India’s Best Co-ed Day Schools

Unsurprisingly, disaggregation and subdivision of the composite day schools league table has not affected Vasant Valley School, Delhi, ranked #1 in 2012, and voted the countrys premier co-ed day school this yearRanked #1 in the composite all-India league table of day schools for the first time last year, the Vasant Valley School, Delhi (VVS, estb. 1990), promoted by media tycoon Aroon Purie (India Today, Buisness Today, TV Today and Thomson Press), tops the co-ed day schools table of 2013. The 2,049 northern region respondents of this years survey have rated and ranked VVS above the Mallya Aditi Inter-national School, Bangalore, Cathedral & John Connon School, Mumbai, The Shri Ram School, Delhi, Step by Step, Noida and Sishya School and The School KFI, both in upscale Adyar in the southern port city of Chennai, which have been placed at the Top 5 co-educational primary-secondary schools table in a dining hall comprising 459 of the countrys best co-ed day schools. Despite the disaggregation and subdivision of day schools into boys, girls, co-ed and day-cum-boarding categories this year, co-ed schools which dominated the composite league table of 2012, have retained or marginally improved their rankings this year. Ranked #9, #8 and #6 respectively last year, the Sishya, and KFI schools and Step by Step have improved their ranking to #5 jointly in 2013, with Smt. Sulochanadevi Singhania School, Thane retaining its #6 position and the high-profile Springdales, Dhaula Kuan, Delhi its #7 position. While the Vidya-ranya School, Hyderabad has risen in the 2013 table to #7 (from #8 last year), the Bangalore-based Vidya Niketan (#12 last year) and Inventure Academy (#17), ranked #8 and #10 respectively, have vaulted into the Top 10 this year, although Nooraine Fazal, director of Inventure, attributes this to the new ratings and rankings format, of which she plainly disapproves. Likewise Arun Kapur, a history postgraduate of St. Stephens College, former teacher at the Doon School, Dehradun (1977-89), and founder-principal of the Vasant Valley School, Delhi (VVS), which has retained its premier ranking despite being reclass-ified as a co-ed school, is not entirely satisfied with the break-up of the composite league table into four categories. I am of the opinion that the categorisation has been overdone. The division between day and day-cum-boarding schools would have been sufficient. Schools in all other categories should be evaluated on a level playing field as facilities and infrastructure are comparable, says Kapur. Nevertheless Kapur is absolutely delighted that VVS is the countrys top-ranked co-ed day school as it validates the work we are doing. While we are flattered by the high ratings given to VVS on all parameters, the #1 rating on the parameters of teacher welfare and development, special needs education and individual attention to students, are particularly satisfying, says Kapur who modestly omits to comment on VVS #1 ranking on the parameter of leadership and manag-ement quality which is a tribute to his nurturance and development of the school, which was ranked #17 in 2009. Similarly, Kaye Jacob, an alumna of…