The 586 informed respondents interviewed by C fore field researchers in Ahmedabad have ranked Olive Green Kids, Navrangpura; EuroKids, Satellite and the Riverside pre-primary the textile city’s premier preschools in the three new categories
UNDER THE NEW taxonomy adopted for rating and ranking pre-primaries for the EducationWorld India Preschool Rankings 2015, 586 sample respondents comprising parents and teachers/principals interviewed by C fore field researchers in Ahmedabad, have crowned Olive Green Kids, Navrangpura, the city’s #1 owned/proprietary preschool, EuroKids, Satellite the #1 franchised preschool, and the pre-primary of Riverside School #1 in the K-12 category.
Owned/proprietary preschools
Asmi Gandhi, principal of Olive Green Kids, Navrangpura which was ranked #10 in the composite 2014 league table, is delighted with the outcome of this year’s rankings exercise and believes that the new classification has helped “smaller pre-primaries to shine”. “The categorisation of preschools is done for a good reason as it is unfair to compare proprietary preschools with franchise or K-12 schools which have the support of large organisations. In the previous composite league table, the excellent work being done by smaller preschools was overshadowed by big brands. We are delighted that in this year’s new category of proprietary preschools, Olive Green Kids has been recognised for the continuous good work we have been doing over the past decade in early childhood education. Our teachers are well-trained and we follow a mix of Montessori, playway and Gurukul pedagogies. Constant innovation is our mantra — recently we staged a first-of-its-kind inter-preschool soccer tournament,” says Gandhi, a graduate of Gujarat University and promoter of the city’s Snowfall Montessori (1985-2005) who was appointed principal of Olive Green Kids in 2006. Currently, the preschool has an enrolment of 55 students mentored by 10 teachers.
Renita Handa, promoter-director of the previously unranked Redbricks Junior, Satellite, which is ranked #2 this year in the proprietary category, concurs. “EducationWorld’s initiative to classify and rank preschools in three separate categories is intelligent and welcome as it has created a level playing field in each category. We are elated by the #2 ranking this year which was overdue. Our early years’ curriculum is highly researched and influenced by the Reggio Emilia pedagogy and the Progressive Education movement which stresses learning rooted in real life experiences. Moreover, continuous in-service training is a high priority with teachers receiving 100-200 hours of training in our in-house Redbricks Teachers Institute, which also offers full-time certificate programmes in ECCE,” says Handa, an alumna of St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad and Bentley University, USA who has also completed several short-term programmes from Harvard and Boston universities. Promoted in 2009 under the aegis of the Redbricks Education Foundation, the preschool has 200 children and 25 teachers on its muster rolls.
The league table of proprietary preschools is completed by Rising Kids, Bapunagar (#3), Thumbelina Nursery, Navrangpura (4), Crayonz Preschool, Bopal (5), Crescent Pre-primary, Memnagar (6), and Smart Kids, Maninagar (7) — all previously unranked.
Franchised preschools
While the proprietary league table is restricted to seven preschools in Ahmedabad, the franchised category rates and ranks 16 pre-primaries indicating a mushrooming growth in the number of early childhood care and education (ECCE) centres franchised by well-known national as well as local preschool chains. In this highly competitive category, EuroKids, Satellite (EKS, estb.2000) — a franchisee of the Mumbai-based 884 preschools-strong EuroKids International — which was top ranked even under the earlier system, is unsurprisingly ranked this textile city’s #1 franchised preschool this year. EKS is also ranked #1 on the vital parameters of teacher competence (given double weightage), innovative teaching, value for money and individual attention to students.
“The entire EuroKids, Satellite team is thrilled that parents and educators in Ahmedabad have ranked us #1 in the new franchise category. Our #1 rank for the third consecutive year on the teacher competence parameter is a tribute to our well-trained teachers who give their best and are constantly innovating to enable children to develop their learning capabilities and self-confidence to succeed in primary school,” says Beula Canara, a business management graduate of the Xavier Institute of Social Service, Ranchi with teaching experience in Ahmedabad’s Mount Carmel and St. Kabir schools. In 2000, Canara promoted EKS which has an enrolment of 325 children and 25 teachers.
