Pros and Cons of Transferring Schools

A school is a child’s second home. Children spend most of their time in school or doing things related to school. They spend almost 12 years in a school, making friends and living some of the most memorable days of their life. Many of these school friends even go on to be friends for the many years that follow, even after having passed school long ago. So, to sum it all up, schools are very important in a child’s life as it is connected to almost everything that they are experiencing or are even likely to in the future.

Read | Choose the Best School for Your Child 

Now, there are certain instances when children are required to change schools. Although they might not find the idea too appealing, sometimes there is no way out. Because finding the right school for the children, that too once again is so difficult, many parents refrain from transferring to new schools or transferring to another school without any strong reason. It is only when they have just good reasons to transfer schools that they let their ward know of the tough decision that is to be made.According to 2019-2020 data, around 20% of students register in two-year public schools, while 37% of all college students transfer at some point during their studies. The number of transfer students has decreased since 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 epidemic, and it is unclear how this will affect transfer decisions in the long run.

 And when it comes to that, even switching schools in high school can’t be ignored; after looking into the pros and cons of switching high schools.

Read | Role of School in Shaping Kid's Future

But it’s not just difficult with high school. Transferring schools is difficult for children in all grades and of all ages. Have a look at this list of the pros and cons of moving schools to learn better about what the process of transferring school brings in.

Let’s start with listing down the pros first.

• Make New Friends: Making strong bonds of friendship comes easier for children, especially when younger. This helps the child to adapt to the new routine and the presence of friends can make them forget what they left behind.
• Learn the School Better: When a child gets admitted to another school abruptly, he is likely to catch a lot of attention. As a result, the child gets a lot of information about the school and its rules, which the other students gradually learnt over time.
• Develop Adaptation Skills: When children switch schools, they have to adapt to a new routine, make new friends, and also be in the teachers’ good books. This skill of adaptation can help the child in the future.

Coming to the cons, here are some of the common cons of moving schools.

• Feelings of Alienation: Give that the child has been sent to a completely new environment, he might feel lost not being in his usual group of friends, teachers and other known faces. This phase might last for a while.
• Possible Experiences of Bullying: Being new in a school brings in a lot of attention and that might not always be good. The child might end up being bullied by classmates or seniors.
• Academic Challenges: The whole academic curriculum of the new school might be turning out difficult to handle for the child. If not dealt with, this can result in worsening of grades, which might, in turn, affect the child’s self-confidence.

So there are certain justified pros and cons of moving schools. Thus, the decision of switching schools must be taken after having thought about everything concerned, and in-depth.