Back to school

On Saturday all three of us were asked to come to Abhinav for Rhea's school interview. Unlike the interview Rhea had at Eaton (Redmond) this interview did not involve her at all. The school principal asked her some basic questions but really wanted to chat with us.

We were asked to be at the school at 10am. We reached there 10 minutes early and I was extremely delighted when the receptionist asked us to go into Principal's office at 10 O'clock sharp! It created a very nice first expression.

Principal asked us various questions as to why we are pursuing Abhinav and whether or not we are looking for long term. For some reason, we are not very much interested in placing Rhea/Roma in an international school. To us that kind of defeats the purpose of moving to India. Abhinav is especially attractive to us partly because Medha is a past student of that school and more because ALL of my classmate's kids go to Abhinav. Ultimately I believe that it is less about the school and more about the company/quality of other students that makes the difference!

Back in US, everyone scared us about how expensive Indian schools are these days, with steep fees and large donations to get in. That may be true for international and yuppie schools but not for Abhinav. They did not ask for any donation and the fees are about 20,000 Rs. Also the teacher to student ratio does not seem too bad, 3 teachers for 50 students.

Here is a financial comparison,
About $45 per month at Abhinav, compared to $750 per month at America's Child.
This year even Roma will start going to school. So all together we will be spending $1400 less per month on schools! Thats an annual savings of $16,800.

Reason I am being so explicit is that everyone has to take a pay cut when they move to india when compared to what we were making in US. But we don't take into account these type of savings. In order to pay $16, 800 per year, I have to make $21,840 (30% tax bracket) When I add that amount to my indian salary, suddenly indian salary and US salary doesn't seem that far apart! :)

Not to mention that Rhea/Roma will get a much higher level of education (This is our personal opinion and you are free to debate it via your comments!)