A specially selected sample of 325 parents of preschool-going children and 54 knowledgeable principals and teachers in Delhi rated and ranked the national capital’s Top 20 preschools
Awareness of the vital importance of early childhood education (ECE) is arguably higher in Delhi than in any urban habitat in India. The annual middle class scramble to get tiny tots into nurseries and play schools, featuring heart rending stories of sacrifices and all-night vigils routinely make prime time news on television and dailies in the winter season.
Yet despite a plethora of contem-porary preschools — mainly under the franchise model — springing up in every suburb and street corner, upscale SEC (socio-economic category) A house-holds remain consistently loyal to ECE institutions with established reputations.
For the third year in succession The Magic Years, Vasant Vihar (TMY, estb. 1976) and Step by Step, Panchsheel have been ranked first and second in Delhi in the EducationWorld India Preschool Rankings (previously known as India’s Most Admired Preschools Rankings). With total scores of 907 and 904 (out of a maximum possible 1,100) respectively across ten parameters of ECE excellence, these two pioneer preschools are leagues ahead of the Ardee Montessori School, Sujan Singh Park which has vaulted to No. 3 in this year’s Delhi league table from No. 7 last year, and the Julia Gabriel Centre for Learning, Saket, ranked fourth (6 in 2011).
“All of us at TMY are delighted that Delhi’s public has retained its faith in us to rank this school first for the third year in succession. I believe this is due to widespread awareness that we are constantly adding new facilities and providing value added services to our (220) students. Our latest initiative is the Early Start sports education programme which has been carefully integrated into the academic curriculum in response to a Central government directive. Another factor is our excellent teachers whom we have nurtured in TMY. All of them are graduates with Montessori training and average tenures of 12.5 years in this school and have persisted with us because they have genuine interest in the development and progress of young children,” says Shirley Madhavan Kutty, who promoted TMY 36 years ago and has dedicatedly developed it into Delhi’s most admired preschool which despite being obliged by its charter to admit students from its neighbourhood, nevertheless receives over 900 applications for its 100 seats available annually.
A similar sentiment of quiet satisfaction derived from having done a good job of institutional development is discernible within Step by Step, Panchsheel (estb. 1992) which has been ranked a close second in Delhi for the third consecutive year. Ritu Suri who promoted the preschool 20 years ago and Ramani Chopra, an alumna of Punjab University who was appointed principal in 1997, are particularly pleased by the exceptionally high score awarded by the national capital’s informed sample respondents to Step by Step on the parameter of special needs education, a focus area of the preschool.
“All of us in Step by Step are very pleased that the informed people in your sample database genuinely appreciate the work we are doing in early childhood education. We believe that children need to feel good about themselves and provide positive guidance to enhance every child’s self-esteem and feelings of self-worth. With two teachers for every 25 children in class plus a helper to assist, learning is encouraged through personal attention and stimulation to make children confident and communicative. We believe happy children make happy, successful adults,” says Suri.
Step by Step faculty derive considerable pride and emotional satisfaction that the preschool is widely acknowledged as a haven for special needs children. “Our separate learning centre which has a highly qualified team of eight professionals, accommodates special needs children. Teachers mentor challenged children and prepare them for integration into mainstream classes. An IEP (Individual Education Plan) is drawn up for each child by our special educators including occupational and speech therapists and the child’s care-giver, with classrooms in the learning centre designed to give children a happy, stimulating and caring environment. These IEPs are reviewed on a regular basis to monitor the progress of the child and are reformulated if necessary. On average we mainstream two-three children per year,” says Chopra.
But while status quo has been maintained at the top of the Delhi preschools league table for the past three years, further down, several relatively new preschools are rising in public esteem. Notable among them is Little Pearls Play School, Vasant Vihar ranked No. 8 this year against No. 11 in 2011. Likewise the previously unranked EuroKids, E Block, GK II has entered the Top 10 with a ranking of No. 9. Further down the Top 20 league table, Adyaant, Vasant Kunj ranked No.11 (17) and Bachpan Play School, Pitampura at No. 14 (19) have improved their rankings while Taleem, Mehrauli unranked last year has moved up to No. 18.
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According to Dr. Shayama Chona, the celebrated former principal of the consistently high-ranked Delhi Public School, R.K. Puram (1992-2009) and promoter-director of the national capital’s three exemplary Tamanna Schools for special needs children, there’s “huge awareness” in Delhi about the vital importance of foundational ECE which is also impacting the rest of the country. “With double income households becoming quite common in Delhi, getting tiny tots into the best preschools in the city has not only become a status symbol, but a vital necessity. However the supply of ECE is way behind demand and only the rich can afford the city’s top-ranked preschools with the middle class patronising franchised schools and the lower middle having to make do with care centres established in small bedrooms and garages, while the poor have no access to vital ECE. Therefore it is very important for the Central government to convert its 1.6 million anganwadis into formal preschools because now there is rising demand for preschool education in every segment of society, including poor households who tend to view all education as investment rather than expenditure,” says Chona.
The EW-C fore Delhi league table and detailed rankings of the city’s Top 20 preschools under ten parameters of excellence (competence of teachers; teacher development and welfare; infrastructure; individual attention to students; value for money; parental involvement; innovative teaching; safety and hygiene; leadership quality; and special needs education) are set out hereunder.
To read Delhi's best preschools league table click userfiles/Delhi-Master.pdf
To read Parameters of Excellence: Delhi's Top Preschools click userfiles/Delhi-Parameters.pdf