Rivalling Bengaluru as an IT and other new-technology industries hub, Hyderabad is fast emerging as a hotspot for ECCE with rising demand from well-educated and informed professionals fuelling the promotion of preschools citywide
In the southern city of hyderabad (pop.11.4 million), capital of the newly formed (2014) state of Telangana and de jure capital of Andhra Pradesh, the early childhood care and education (ECCE) sector is buzzing. Rivalling Bengaluru as an IT and other new-technology industries hub, Hyderabad is fast emerging as a hotspot for ECCE with rising demand from well-educated and informed professionals fuelling the promotion of preschools citywide. A total of 50 preschools — third largest number after Delhi and Mumbai — have been rated and ranked by 567 parents and 88 teachers/principals polled by C fore field researchers in Hyderabad under the three new categories of proprietary, franchised and pre-primaries of composite schools.
Owned/proprietary
The disaggregation of the composite league table of 2014 has had a beneficial impact on the ranking of KinderKare, Gachibowli, ranked #10 last year and #8 in 2013. Under the new taxonomy adopted for the EW India Preschool Rankings 2015, KinderKare has been voted Hyderabad’s #1 preschool in the owned/proprietary category, as well as top-rated on nine of ten parameters of ECCE excellence.
However, despite the new taxonomy promoting KinderKare to the top of the table, Radhika Reddy, founder-principal, is not in favour of the new system. “We are not in favour of the division of preschools into three categories as it will confuse parents. The earlier composite ranking was better as it made it easy for parents to choose the best preschools in their localities regardless of other considerations. Having said that, we believe KinderKare was terribly underrated in the past two years. The plain truth is that we offer the best infrastructure and Kinder Kare is one of few preschools of Hyderabad which has a long waiting list for admissions. Moreover, we are on the approved list of top multinational companies such as Microsoft, Oracle, Google and Wipro, among others. Our #1 rank and top scores on nine parameters this year validates these claims,” says Reddy. Currently KinderKare (estb.2006) hosts 250 students mentored by 34 teachers..gif)
Similarly, the rationalisation of last year’s league table has helped several other proprietary preschools to advance to the top of the table. Among them: Blue Blocks, Gachibowli which has advanced from #5 in 2014 to #2 this year; Polka Dots, Jubilee Hills (#8 to 3); Strawberry Fields, West Marredpally (#11 to 5); Little Einsteins, Kondapur (#18 to 9) and Prime Years, Banjara Hills (#19 to 10).
Anita Rao, director of Strawberry Fields, West Marredpally, which has an enrolment of 70 children tutored by 15 teachers, believes the new taxonomy is a good idea. “The new classification is fair and logical. However, our #11 to #5 jump while it’s welcome, still doesn’t do us full justice. We are constantly training and motivating our teachers to deliver innovative teaching.
High priority is also given to parents’ involvement and life skills development. For instance, we are the only preschool in Hyderabad which provides children nutritious breakfast cooked in our own kitchens, to enable them to learn the critical life skill of eating independently,” says Rao, an alumna of Osmania University and IIM-Calcutta who promoted Strawberry Fields in 2005.
The Top 10 league table of Hyderabad’s premier owned/proprietary preschools is completed by debutants Esperanza, Banjara Hills (#6); KinderKare, Nallagandla and Abode Kids International Preschool, Gachibowli which share seventh rank, and Tulips — The Preschool, Bachupally (#8).
Franchised preschools
Ranked Hyderabad’s #1 preschool across all categories last year, unsurprisingly, Kangaroo Kids, Banjara Hills, a franchisee of the Mumbai-based Kangaroo Kids network of 89 preschools, has been voted the city’s #1 franchise preschool by a huge margin. The 655 sample respondents comprising parents, principals and teachers polled in Hyderabad have also top-rated Kangaroo Kids, Banjara Hills (KK-BH) #1 on nine of the ten parameters of preschool education excellence.
“The new assessment system which separates preschools is a good idea. Often in large K-12 schools, the pre-primary section is not given its due. In Kangaroo Kids, our sole objective is to provide high-quality preschool education to enable the emotional and cognitive development of children. The child is the fulcrum of all activities with teachers trained to emotionally connect with them and facilitate their wholesome development in a happy, stress-free environment. The top rank on nine parameters is an outcome of this child-centric philosophy,” says Chandrika Chalasami, an alumna of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi and the University of Texas, Austin who promoted KK-BH in 2004. Currently, this pre-primary housed in a fully equipped campus with air-conditioned classrooms, sand and water play areas, gym and music rooms, has 370 students mentored by 48 teachers on its muster rolls.
