India’s best boys boarding school 2015

Following several brand projection initiatives The Doon School, Dehradun has risen in the public esteem and stormed back to be ranked #1 on 12 of the 14 parameters of school education excellence. Perhaps stung by its dethronement from its usual position as India’s #1 all-boys legacy boarding school last year, the leadership and management of The Doon School, Dehradun (TDS, estb. 1935) initiated several high-profile campaigns including a national cricket coaching camp with the Marylebone Cricket Club, UK, introduced a Summer at Doon Leadership programme and convened press conferences in south India to attract student applications in the interests of student body diversity, among other outreach programmes. The outcome of these institutional brand projection initiatives is that TDS has risen in the public esteem and stormed back to be rated #1 on 12 of the 14 parameters of school education excellence to head the national league table in this category, relegating Bishop Cotton School, Shimla, top-ranked in 2014, to second spot. Naturally, I am delighted that we have re-established the consistent perception that TDS is India’s best boys’ residential school. We had set out to reinvent the legacy boarding school in India in our Development Plan 2010-2020, so it is gratifying to see this initiative is being positively received. But we are also determined to make our mark outside India. As an IBO (Geneva)-affiliated school, through our membership of important international educational associations, and with our growing global reputation for social and community service, we are also making a name for TDS on the world educational map, says Peter Mclaughlin, an alum of the London School of Economics and former principal of the British International School, Cairo (Egypt) who was appointed headmaster of TDS in 2009 after a global search. Affiliated with the CIE (UK), CISCE (Delhi) and IBO (Geneva) examination boards, TDS has 520 students mentored by 73 teachers on its muster rolls. Although last year’s top-ranked all-boys Bishop Cotton School, Shimla has been obliged to trade ranks with The Doon School this year, Roy Robinson, the cheerful headmaster of this vintage boarding school (estb. 1859), is unfazed. It’s always easier to get to the top than remain there. Now we have a goal to work towards. But in this year’s league table there is some cause for comfort. BCS has retained its top-ranking under the parameter of leadership and management quality and is ranked second for sports education, an important focus area for us. The academic profile of the school is also improving. The 85 percent average of our boys in the class XII ISC exam is the highest ever in the 156-year history of the school, says Robinson. The Top 5 table of the legacy boys boarding schools category is completed by Welham Boys, Dehradun, which has been steadily advancing in the annual league tables to be ranked #3 cf. #5 last year; Mayo College, Ajmer also ranked #3 (4); the Scindia School, Gwalior and Sarala Birla Academy, Bangalore which has impressively moved up from #8 in…