Best Pre-schools in Islamabad

As a mother of three, looking for a school for my third one seemed like a piece of cake! Little did I know that its quite a difficult task! In Islamabad there are many options when you are looking for schools and especially for your younger ones. But the problem is that most of them are quite expensive!

Comparison of Pre-schools

Here is my research for those parents who are looking for good schools with value for their money:

Caution: this is completely my personal research and definitely influenced by my opinion.

School	Price range	Quality of education	Highest level	Islamic inclination
Schola Nova	Normal to slightly high	Excellent (my older 2 went to this school and are doing great Alhumdullilah)	O Levels	Quite well incorporated
APS	Low	Good	Gradually increasing to college level	Quite well incorporated
Sara’s Wisdom Garden	Towards the higher side	Very good	3rd grade	Neutral
Annie’s ELC	Towards the higher side	Very good	5th grade	Neutral

Now since I have worked at Schola Nova and my eldest did her O Levels from there while my son is in his Pre-O Levels in Schola Nova, I can talk more about the school. Like all private schools, it is becoming expensive day by day. With rising prices of books, extra-curricular activities’ charges, annual charges and so on….all private schools are now out of reach of a normal person and especially if you have more than 2 kids. APS in that case can be a smart choice but you will have to put in some effort and play your part as the school is still new. Other than that, usually APS schools have high student strength and therefore individual attention becomes difficult and in the beginning years you want individual attention for your pre-schooler. Right now students are few. So lets see if it remains this way.

I have not personally visited Sara’s Wisdom Garden and Annie’s ELC but people who have been there suggest the school as being one of the premium quality schools i.e. high priced but high quality education and individual attention. So if you are earning quite well and want good quality education, these two are good choices.

Islamic Inclination

For me, Islamic inclination is very crucial. Schools in Islamabad are quite under the influence of western trends and celebrate occasions like Valentine’s Day, Halloween and so on. I highly respect all religions and their rituals but as a Muslim I would not like my 5 year old getting influenced by these. At such a young age kids do not realize how these things affect them. When children are 12 and over, they can be told about these events and different religious celebrations. They should be taught to respect them and to give space to people from other religions. At the same time they should understand that these are not part of Islam and should not be celebrated at a personal level.

Hence Schola Nova and APS are my choice for Islamic inclination as they celebrate Islamic events whole-heartedly.

Conclusion

I believe no school is bad, all schools have their pros and cons and you have your own priorities. Identify your priorities, visit a few schools that meet your criteria and then weigh them against your given criteria.

Please share your suggestions:

Best pre-schools in Islamabad

How you chose your child’s pre-school?

Rate your preferred school in terms of value for money and quality of education.

Looking forward to your responses!