The idea of going away to boarding school would fill some children with delight and others, with dread.
At boarding school, the children would be separated from their parents and close family members, but find themselves being among other children and under the care of full-time educators.
Unlike a hostel, which only provides shelter and amenities, a boarding school takes care of a child’s every need, including meals, classroom and extracurricular activities, medical attention and disciplinary issues as well.
Images of boarding school depicting schoolchildren in their dorm rooms, playing pranks in hallways or being counselled by their housemasters come readily to mind, thanks to popular culture and movies such as Goodbye Mr Chips and those of Harry Potter at Hogwarts.
These days, premier institutions like Nexus International School in Putrajaya and Marlborough College Malaysia in Johor offer nothing less than holistic boarding for their students.
Recently, for the first time ever, an annual conference involving boarding schools in the region was held in Malaysia.
Nexus Putrajaya organised and hosted the two-day event which was themed More than a Hostel — An Holistic Approach to Boarding.
Our cover story this week looks at holistic boarding in Malaysia, and includes interviews with those in charge at Nexus Putrajaya and Marlborough College Malaysia.
Read it in the Jan 31 edition of the New Sunday Times.