Following EuroKids, Satellite and ranked second this year is Shanti Juniors, Prahladnagar (SJP) which has moved up from #5 last year. A franchisee of the Ahmedabad-based Shanti Juniors, which has 300-plus centres countrywide, SJP was promoted in 2010 and currently has 120 students and 15 teachers (tuition fee: Rs.28,000-37,000 per year) on its muster rolls. “It’s very satisfying to learn that parents and teachers in Ahmedabad have appreciated the good work we are doing. The credit for our high ranking should go to our teachers and parents and the Shanti Juniors management which provides us full support and back-up. However, I am not too convinced about the new categorisation — it’s overdone. Parents want to enroll their children in preschools offering the best early childhood care and education regardless of whether they are proprietary, franchised or attached to larger schools,” argues Suman Mishra, an alumna of Bundelkhand and Allahabad universities and promoter-principal of SJP.
Ahmedabad’s Top 5 table of franchised pre-primaries is completed by Rangoli Preschool, Bopal (#3) which has jumped from #9 in 2014; Calorx Preschool, Maninagar (4) and Eurokids, Vastrapur (#5) both of which have ceded one rank since last year. The Tree House, Vastrapur, previously ranked #2, has lost considerable ground to be ranked #7 as has Calorx Preschool, Isanpur (#8, from #6 in 2014). Further down the table, several new franchisees of national preschool chains EuroKids and The Tree House have debuted (see p.125).
Pre-primaries of composite schools
In the newly introduced category of pre-primaries of composite schools, the pre-primary of Riverside School, ranked #1 in Gujarat in the EW India School Rankings 2015 (see EW September), has pipped Eklavya School to be ranked #1. The CIE (UK)-affiliated Riverside — has also been top-ranked by the respondents on seven of ten parameters of ECCE excellence — teacher competence, teacher care and development, individual attention to students, parental involvement, innovative teaching, safety and hygiene, and leadership quality.
“The classification of pre-primaries into three separate categories is fair and rational, though I believe there are several government anganwadis which are also doing good work. Pre-primaries of composite schools are distinctive inasmuch as they provide security and continuity to children and help them transit seamlessly into primary education. We are really encouraged by the #1 rank given to our pre-primary and realise that it puts added responsibility on us to continuously raise the bar for enriching early childhood experiences. Our institutional philosophy is to keep children at the centre of all activities, with particular emphasis on enhancing every child’s confidence by promoting her creativity, and inculcating professionalism and empathy in teachers. Therefore the top ratings for competence of teachers, teacher care and development, individual attention to students and innovative teaching is acknowledgement that this philosophy is working well,” says Kiran Bir Sethi, promoter-principal of The Riverside School, which has 409 students including 78 kindergarteners mentored by 60 teachers on its rolls.
Following Riverside and Eklavya in the 11-strong league table are the pre-primaries of Delhi Public School, Bopal (#3), Udgam School (#4), the New Tulip International and Vedant International School which share the fifth rank, Prakash Higher Secondary (#6), and Ahmedabad International (#7), among others.
Promoted in 2004 with 70 nursery children, the CBSE-affiliated Vedant International has grown to over 3,000 children instructed by 125 teachers. “We are happy that pre-primaries of composite schools have been ranked separately this year.
However we are dissatisfied with the #5 rank given to us by your sample respondents who are obviously unaware of the excellent quality of pre-primary education we provide. Vedant has perhaps the highest number of pre-primary children — 800 — of any school in the city, with the nursery and playgroup section housed on a separate campus in Kankaria, while kindergarten children share the primary-secondary school campus in Isanpur. Well aware that the early years are the foundation of future learning, we give top priority to our pre-primary section which is the pride of our school,” says Rutvi Vyas, a commerce and education postgrad of Gujarat and SNDT (Mumbai) universities, and founder-principal of the Vedant International Preschool.
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