With India suffering 13 of the world’s most polluted cities according to a 2015 report published by the World Health Organisation (WHO), a growing number of metropolitan and urban households are beginning to re-discover the charm of boarding schools. Usually sited in the hills and/or in salubrious environmentally-friendly locations, traditional legacy and high-end international boarding schools not only offer clean and healthy air but also playing fields and games and sports facilities which are becoming increasingly rare in India’s chaotic and ill-planned cities.

Yet despite the multiplying advantages of boarding school education, making the choice between the neighbourhood day school and a distant boarding school is difficult for most parents because it entails a child giving up comforts of home for the relatively spartan facilities and impersonal development opportunities of a residential school. Nevertheless, the most compelling argument in favour of boarding schools is that they make children independent and self-sufficient.

The routine of daily life in a boarding school compels students to organise their schedules, think for themselves, choose between options and develop habits of the mind that will last a lifetime. Boarding school life can begin early for some” families who live in remote locations often opt for residential schools for children as young as four-five years of age. Therefore development of independence often begins at a very young age.
Although children may help with various chores at home, in a residential school they have to assume greater responsibility for their possessions, maintain tidiness in dormitories and look after their own hygiene and personal grooming. Regular kit musters and uniform/dorm checks are a feature of a boarder’s life and students soon become used to packing their own school bags, polishing shoes and dressing as per school requirements.

Adhering to time schedules and being in the right place at the right time are also habits that are inculcated in boarding schools. With numerous activities beyond the classroom packed into the curriculum, students need to remember where they should be at any given time. Older children learn time management and to study independently without the benefit of parental supervision. Children imbibe discipline and self-management in the productive silence of the prep hall or dorm study, which provide perfect settings for focused independent work.

Self-monitoring and regulation, which is required in all boarding schools, is also excellent preparation for college life. The type of personalised attention students receive in K-12 education from teachers won™t ever be available in college and university, and many students find the transition from school to higher education difficult. But since boarders are trained to live and study in disciplined ways, they are better prepared for the demands of college life in which there™s minimal external pressure and encouragement from faculty.

Yet perhaps the greatest attraction of residential schools is the wide range of co-curricular and extra-curricular growth opportunities available to children on their door-steps. Students can explore cultural and sports activities of their choice rather than of their parents, and try their hand at numerous sports before choosing one that suits their aptitude and interest. Moreover by their very character, boarding schools offer ample opportunities to develop leadership skills. Responsibility is devolved upon students at all levels to discharge the roles of school and house captains, senior and junior prefects, and to develop team spirit and group management capabilities.

Besides imparting valuable hands-on skills, boarding schools teach students to respect diversity, which draws people together in multi-religious and multi-cultural India. Students in co-ed boarding schools are also sensitised to gender issues. Students from diverse backgrounds are obliged to interact with each other on a daily basis, choose their friends without parental guidance and learn to manage conflicts and disputes. These valuable lessons will stand them in good stead all their lives.

Sure, many home comforts have to be sacrificed by boarders in an admittedly unfavourable trade-off for a spartan lifestyle. But sportsmanship and learning to fend for one™s self are invaluable life skills. This is not to say these life skills cannot be learned in day schools. But boarding schools accelerate this process and invest boarders with a wider range of problem-solving and interactive life skills. At some stage parents have to let go the reins and let their children find their own paths. Boarding schools also prepare parents for this inevitability.

With India™s urbanscape becoming increasingly polluted and over-crowded requiring exhausting commutes for day scholars, it’s hardly surprising that boarding schools are experiencing a popular resurgence. In these confusing times a boarding school education may be the best gift that parents can confer upon their children.

(Amith Bajla is founder of the Taurian World School, Ranchi)