Following KK-BH is Globe Toters, Jubilee Hills, which has retained its last year’s #2 position while Open Interactive (Oi) Playschool, Jubilee Hills has moved up from #6 last year to be ranked among the Top 3 this year. The disaggregation of last year’s composite league table has also benefited EuroKids, Banjara Hills (EK-BH) which is promoted from #10 in 2014 to #5 in this year’s franchised preschools league table.
“The new categories of the EW Preschool Rankings give parents a better and wider perspective to choose the most appropriate preschool for their children. Our promotion this year is very welcome as our teachers were disappointed with last year’s #10 rank. The #5 rank awarded to us this year shows that the informed public has appreciated the many new initiatives we have introduced such as Motion Based Learning and the SPEAK (speech, pronunciation, expression, application and knowledge) programme. Moreover, as our top scores on teacher competence and parental involvement parameters indicate, we believe in teachers and parents working in close cooperation to develop children’s social, emotional and cognitive skills,” says Swathi Reddy, promoter-director of EK-BH, which currently has an enrolment of 100 children instructed by 12 teachers.
Further down the league table of Hyderabad’s 25-strong franchised preschools league table, several pre-primaries have debuted, indicating a mushrooming growth in the number of ECCE centres franchised by well-known national and local preschool chains.
Pre-primaries of K-10/12 schools
The Indus Early Learning Centre, Jubilee Hills, the upstream affiliate of the top-ranked Indus International School, Hyderabad and CHIREC, Jubilee Hills, feeder primary of CHIREC School — which were ranked #3 and #9 respectively in last year’s composite preschools league table — are tied at the prime spot in the newly introduced category of pre-primaries of K-10/12 schools. With their main parent schools top-ranked in Hyderabad in the EW India School Rankings 2015, it’s no wonder that these two pre-primaries have been top-rated on six and four of the ten parameters of ECCE excellence respectively, under which all preschools were assessed by 655 sample respondents polled by C fore field researchers.
Ratna Reddy, promoter-director of CHIREC, Jubilee Hills, endorses the new taxonomy adopted by EducationWorld for rating and ranking preschools. “Categorising preschools according to management type is a good idea as it’s the management which sets the goals, philosophy and drives the school forward. We are thrilled that CHIREC preschool is ranked #1 in this category.
This recognition should have come much earlier as we are the city’s pioneer preschool — my ECCE postgraduate degree from the US enabled me to design a curriculum integrating best American and Indian ECCE practices for our preschool. The result is a balanced curriculum, best infrastructure, ability to constantly innovate, well-trained teachers and a safe and fun-filled learning environment,” says Reddy, who has a postgrad degree in child development from the University of Hyderabad and a Masters in ECCE from Iowa University, USA. Currently CHIREC has an enrolment of 220 pre-primary students and 23 teachers.
The Top 10 league table of Hyderabad’s best pre-primaries of K-10/12 institutions mirrors the ranking of the primary-secondary EW India School Rankings 2015. For instance the pre-primary of Vidyaranya High School — ranked #2 in Hyderabad in the EW India School Rankings — is ranked #2 followed by the pre-primaries of Meridian School at #3, Indus International Junior School, Gachibowli at #4 and Gitanjali School at #5.
“It’s great that this year EducationWorld has ranked the pre-primaries of composite schools in a separate category. Most parents prefer admitting their children into pre-primaries of composite schools as it ensures continuity. In Gitanjali School, we pay utmost attention to our pre-primary section with teachers intensively trained and motivated to cultivate love of learning in children at the youngest age. We also give high priority to parental participation in all preschool activities. This explains our high scores on individual attention to students and parental involvement,” says Gita Karan, an alumna of Andhra University who promoted Gitanjali School in 1985. Currently, Gitanjali’s pre-primary has an enrolment of 200 children mentored by 10 teachers.
The Top 10 table is completed by the pre-primaries of Glendale Edufun, Banjara Hills (#6), Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Jubilee Hills (7), DPS Hyderabad (8), P. Obul Reddy Public School (9) and Jubilee Hills Public School (10).
To read Hyderabad’s best preschools league table visit: