Under the new assessment and evaluation format, the vintage Kodaikanal International and Woodstock, Mussoorie are back at the top of India’s most respected wholly residential international schools league table
For four years consecutively (2008-11), Woodstock, Mussoorie (estb.1852) and Kodaikanal International School (KIS, estb.1901), established by pioneer American missionaries in the heyday of the British Raj, alternated as the country’s top two international schools in the annual EducationWorld India School Rank-ings. However in 2012, both these vintage schools were dislodged from their top positions by the new age Indus International, Bangalore and Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai. Now in the new format EW International Residential School Rank-ings 2013, the fully residential KIS and Woodstock have regained their top positions. Respondents to the C fore field survey have ranked KIS #1 with an aggregate score of 1273, closely followed by traditional rival Woodstock at #2 (1270).
“KIS has consistently featured among the top three international schools in the EW International School Rankings, and this year we are honoured to be ranked India’s #1 international resid-ential school. This is as it should be because we are a unique institution with an extraordinary history and tradition, dedicated to ensuring that students leave KIS committed, accom-plished and confident to achieve beyond graduate and postgraduate arenas. KIS focuses on nurturing students by continuously upgrading faculty skills and encouraging great expectations,” says Adrian Moody, principal of KIS, which has 520 students from over 30 countries and 135 teachers and supplementary staff on its muster rolls. In addition to the American high school diploma program, KIS also offers the IB diploma.
KIS and Woodstock at the top of the league table are followed by the higher secondary Mahindra United World College, Pune (#3), Hebron School, Ooty (#4) and Good Shepherd Inter-national, Ooty (#5) — all of whom have been regularly ranked among the Top 10 in the composite league tables of previous years. Encouragingly, further down the league table, several newly promoted international residential schools have debuted including Birla International School, Ajmer (#6), Kimberley — The Boarding School, Chandigarh (#7), Cathedral Vidya School, Lonavala (#8), SCAD World School, Coimbatore (#9) and Vishwashanti Gurukul, Pune (#10).
Sandeep Chhabra, the founder principal of the CIE, UK-affiliated Kimberley — The Boarding School (estb. 2012), is surprised and delighted that the year-old school sited on a 20-acre campus and constructed with an estimated project outlay of Rs.60 crore, has been accorded recognition by more than 25 northern region respondents (the precondition of being included in the EW league tables). “We are honoured and humbled by the recognition awarded to our one-year-old school. It gives me deep satisfaction that my many years of experience in school education have helped us build an excellent campus and attract an experienced and diverse faculty. In Kimberley our focus is on comprehensive education and training, where students participate in both mental and physical activities to develop confidence, creativity, problem solving, and independent learning and research capabilities,” says Chhabra, former vice principal of the day-cum-boarding Yadavindra Public School, Patiala and principal of the Kasiga School, Dehradun.
To see international residential schools league table visit http://www.educationworld.in/rank-school/all-cities/international-school/residential/2013.html