Since 2007 when EducationWorld introduced the annual EW- C fore India’s Most Respected Schools survey, there’s growing awareness that public perceptions of schools is important as they influence parent/student school choice, attract best teachers, stimulate alumni/public donations and earn societal and government goodwill. Dilip Thakore reports

While undergraduate colleges, universities and B-schools are rated and ranked by numerous national and regional newspapers and magazines with monotonous regularity, despite K-12 schooling arguably being more important as it prepares and equips children for higher study, perhaps for Nehruvian reasons (the great man fatally defined higher rather than primary education as the national priority), this segment of the education continuum was an area of darkness until EducationWorld began rating and ranking the country’s primary-second-aries in 2007 (and preschools separately since last year).

Consequently over the past quin-quennium, public interest in the annual EducationWorld-C fore India’s Most Respected Schools Survey, which rates and ranks the country’s most high-profile day, legacy boarding and new genre international schools inter se based on the perceptions of over 2,000 knowledgeable sample respondents polled countrywide, is rising with each passing year. Even if somewhat belatedly, there’s growing awareness, especially within the community of school trustees, promoters, principals and administrators that public perceptions of schools under their  stewardship are important as they influence parent/student school choice, attract best teachers, stimulate alumni and public donations, and earn official and government goodwill.

From the perspective of parents and the public as well, the EW-C fore annual survey of primary-secondaries serves the useful purpose of promoting institutional competition, and makes school managements and principals accountable for the rise or fall of schools in public esteem. Gone indeed are the days when school trustees and/or principals were monarchs of their little teaching-learning kingdoms with negligible external assessment and investigation. Today they are answ-erable at the bar of public opinion not only for their overt acts of omission or commission but also for intangible, below-the-line failure to fulfill the holistic education expectations of their parent and student communities.

Although in EducationWorld we are well aware that not a few school managements and principals tend to regard the annual EW-C fore India’s Most Respected Schools perceptual surveys as unauthorised, and unwarr-anted intrusion, in exercise of our constitutional right of freedom of speech and expression, for reasons enumerated above, we remain deter-mined to publish our annual league tables of the country’s top day, boarding and international schools in the public interest. The annual EW-C fore schools surveys and league tables are reformist in that they discourage complacency even in successful school managements and stimulate change and improvement year on year. We believe that concerted systemwide efforts to raise holistic education standards and delivery will not only improve teaching-learning outcomes in private schools which overwhelmingly dominate the EW league tables, but in government schools as well, on the premise that a rising tide lifts all boats.

Moreover, practicing  continuous improvement ourselves, this year’s EW-C fore survey has refined the schools’ assessment and evaluation process by adding four new parameters, viz. teacher welfare and development; discipline and life skills education; disabled friendliness and community service while elimin-ating the reportedly confusing integrity and honesty, and admissions trans-parency parameters.

“Analysis of feedback relating to last year’s survey received from the public and particularly from the teachers’ community, indicated that school managements don’t sufficiently appre-ciate the need to cultivate faculty. By underpaying them, giving them huge classes to teach — which in some respectable schools could be as large as 75 students per section — and neglecting in-service teacher training which sustains their growth and development, an uncomfortably large number of school managements are demotivating and demoralising their teachers, which in turn negatively impacts student learning outcomes. Hence this year we have introduced a new parameter — teacher development and welfare — for assessing schools. Moreover, following widespread reports that students from top-rated schools tend to be snooty and ill-mannered and uncaring of the less privileged, we have introduced the new parameters of discipline and life skills education and community service as also the self-evidently important parameter of institutional friendliness towards students with special needs,” says Premchand Palety, promoter chief executive of the Delhi-based Centre for Forecasting and Research Pvt. Ltd which has been partnering EducationWorld for the past four years in rating and ranking primary-secondaries countrywide.

