In this year’s survey, 42 preschools in Chennai (cf. 21 in 2014) have been rated and ranked across ten parameters by 658 parents and teachers polled by Delhi-based market research agency C fore
Parents in the southern port city of Chennai (pop. 5 million), currently reeling under unprecedented rains and flooding which has forced closure of schools, especially pre-primaries and nurseries, place a premium on early childhood care and education. This is evidenced by the growing number of previously unranked pre-primaries (15) included in the newly segregated 2015 league tables of Chennai’s best proprietary, franchise and pre-primaries of composite schools. In this year’s survey, a total of 44 preschools (cf. 21 in 2014) have been rated and ranked across 10 parameters — competence of teachers, infrastructure, safety and hygiene, individual attention to students, among others — by 586 parents and 72 teachers/principals interviewed by field researchers of the Delhi-based market research and opinion polls agency C fore.
Owned/Proprietary
Unranked last year, the newly established (2012) Indus Early Learning Centre (IELC), Besant Avenue is Chennai’s top-ranked owned/proprietary preschool this year. Rated #1 on nine of ten parameters of ECCE excellence, IELC, promoted by the upscale Bangalore-based Indus International School management, has an enrolment of 85 children instructed by 13 teachers. “EW’s new classification initiative is logical as previously widely divergent preschools were being compared with each other. Last year, it was a great disappointment that we were inexplicably unranked. But this year, the omission has been set right spectacularly with our #1 ranking. I’m especially satisfied with our #1 rating on the parameters of teacher competence, welfare and development, innovative teaching, pupil-centric culture, safety and hygiene and especially leadership which is a high priority area for all Indus pre and primary-secondary schools,” says Beena Malhotra, a home science graduate with education postgrad qualifications from Rajasthan, Lucknow and Meerut universities and 19 years of teaching experience in Gurgaon’s Amity International and Ryan International schools among others, who was appointed the first centre head of IELC in 2012.
The division of Chennai’s preschools into three categories has also helped Seed Academy, Kottivakkam which has broken into the Top 5 from #18 last year, and Seed, Anna Nagar promoted to #9 (#12). However, Seed, Adyar, ranked #3 last year has ceded ground (#8) and Vruksha Montessori, top-ranked in last year’s composite league tables of Chennai, is ranked #3 this year with KiwiLearners, Neelankarai and IELC, Besant Avenue storming to the top of the proprietary league tables.
Commenting on the mixed fortunes of Seed preschools in Chennai, Jaya Sastri, an ECCE alumna of Trenton State College, New Jersey, USA, faults the new taxonomy adopted by EducationWorld. “I don’t believe there should be any distinction between preschools offering ECCE. All preschools should be evaluated according to the level of services offered and individual attention to children. The #5 rank awarded to Seed, Kottivakkam and #9 to Seed, Anna Nagar is a morale booster for the teachers of these two pre-primaries. But I am astonished that Seed, Adyar which has moved to larger, better-equipped premises has been demoted to #8. There’s a flaw in your new classification system which obviously hasn’t been properly understood by your respondents.” says Sastri.
Franchised preschools
Vael’s Billabong High-Kangaroo Kids, Neelankarai (VBH-KK) has benefited from the new taxonomy and is ranked the city’s premier franchised preschool. Other franchised pre-primaries have also benefited. Kangaroo Kids, Velachery, ranked #16 last year is Chennai’s #2 franchised preschool this year followed by the previously unranked Podar Jumbo Kids, Thoraipakkam; Kidzee, Anna Nagar, promoted from #10 to 4 and Podar Jumbo Kids, Perumbakkam who make up the Top 5 table.
Rohini Vachar, centre head of Vael’s Billabong High-Kangaroo Kids, Neelankarai (VBH-KK), which has an enrolment of 500 students and 63 teachers on its musters, is elated that VBH-KK is ranked Chennai’s #1 franchised preschool this year. “Agreed, the new classification has helped. But our #2 ranking across all categories last year and #1 rank this year supports our belief that VBH-KK is Chennai’s #1 preschool regardless of classification. I am very grateful to your survey respondents who voted us #1 and to EducationWorld for recognising our efforts. Our #1 rating among franchised pre-primaries on all 10 parameters of ECCE excellence is a real morale booster. Our main focus has always been on individual attention to each student and we are especially pleased with the high score awarded to us on this parameter as also on teacher competence, welfare and development, infrastructure and innovative teaching. In VBHKK, we have created an environment for children to explore, experience, express and excel,” says Vachar, an alumna of Madras and Cambridge (UK) universities.
Raffat Parveen, a physics and education alumna of Madras and Annamalai universities with 25 years of teaching experience in the Middle East and currently academic head/counselor of Kidzee, Anna Nagar (KAN, estb. 2009), a franchised preschool of the 1,500-strong Mumbai-based Kidzee group, is equally pleased with the promotion of KAN from #10 in 2014 to #4 this year.
“I believe the new classifications are rational because owned, franchised and feeder preschools have their own distinctive curriculums, methods of working and standards of assessment. I believe our higher ranking this year is connected with our introduction of new interactive technologies (tablet-based learning), high priority given to parents’ involvement in school affairs, intensive teacher training workshops and regular inspections of safety (through CCTV cameras) and enforcement of hygiene standards,” says Parveen.
Pre-Primaries of K-10/12 SCHOOLS
In the category of pre-primaries attached to K-10/12 schools, introduced for the first time this year, the 658 parents, principals and teachers interviewed in Chennai have endorsed the pre-primary of Abacus Montessori, Perungudi #1 followed by the nurseries of Padma Seshadri Bala Bhavan Senior Secondary School, Nungambakkam, Sishya School, Adyar and Velammal Global, Surapet ranked #4. The top rankings awarded to their parent schools in EW India School Rankings 2015 has obviously rubbed off on their preschools. 
Several attempts by EducationWorld to elicit responses from managements of the top three preschools failed because of a mixture of apathy and heavy rains and flooding in Chennai, forcing closure of schools from mid-November. However, Meenakshi Madhusudanan, principal of the K-VII Velammal Global School, Surapet (estb. 2014) ranked #4 with 200 pre-primary students mentored by 12 teachers on its muster rolls, was available for comment.
“I’m glad the nurseries attached to larger schools which are always ignored, have been included in this year’s preschool rankings. Moreover, I am thankful with our school’s high rating on innovative teaching because all Velammal schools have special initiatives for children from poor households. We are also thankful to be ranked #1 under the parameter of safety and hygiene which is crucial in pre-primary education.” says Madhusudanan.
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