India’s first ISO 9001 certified school, this institution has come a long way since it was promoted in 1980 and has many landmark achievements to its credit
From modest beginnings in 1980 in a private home to India’s first ISO 9001 certified school, Modern School, Lucknow has come a long way. The globally recognised quality certification, awarded to the school in 1997, is one of the many landmark achieve-ments of this Kg-class XII CISCE affiliated school which is also the sole Indian member of The Koalaty Kid programme to Education and Training, a quality improvement programme developed by the American Society of Quality, an organisation committed to creating better workplaces and communities. Moreover in 2003 this 24-year-old co-educational school received a certificate of commendation from the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) for the excellent quality systems it has established.
“Our emphasis in Modern School is on achieving, maintaining and enhancing qualities which students and the community value. It could be proficiency in computers or the English language, or developing personality traits like confidence and courtesy,” explains Rakesh Kapoor, an alumnus of Delhi and Lucknow universities and founder chairman of Modern School. He has developed the Kapoor Quality Education System (KQES) with inputs from renowned seer Patanjali’s Yogasutra and quality systems pioneer W. Edward Deming’s Total Quality Management (TQM) theory. According to Kapoor, the principles of KQES require formulation of systems which encourage questioning, research, discovery, team learning and academic rigour to motivate students to excel and persuade school managements to develop new pedagogies.
Kapoor’s homegrown KQES is the driving force behind Modern School’s dogged insistence on quality. The school’s mission statement is “to impart quality education that achieves learning without cramming, excellence without distress, nurtures relationships of unconditional love and esteem and inculcates discipline without fear”.
“Insistence on quality in education and practice of KQES in particular has enabled Modern School to set academic standards and develop a unique identity which is an amalgam of best Indian and western practices. Thus while morning assemblies feature readings from the sacred texts and Vipassana, our students also successfully compete in global scientific competitions. This emphasis on holistic education has made all the difference to Modern School,” says Shakuntala Jaisinghani, principal of Modern School and formerly principal of the B.R. Birla Public School, Jodhpur.
Spread over four acres in central Lucknow, Modern School has an enrollment of 1,468 male and female students and 50 teachers. Affiliated to the Delhi-based Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), teaching at the 24-year-old school is activity and project based. “Our teaching methods are based on analysis and application. We believe that whatever a student learns in school should be applicable in the world outside. Information accumulation is important for passing board exams but learning is vital to the very process of living. Thus our commerce students try their hand at devising advertising campaigns and science students prepare projects on space tourism,” adds Jaisinghani.
With pan India examination boards (CISCE, CBSE) incrementally even if belatedly testing students problem solving and knowledge application capabilities, Modern School’s application oriented pedagogy has paid rich dividends. In 2003-04, of the 178 students who wrote the class X ICSE exam, 111 passed with distinction with the best student averaging 92.4 percent. Similarly of the 100 students who wrote the class XII ISC exam, 92 passed with distinction with the school’s best performer averaging 92.5 percent.
Likewise in co-curricular activities, the track record of Modern School students is outstanding. The school team won the Cadbury Bournvita Quiz Contest 2004; Shweta Gupta, captain of the school’s basketball team, was a member of the senior national inter-school basketball team; the school team won the first prize beating 42 Asian teams to reach the finals of the 12th Annual International Space Design Settlement Competition organised by NASA, and several of its students won prizes at the All India Engineering Model Exhibition, TECHNEX-2005 organised by Benares Hindu University. In addition, the school keeps up its social obligations through anti-noise pollution drives and tree planting campaigns.
Under Kapoor’s leadership, the school has developed and prides itself upon its state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities which include a multimedia library stocked with 4,000-plus books and 12 journal subscriptions; a computer lab with 37 computers networked through a wireless local area network; contemporary science laboratories including a biotech lab, and a 1,000 seat multi-media auditorium. Sports facilities include swimming, basketball, table tennis, football and cricket. Socially useful and productive work (SUPW) comprises sessions on mental health, personality development, yoga and nutrition. Modern School students also bring out Quality Kids Time, a quarterly newsletter which keeps parents and alumni informed of the school’s activities.
Continuous learning and skills development programmes for faculty are high on the school agenda. Experts conduct annual teacher training workshops and meditation classes. Principal Jaisinghani is excited about the implementation of a customised computer software which allows parents, teachers, and students to interact and discuss every school activity. “At the click of a mouse a parent will soon have complete information on a child’s attendance record as well as the lesson plans of the class teacher,” she says.
Founder-chairman Kapoor, a disciple of seer-educationist the late J. Krishnamurti (1895-1986) who traversed the world advising and counselling school principals on quality education, is willing to collaborate with schools that wish to replicate the Modern School teaching-learning model. “We have developed an MIS (management information system) which can be used by schools for quality management systems. For a start we will be organising three workshops for school principals and managers between August and September this year on an education technology development programme. In time we also plan to introduce the International Baccalaureate programme in Lucknow,” says Kapoor who adds that the remodelling of the school’s campus to make it more student-friendly is also on his drawing board.
Way to go!
Admission & fees
Admissions are through an entrance test and personal interview. Applications for admission into kindergarten need to be submitted before the start of each academic session (June). Admission into the higher classes is subject to vacancies.
Fees. Annual charges: Rs.2,600-2,900
Tuition fee (monthly)
Nursery and KG: Rs.783
Prep: Rs.883
Classes III-VII: Rs.976
Class IX: Rs.1,068 (exclusive of computer and science charges)
Class X: Rs.1,016 (exclusive of computer and science charges)
Class XI: Rs.1,328 (exclusive of computer, science and biotech lab charges)
Class XII: Rs.1,296 (exclusive of computer, science and biotech lab charges)
For more information write to the Principal, Modern School, Sector E, Aliganj, Lucknow 226024. Tel: 91-0522-2320623, 2373106; e-mail: [email protected] and [email protected].
Vidya Pandit (Lucknow)