Promoted in the new millennium year by Palety, an alum of Punjab University and the Fore School of Management who cut his teeth in field-based market research with Market Development Research Associates Pvt. Ltd, Delhi where he served for over six years, C fore has been rating and ranking higher education institutions including B-schools for reputable publications such as Hindustan Times, Business India, Mint and Outlook among others, for the past decade.

Therefore in keeping with established practice, since May this year over 100 C fore field researchers interviewed a mix of 2,044 principals, teachers and parents in 16 cities (Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Vadodara, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh, Lucknow, Bhopal, Jamshedpur, Darjeeling, Shill-ong and Dehradun) who constituted a representative sample base of know-ledgeable SECA (socio-economic category A in terms of education and occupation) respondents. They were asked to rate 404 day, boarding and international schools within their more familiar geographical regions (north, west, south and east) on 14 parameters of  academic excellence — teacher welfare  and development, competence of faculty, academic reputation, co-curricular activities, sports education, individual attention to students (teacher-pupil ratio), discipline and life skills education, infrastructure, value for money, leadership/management quality, parental involvement, quality of alumni/students, disabled friendliness and community service. Schools assessed by less than 25 respondents were not ranked and have been eliminated from this year’s league tables.

“The ratings that each school recei-ved on the 14 assessment parameters were aggregated to arrive at a total score for each school, according to which they are ranked inter se in each category, i.e day, boarding and international. To make the findings more user friendly, the ten-point score against each parameter was multiplied by 10 and rounded to the nearest whole number. All parameters were given equal weightage except ‘competence of faculty’ which, given its criticality, was given double weightage,” explains Palety.

Despite not a few school manage-ments and principals harbouring reservations about the purpose and utility of  the EW-C fore league tables compiled every year with incremental effort, expense and professionalism, many knowledgeable education professionals are inclined to endorse these annual surveys as effective messengers to parents, schools and communities.

“School managements and leaders tend to be very inward looking and unaware of developments in K-12 education in the wider universe beyond their school gates. The compilation, publication and ranking of league tables by external agencies which assess their education delivery performance against rational parameters of academic excell-ence serves the very useful purpose of  preventing complacency and incenti-vising continuous improvement. True the league tables are based on perceptions, not facts. Therefore they shouldn’t be received as gospel. But public perceptions are important not only for individuals but for education institutions and hence should not be disregarded either,” says Vivek Ramchandani, the well-known Delhi/ Dehradun-based education consultant and former  founder principal of the top-ranked The Shri Ram School, Delhi and hitherto the Nairobi-based advisor of the Aga Khan Education Trust.

From the viewpoint of parents — especially young parents — intent upon choosing the best schools within their budgets for the education of their children, the EW-C fore league tables are an informative guide. Contrary to popular perception, all parents aren’t looking for cram schools with excellent academic reputations. A growing number of them prefer progressive schools which also focus on co-curricular and sports education and equip school-leavers with well-developed life skills — including good manners — and social sensitivity. A close scrutiny of the EW-C fore league tables of 2011 indicates that schools which provide balanced, integrated education to develop the multiple intelligences of students, have moved up in the rankings, surpassing schools reputed for single-minded pursuit of excellent board exam results.

“Ideally the EW-C fore rankings should be a combination of facts and perceptions. But if that’s not possible for whatever reason, public perceptions are a reality and therefore a broad indicator of the perceived strengths and weaknesses of education institutions. As such they are a useful guide for shortlisting, even if not selecting, the most aptitudinally suitable schools for children,” says Anand Sudarshan, the Bangalore-based managing director and chief executive of Manipal Universal Learning Pvt. Ltd (aka Manipal Education), India’s largest private educ-ation transnational which comprises over 55 education institutions with an aggregate enrolment of 125,000 students spread over four countries.

