Chennai’s top preschools 2016-17

The city’s edupreneurs have always been quick to embrace new pedagogies and education philosophies and promote preschool to higher ed institutions for discerning parents who place a premium on high quality education. Here are Chennai’s top preschools 2016-17 The southern port city of Chennai, currently witnessing an ugly power struggle between rival factions of the ruling AIADMK party left rudderless after the death of film star-politician J. Jayalalithaa last December, has always enjoyed a reputation for hosting high-quality school and higher education institutions. The city’s educationists/eduprenuers have been quick to embrace new pedagogies and education philosophies and promote preschool to higher education institutions for discerning parents who place a premium on high-quality education. Therefore, it’s unsurprising that the city hosts an estimated 800 early childhood care and education (ECCE) institutions offering a diverse choice of pedagogies from Montessori to Reggio Emilia. Of them 45 — 34 proprietary and 11 franchised — preschools are sufficiently well-known to be rated across ten parameters of preschool education excellence — competence of teachers, infrastructure, safety and hygiene, individual attention to students etc — by 567 parents and 82 teachers/principals interviewed by field researchers of the Delhi-based market research and opinion polls agency C fore. Proprietary/owned Chennai’s most admired proprietary preschools league table of 2017-18 has witnessed a major churn. Vruksha Montessori, Alwarpet, ranked #1 in 2014, #3 in 2015 and #2 in 2016, has regained its prime position as Chennai’s #1 proprietary preschool. The elevation of Vruksha Montessori has pushed the previously top-ranked SEED, Adyar to #2 while Indus Early Learning Centre, Besant Avenue has retained its #3 position. Yet, the most impressive leap forward in the Top 5 table is of The Learning Tree, Adyar, which has leapt from #10 in 2016 to #4 this year. The reordering of seating at the Top 5 table has resulted in several preschools losing rank. Although KiwiLearners, Neelankarai, has retained its #5 rank, Sprouts Montessori, Mylapore has slipped to #6 (4), Vels International Preschool, Neelankarai to #7 (1) and Bamboola, Raja Annamalaipuram to #8 (6).  The most dramatic fall in public esteem has been of Vels International Preschool — ranked #1 in the franchised category last year as Vael’s Billabong High-Kangaroo Kids — which since its disaffiliation from Kangaroo Kids has gone solo and is classified as propreitary this year. The Top 10 also features three debutants — Magnet Minds VVM Preschool at #8, Formula Five Kids College, Thiruvottiyur and V Kids A Concept School, Mugappair (West) at #9. The Top 10 table is completed by Seed, Thiruvanmayur and Seed, Thoraipakkam, jointly ranked #10. Jayashree Radhakrishnan, founder-principal of Vruksha Montessori (estb.2002), is pleased that 649-sample respondents of Chennai have restored the 15-year-old preschool to its #1 position and top-ranked it on the parameters of teacher competence, teacher welfare and development, value for money and special needs education. “This promotion has boosted the morale of our entire team. I am especially delighted with our top rank for teacher competence and development because at Vruksha, we give teachers…