Candor International School, Bangalore

Promoted by US-based IT entrepreneur Suresh Reddy to realise a dream, the garden city’s newest international school (estb. 2011) has got off to a great green start

Meticulously landscaped over a 30-acre campus in the sylvan environs of Hullahalli village contiguous to Electronics City (pop. 500,000) — the hub of Bangalore’s IT industry and headquarters of several IT behemoths including Infosys Technologies, Wipro and C-DOT — the year-old Candor International School (estb. 2011) is receiving excellent notices from the city’s parents community for providing internationally benchmarked education supported by state-of-the-art infrastructure. This Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), UK-affiliated school, which admitted its first batch of 50 students in August 2011, now hosts 150 students (including 30 boarders) — mentored by 40 teachers — from 16 countries enroled in kindergarten to class X.

“Candor International was promoted to provide students with a world-class educational experience delivered through an enquiry-based, student-centric and trans-disciplinary curriculum which integrates emerging information technologies such as iPads and Smart boards. Through our dedicated faculty — most of whom have international teaching experience — we are committed to producing future-ready, free-thinking, responsible youth with a solid academic foundation which will enable them to assume leadership positions anywhere in the world,” says Pradip K. Das, principal of Candor International. An alumnus of Bristol University, UK, Das acquired valuable experience in several well-reputed schools including Mount Hermon, Darjeeling, Baldwin Boys High and Greenwood High (Bangalore), and Kodaikanal International School and Indus International School, Pune, prior to signing up as founder-principal of the school last year.

Candor International is promoted by the Saket Educational Trust, constituted in 2009 by Suresh Reddy, a US-based IT entrepreneur, who has invested an estimated Rs.100 crore to realise his dream of “nurturing lifelong learners in a private, independent institution which will deliver high quality English-medium education to children of expatriates and IT employees serving the garden city’s Silicon Valley”. Significantly, Candor’s first two students were children of Japanese expatriates.

To meet its institutional objective of delivering holistic internationally benchmarked education, the Candor management has invested heavily in contemporary academic and sports infrastructure. Accredited by the Hyderabad-based Indian Green Building Council, the school’s clusters of ‘white’ buildings host the kindergarten, primary and secondary blocks and offer 40 spacious classrooms, state-of-the-art computer, science and maths labora-tories, multimedia rooms, teachers’ resource and counseling centres, music and art rooms and an indoor multi-purpose hall. The academic and administrative blocks are wi-fi enabled. The junior and senior libraries are equipped with e-readers and host 50,000 volumes with several journal subs-criptions. A fleet of ten air-conditioned buses equipped with safety and speed tracking systems transport children to and from school.

According to Das, sports education is a priority area with the school having signed up with Mumbai-based Glob-osport — a brand advisory and sports company promoted by India’s Davis Cup star and winner of several Grand Slam tennis doubles titles, Mahesh Bhupathi — to provide an integrated sports programme and coaching to students. Sports infrastructure includes soccer and hockey fields, basketball, volleyball, tennis and badminton courts, an athletics track, a cricket pitch and a covered swimming pool. Additionally, indoor chess, table tennis, carrom and traditional arcade game arenas are provided on campus.

Co-curricular education is also a major focus area with robotics, dance, drama, music, community service and visual and performing arts constituting an integral part of the curriculum. Moreover Candor International has signed up with the Chennai-based Learning Systems Creative Pvt. Ltd, a subsidiary of the Yokohama (Japan)-based Learning Systems Co Ltd, which uses robotics to teach science and maths. “We accord equal if not greater importance to co-curricular education which is integrated into the curriculum and assessed as any other subject. Community service is also an important thrust area with the school organising regular field trips to orphanages for children with diverse impairments, and old-age and blind homes. As India’s first ‘green’ school, Candor also organises regular tree planting programmes. We have leased six acres of land adjacent to the school to start an organic farm, with each class given a portion of the farm to plant and maintain. A wholesome education exper-ience which integrates academic rigour with sports, co-curricular and community service activities is the key to developing well-balanced and socially responsible individuals,” says Das.

Currently affiliated with CIE, UK, Candor International has applied for affiliation with the Geneva-based International Baccalaureate Organi-sation and intends to offer its IB diploma programme. With its first batch of 13 students set to write the IGCSE class X exam in June and the school steadily increasing in enrolments (installed capacity: 1,100), construction of separate dorms for boys and girls is proceeding apace and expected to be completed in early 2013. “The school already offers IBO’s primary years and middle years programmes and by August 2013, we expect to offer the IB diploma programme. We are also in the process of signing up student and faculty exchange programmes with several schools abroad and have drawn up plans to establish a centre for teacher training on campus to offer continuous training and upgradation programmes,” says Das.

Evidently the garden city’s newest international school has got off to a great, green start.

Paromita Sengupta (Bangalore)