The  notable feature of the fifth consecutive EducationWorld survey of India’s most respected schools is the seesaw jockeying for top position among day, boarding and international schools which have been topping the EW-C fore league tables for the past four years. In this year’s day schools all-India league table, The Shri Ram School, Delhi which after a two-year reign had been pushed down to second position last year, is back on top with Cathedral and John Connon, Mumbai, which was ranked first in its sesquicentennial (150th) year in 2010, pushed to second spot and the Mallya Aditi International School, Bangalore (joint second last year) into third position which it shares this year with the Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan (PSBB), Chennai. Significantly, there’s a razor-thin margin of one point in the aggregate scores separating the three top-ranked schools.

In the league table of legacy/traditional boarding schools as well, the top 10 ranks are occupied by the usual suspects except that the alternate-style Rishi Valley School, Chittoor which was co-ranked first with The Doon School, Dehradun (TDS) last year, has been ranked solo first this year, reflecting a clear shift in public preference towards new age boarding school education. TDS and Mayo College Girls, Ajmer (ranked third in 2010) are jointly ranked second and Welham Girls, Dehradun (fourth in 2010) third.

Likewise in the league table of new genre international schools, there’s been a rearrangement of rankings with the vintage Woodstock School, Mussoorie (estb.1852), regaining its head position on the top table. But the real winner is the Indus International School, Bangalore (IIS, estb.2003) which has broken the monopoly of former siblings Woodstock and Kodaikanal International School (estb.1901), alternatively ranked first and second for the past five years. Co-ranked second this year, IIS has seen a remarkable rise in public esteem given that the school is less than a decade old.

The publication of the EW-C fore India’s Most Respected Schools Survey 2011 comes at a critical time in the history of Indian education when there is rising awareness within society of the vital importance of QEFA (quality education for all), especially in India’s 1.26 million primary-secondary schools. Ironically despite the Union and state governments between them having promoted and running 1.25 million primary and an estimated 60,000 secondary schools countrywide, the highest ranked government-run day school (excluding army, air force and public sector corporation schools) is Kendriya Vidyalaya at IIT-Bombay, ranked 166 followed by several other KVs at the fag end of the list of the country’s top 321 day schools. Altho-ugh the Planning Commission holds out the 952 Kendriya Vidyalayas managed by a Central government-promoted trust as models for all government schools, quite obviously the country’s SECA middle class which appreciates and values high quality education to give their children a head-start in life, is unimpressed by them.

Yet government-funded schools can be managed efficiently provided they are not directly controlled by the Central and state governments. This is proved by the high ratings and ranks awarded by sample respondents to the Union defence ministry’s Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun (ranked 7th among boarding schools) and the Army Public School, Dagshai (11).

There’s a mine of information in the pages following our much-awaited annual survey and cover story in which we present detailed national, regional and parametral ratings and rankings of the country’s most well-known primary-secondary schools, whose manage-ments are now thoroughly seized of the importance of continuously improving teaching-learning and standards in education defined in its broadest sense. If the top 321 best schools — and mere inclusion in the league tables makes them the country’s best — rated across 14 carefully chosen parameters of education excellence and ranked inter se, set their hearts and minds on contin-uous improvement of their perceived infirmities, K-12 education nationally will receive a huge qualitative boost.

This denouement will undoubtedly impact school education beneficially, as upcoming primary-secondaries in search of excellence can draw upon the institut-ional development experiences of India’s most respected schools.

 Source : http://educationworldonline.net/index.php/page-article-choice-more-id-2861

                                    

The HNB Garhwal University Srinagar is organising the BEd Entrance Exam for the session 2010 – 11 on 28th August 2011 (Sunday) for all the BEd colleges that are affliated to Garhwal University including its three Campus . The Application form for the entrance exam will be available from 30th June 2011 at all three Campuses of the University, University Offices (Bindalpul Dehradun), Affiliated Colleges and at all Main Post Offices in Uttarakhand. The last Date of receiving the duly filled application form with the photocopy of required document is 20th July 2011. Application forms which will be received by the University after 20th July 2011 will not be accepted, University will not be responsible for any delays made by the post office authorties in sending the application forms.

