better (Pay for performance)
2. Incorporating local culture and context to the curriculums
3. Designing tests to identify where students struggle and then focusing on those areas
4. Standardizing curriculum across the whole country – (e.g. Core in the USA or the Single National Curriculum in Pakistan)
The bottom-line to understand is: None of these initiatives achieved the desired outcomes at scale.
Today, the focus of improving education has shifted to leadership. All the leading voices in education research agree that the single biggest driver in education reform is the school leader.
I wholeheartedly endorse these findings and have two reasons for this:
1. The floor: At the very least, the right leader will not let wrong things happen under their watch.
The wrong things in school include a lack of discipline, bullying, cheating by teachers and students, favouritism for the “bright” students, inadequate support for “struggling” students and many others. In short, the right leader, at the very least, will ensure student safety, mental health and a path to equal opportunity for all students.
2. The ceiling: Once the “floor” is covered, the right leader will build a more progressive educational environment.
A good leader will make sure the right things happen for students, whether by offering diverse academic and extracurricular opportunities, applying fair discipline, introducing innovative programs, or providing the best post-graduation opportunities. At the same time, they will ensure that any negative actions are prevented.
As a first step then, I always advise parents to meet with the school leader and ask them what their vision for education, and the future of your child is. The right school leader should feel a personal responsibility towards addressing the hopes, dreams, aspirations and concerns of the parents. A leader unwilling or incapable of doing that is a big red flag for me.
“Student’s Stage”
The easiest way to write this section is chronological. Depending on what stage you are in your school choice, you should find something useful here.
The Early Years (K-4)
In the early years, I have a strong preference for home-based campuses (schools that were previously large homes). These smaller, home-like environments create a comfortable and natural transition for young students. At this stage, schools should be less focused on rigid policies and more on personalizing education to meet each student's unique needs.
I also believe that building a rich and vibrant vocabulary is the most crucial skill for young students. Therefore, I would prioritize a program that emphasizes vocabulary acquisition over other skills.
A note here: your school leader should be able to articulate programmatic priorities at every stage.
The Middle Years (5-8)
These are the toughest years of schooling. This is because hormones are shifting drastically, and students sometimes become “unrecognizable” to families. This is because they are! So much of what we do and who we are is hormonal and this changes most rapidly at this age. Students explore and experiment a lot during this time to discover who they are/want to be. Beyond the middle years, personalities start to “settle” and a more recognizable youngster emerges.
At this stage, a school which has experienced and steady leadership, along with lots of opportunities for students to explore healthy, constructive interests should be prioritised. In conversations with school leaders, questions around how the school supports students’ mental health, conflict resolution skills, and deferring gratification are fair game.
High School Years (9-13)
At the high school level, adolescents have largely developed as ‘emerging adults’. Three key areas that contribute to success at this stage: academic support, opportunities for building a non-academic profile, and ongoing support beyond high school. These are the three areas you should look out for when selecting schools.
A good school would be focusing on:
1. Academics
• Offering a variety of courses and teaching methods
• Ensuring high-quality teachers
• Providing support for students in specific subjects or overall
2. Building a Non-Academic Profile
• Giving students opportunities in extracurricular activities
• Offering leadership roles in community service
• Providing internship programs
• Giving students exposure to different industries
3. Support Beyond High School
• Creating a culture that values high achievement after graduation
• Providing dedicated college counselors who work with a small number of students
• Showing a track record of successful college admissions
• Offering coaching and mentorship from alumni or industry experts
“Ownership”
In Pakistan, the K12 “industry” is an excellent business opportunity. In the low-cost private school franchise landscape, this is really a real estate business and schools are established by studying area metrics such as number of households within two square kilometres, competitor schools in the area and believe it or not, the number of wedding halls in the locality. In the higher end education space, the story is slightly different but not too much.
Schools established by educationists are very different from schools established by businesswomen or men. And on this note, be careful – some well-known schools of today have been established by dedicated educationists whose management and leadership has now been handed over to the second generation of the family; non-educators who inherited the business of education. Some well-known brands like this have emerged out of Islamabad and Lahore.
Conclusion
I live in Lahore and have a son and a daughter. Below are the priorities I have for their school choices:
- Single-campus school (should not have branches—thereby ensuring owners’ interest where my child is studying daily)
- Single-gender for girls – they have better learning outcomes; a topic for another blog
- Diverse student body – school should have and encourage children of professionals, industrialists, entrepreneurs, agriculturists and others
- Active parent community – parents should have a regular forum and voice at this school
- Non-academic programming – beyond the second grade, my interest in children’s academic performance is limited. The opportunity to explore interests beyond the classroom takes a strong priority for me.
