Let me first express my sincere thanks for the commendable work done in coordinating the EW India Preschool Rankings 2016 and for ranking Seed International, OMBR Layout, Bangalore, #1 in the franchised preschools category (EW December).
However, I’ve been misquoted in the cover story narrative. During our interview, I had identified individual attention to students and teachers competency as the most important parameters of early childhood care and education excellence. But in your narrative my views have been attributed to Sudha Ramesh, director of Podar Jumbo Kids Plus (PJKP), Banaswadi. The student enrolment mentioned also perhaps got inadvertently swapped. Moreover the fee structure attributed to our preschool is that of PJKP.
I request you to make necessary changes to at least your online version of the cover story.
R.K. Deepalakshmi
Founder, Seed International, OMBR Layout, Bangalore
The correction has been made on our website (www.educationworld.in). I deeply regret the mix-up — Editor
Surprising omission
We are surprised that the Happy Hours Play and Preschool has not been ranked in the EW India Preschool Rankings 2016 of Bhubaneswar (EW December). One of the oldest preschools in the city, it is housed on a one acre campus with a 15,000 sq. ft outdoor play area, 300-seat auditorium and 29×19 sq. ft splash pool. The school has an annual intake of 400 children from playgroup to upper kindergarten.
Moreover, we have developed our own curriculum integrating the principles of Montessori and playway pedagogies, and run the first Montessori training institute of Orissa. With 200 children passing out of our preschool every year, Happy Hours has become an important feeder to the citys top-ranked K-12 schools. We are also the second preschool in eastern India to sign up with British Councils International School Awards exchange programme.
Without overestimating ourselves we feel Happy Hours deserves an appropriate rank in Bhubaneswar. We have been subscribing to EducationWorld for the past six years and Ive been regularly attending the EW Early Childhood Education conferences in Bangalore. Thus the disappointment about this omission.
Nidhi Dhawan
Director, Happy Hours Preschool
Bhubaneswar
C fore ranked only three of the most well-known pre-primaries of Bhubaneswar for the first time. A more thorough survey will be conducted next year — Editor
Irreparable loss
Re the EW India Preschool Rankings 2016 for Lucknow, wed like to highlight the following points:
• We have checked with members of the Lucknow Preschool Association and none of them were contacted for the survey. This raises the question of authenticity of the rankings/survey done by C fore for your magazine.
• G.D. Goenka, Mahanagar, Lucknow which is ranked #3 is not a preschool.
• In other cities you have segregated the rankings into two categories: viz, proprietary and franchised. Why hasnt this been done for Lucknow?
• As per your website only two preschools and one formal school in Lucknow are ranked. There seems to be some malicious intent behind this.
In our opinion there was no transparency in conducting the survey due to which many renowned preschools in Lucknow have suffered irreparable loss. The Lucknow Preschool Association requests you to issue a clarification and annul the survey with immediate effect.
Anup Agarwal
President, Lucknow Preschool Association, Lucknow
A survey among 286 sample respondents in Lucknow was conducted by C fore personnel in October. Please read the survey methodology explained in detail in our December issue (pgs 42-43). Also please note that preschools rated by less than 25 sample respondents are not ranked — Editor
Incorrect nomenclature
We would like to bring to your attention an error in the EW Spotlight feature on the Bombay Cambridge Gurukul (EW December). The correct name of our school is Veer Bhagat Singh Vidyalaya, Marve Road, Malad West, Mumbai.
Monica Bhatia
Principal, Veer Bhagat Singh Vidyalaya, Mumbai