For further information open university website www.hnbgu.ac.in

  

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::Other HNB Garhwal University Exam Date sheet 2010-11::

ELIGIBILITY
Age: Only those candidates, whose date of birth falls on or before 31st December, 1994 (minimum 17 years of age as on 31st December, 2011) are eligible to apply. Only date of birth recorded int he High School/ICSE or its equivalent certificate will be accepted. The Upper Age limit shall be 25 years as on 31.12.2011.

Minimum Qualification: The candidates must have passed the 10+2, i.e. C.B.S.E/I.S.C/Intermediate Board Examination or its equivalent, after a period of 12 years of study, the last two years of such study, comprising of physics, chemisty biology/biotehcnology and English from a recognized Board. The Candidates must have passed in the subjects of Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Biotechnology and English individually and must have obtained a minimum of 60% (For SC/ST/OBC candidates 50%) marks in aggregate taken together in Physics, Chemistry and Biology/Biotechnolgy and atleast 50% (For SC/ST/OBC candidates 40%) marks separately in each of the above subjects in the qualifying examination. The candidates who are appearing for the qualifying examination and whose results are not yet available, are also eligible to appear in the PMEE-2011 but such candidates should submit the marksheet of the qualifying exmaination on or before 15.06.2011, such candidates shall not be eligible for admission to the MBBS course, if they do not fulfill the eligibility criteria.

 
APPLICATION FORM AND INFORMATION BROCHURE
Application forms are available at Ramesh Book Depot, Moti Bazar, Dehradun. Ph. (0135) – 2653637/Delhi No. 09811522520 and all major book shops in major cities. Application forms can also be obtained in person by depositing a Demand Draft or in cash a sum of Rs.1200/- OR by post by sending a demand draft of Rs.1250/- drawn in favour of “HIHT UNIVERSITY” payable at State Bank of India, Jolly Grant (Bank Code No. 10580), Dehradun from – Office of the Controller of Examination, HIHT University, Swami Ram Nagar, P.O. Doiwala, Distt. Dehradun-248140 (Uttarakhand) or from the University Office, NIL 24A, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi (Ph: 011-26671349). Application Selling Centres.

CENTRES OF EXAMINATION:
1. Agra             2. Allahabad            3. Chandigarh
4. Delhi            5. Dehradun             6. Haldwani
7. Lucknow    
(University reserves the right to change /cancel any center under extra ordinary circumstances).

IMPORTANT DATES
Sale of Application Forms Starts : 12.01.2011
Last Date of Sale of Application Forms : 31.03.2011
Last date for submission of completed Application Form : 06.04.2011
Date of Entrance Examination : 03.06.2011 (10 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.)

     

INDIA’S TRADITIONAL OR LEGACY BOARDING SCHOOLS ARE MUCH loved by the country’s westernised and aspirational middle class. Modeled on mid-rung British public schools, they have made a great contribution towards developing leaders of industry, civil and defence services. Offering spartan games and sports-intensive liberal education usually in the salubrious climes of hill stations, they have substantially contributed to the growth and development of post-independence India’s middle class which has established  even if not entirely successfully norms of democratic governance and standards in public life which have ensured that against all expectations, India has survived as a functioning, even if chaotic, democracy. Although some of their glamour has been stolen by the new genre of international schools mushrooming countrywide, because of their relatively affordable fees, legacy boarding schools remain the first choice of parents looking  to provide their progeny disciplined, no-frills, sports-intensive primary-secondary education.

In the old days, the country’s best boarding schools such as Doon, Lawrence, Sanawar and Lovedale, Mayo, Daly College and Bishop Cotton enjoyed pan-India and even transnational reputations attracting students from across the country and the Indian diaspora. But of late changes in parenting norms and liberalisation of boarding school rules have prompted parents who value residential school education for their wards to enrol them in legacy boarding schools nearer home to facilitate greater interaction and visits with their children. Therefore regional rankings of boarding schools closer to home have assumed greater importance in recent years.

