Id like to say here that inspite of all the negative press around chate, the happiest time of my life was at chate. I was at Chate in 2000, for my 10th standard and it was an amazing experience.
For one, everyone was so dedicated to learning, and secondly there was no discrimination. Some classes divide the kids into batches according to their marks, but at chate this was not the case.
Everyone was mixed up and so everyone could help each other. Then also, no one was treated like a failure if he/she wasnt good at something. The faculty always explained everything as many times as was needed.
Of course there was a high staff turnover, and I guess it wasnt perfect, but really, it was a place where one could develop a love of learning. Towards the end of the year, yeah, everything broke down, but while it lasted it was an awesome experience. That summer was the happiest of my life.