G.D. Goenka Public School, Rohini, Delhi

A franchised institution of the G.D. Goenka Public School chain of primary-secondaries countrywide, GDGPS-R has earned an excellent reputation for delivering high-quality schooling within a short span of six years - Autar Nehru

In the short span of six years since it admitted its first batch of 400 students in 2012, the preschool-class XII co-education G.D. Goenka Public School, sited in the green environs of Delhi’s residential sub-city Rohini, has earned an excellent reputation for delivering high quality schooling combining academic rigour, co-curricular and sports education to its 1,268 students mentored by 81 teachers. 

A franchisee institution of the reputed G.D. Goenka chain of 60 primary-secondaries countrywide affiliated with the Delhi-based Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the G.D. Goenka Public School, Rohini, Sector 9 (GDGPS-R) is ranked among Delhi’s Top 50 primary-secondaries in the latest EducationWorld India School Rankings 2017-18.

“Our objective is to empower, enable and energise our students in a safe and secure environment and enable them to become independent thinkers, creative learners, and above all, compassionate, good human beings. I believe education rooted in Indian culture and values combined with an international outlook, will shape our students into sensitive, contributing global citizens,” says Dr. Ragini Kaul, an alumna of Kashmir University with 24 years of teaching experience in the Delhi Public Schools chain, who signed up with GDGPS-R as principal in 2014.

The focus of this future-ready school on high-quality teaching and learning infused with stimulating co-curricular activities, has paid rich dividends. The six-year-old school, which has graduated only four batches, boasts a 100 percent pass record in the CBSE board exam. In the 2017 class XII exam, its 48 students averaged 84 percent with eight recording 90 percent-plus. Moreover in 2014, the school was conferred the International School Award of the British Council and is also shortlisted for the Global Innovation School Awards 2018. 

The fully air-conditioned aesthetically-landscaped campus, designed by Delhi’s celebrated architect Amit Khullar, offers state-of-the-art academic, co-curricular and sports facilities. GDGPS-R’s junior and senior schools comprise 76 spacious Smart classrooms, a 150-seat multipurpose hall, a seminar hall and a covered amphitheatre with a seating capacity for 600. In addition, there are separate computer labs for junior and senior students, well-equipped science labs, two libraries with 10,000 volumes and 26 journal subscriptions, and robotics and aero-modelling labs.

Sports amenities include a roller skating rink, lawn tennis court, cricket pitch, synthetic turf basketball and badminton courts, taekwondo and yoga rooms. Moreover, to develop the multiple intelligences of students, the school is equipped with a dedicated art and crafts room, separate rooms for Western and Indian classical vocal and instrumental music, dance, concept play, elocution and dramatics.

The school also takes pride in its structured community-outreach programmes under which students visit old-age homes, slums and collect food for impoverished children as part of its Roti (bread) Bank initiative. “We have recently partnered with Rotary International for our community outreach programme. The idea is to sensitise children and transform them into better human beings,” says Dr. Kaul, a recipient of the Nation Builder Award 2017 of Rotary India’s Literacy Mission.

In addition to these co-curricular activities, the school also runs a unique in-house skilling programme under which students are assigned voluntary work such as managing guests/parents, manning helpdesks, attending to telephone calls etc. Moreover, in partnership with the traffic police, GDGPS-R students are encouraged to manage and direct road traffic on specific days of the week in designated areas.

Unsurprisingly, the school’s management invests substantial resources in teacher training and professional development programmes. Workshops are routinely convened by the parent G.D. Goenka Group. And as a new institution, enthusiasm for continuous improvement and upgradation permeates the school. “Among our future plans are building a swimming pool, a languages lab, and promoting a social service culture among students to develop them into kind, caring and globally aware adults,” says Kaul.