Northern Region
AS IN OTHER REGIONS, THE TOP 10 TABLE OF NORTH INDIA’S HIGHLY reputed boarding schools has witnessed a rearrangement of the seating order this year. Somewhat inevitably at the head of the table is the seemingly impregnable Doon School, Dehradun which with high ratings under the parameters of academic reputation, co-curricular education and faculty competence among others has aggregated a total score of 1,121 establishing a clear lead over Welham Girls, Dehradun rated second in the northern region in 2010. Other household names in the northern region which have advanced in public esteem are Bishop Cotton, Shimla (No. 5 to 3); Sherwood College, Nainital (9 to 3) who share the regional third rank with the consistently highly-rated Lawrence School, Sanawar. Another new entrant into the Top 5 list is Daly College, Indore, top-ranked countrywide under the parameter of sports education.

Other schools which improved their regional ranking this year are Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun (7 to 5); Army Public, Dagshai (10 to 6); St. George’s College, Mussoorie (11 to 8); Mussoorie International now being managed by ICT-in-education major Educomp Solutions Ltd (15 to 9) and Vidya Devi Jindal Girls, Hisar (unranked to 10). Further down the 16-strong Northern Region list of most-respected boarding schools, DPS Pinjore has moved into the regional league table (unranked to 13), Shigally International Academy, Dehradun (18 to 14); Pinegrove School, Dharampur (unranked to 15), and the Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya, Gwalior (19 to 16).

Western region
QUITE OBVIOUSLY THE PRACTICE OF SENDING CHILDREN TO boarding school is not as prevalent in western India as it is in the north. Only eight boarding schools in the Western Region are sufficiently well-known to be ranked by the 2,026 sample respondents countrywide — including 295 from the Western Region — who constituted the base for the EW-C fore India’s Most Respected Schools Survey 2010. Please note that institutions rated and ranked by less than 25 respondents were not included in the league tables. Of these select establishments, Mayo College Girls, Ajmer (ranked second all-India) with an aggregate score of 1,116 boosted by highest ratings on the parameters of leadership and faculty competence has far outdistanced Mayo (Boys) College (1,055). Further down the short-list, New Era, Panchgani (No.3), Orchid School, Nashik (4), Maharani Gayatri Devi, Jaipur (5) and RiverDale, Pune (6) have maintained their regional ranks.

Southern region
THE LIST OF BOARDING SCHOOLS SUFFICIENTLY WELL-KNOWN to be included in the EW-C fore Southern Region league table is also short. At the head of the table is the Rishi Valley School, Chittoor which has been rated and ranked the country’s premier boarding school jointly with the Doon School, Dehradun. In the nine-school table in which Lawrence, Lovedale has reclaimed its second position, institutions which improved their ranking are B.G.S. International, Bangalore (No. 4 to 3); St. John’s International, Chennai (5 to 3) and Bangalore Military School (7 to 4). The institution which has suffered a steep fall in public esteem this year is the reclusive Sarala Birla Academy, Bangalore (2 to 8).

Eastern region
THIS YEAR’S EASTERN REGION BOARDING SCHOOL LEAGUE TABLE 2010 has undergone a dramatic change. The very pucca and much venerated St. Paul’s School, Darjeeling (estb. 1823) which hitherto topped the regional league table with effortless ease has been toppled by the relatively new vintage Assam Valley School (AVS, estb. 1995). Ranked first in the east on the parameters of academic reputation, co-curricular education and integrity/honesty and ranked second on faculty competence and leadership, AVS has chalked up the highest aggregate score of all legacy boarding schools in the Eastern Region.

Within the region’s Top Five, St. Joseph’s, North Point which was surprisingly outranked by the Himali Boarding School (HBS), has traded places with HBS to be ranked third this year. Moreover this year’s Eastern Region league table is larger with several hitherto unranked schools having qualified for inclusion. The larger league table indicates that primary-secondaries in the region are becoming aware of the need to improve their institutional profiles, accountability and communication with the public.

Source :  EducationWorld Survey, September 2010