The Doon School, Dehradun, routinely ranked #1 in this category for the past few years, has been overtaken by the Bishop Cotton School, Shimla for the first time in the esteem of an informed public
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Even though sexually segregated schools are fading out — the overwhelming majority of newly promoted residential schools tend to be co-ed which augurs well for gender relations in the 21st century — for the older generation raised on Tom Brown’s School Days and G.A. Henty novels, boys’ legacy boarding schools modeled after vintage British public (private, exclusive) schools such as Eton, Harrow, Winchester and Rugby which are still going strong in Blighty, retain their charm and mystique. Therefore the league tables of India’s boys legacy boarding schools arouse considerable interest across the country.
For this shrinking generation, there’s a great surprise in the EW league table of all-boys’ boarding schools this year. The Doon School, Dehradun (TDS) routinely ranked #1 in this category for the past few years, has been overtaken by the Bishop Cotton School, Shimla (BCS) for the first time in the esteem of an informed public.
According to feedback received from a C fore field researcher covering Himachal Pradesh, a sample respondent expressed disillusionment with TDS because it is widely associated with the Nehru-Gandhi family whose sons and acolytes are the school’s most famous alumni but whose stock is near rock bottom following a spate of corruption scandals and the ignominious rout of the Congress party in the general election of May.
The Doon School’s loss of public esteem has been the gain of the CISCE-affiliated BCS (estb. 1859), an institution strongly rooted in traditional values — sports, life skills education (manners and discipline), and expert pastoral care — for which British-style boarding schools are still famous worldwide. Moreover, the school’s long-serving (since 2004) headmaster Roy Robinson and his team have been awarded top ranking under the parameter of leadership and management quality.
“I am delighted and simultaneously humbled by the top ranking your informed respondents have given BCS after a long wait. I believe the credit for this achievement is the due of our dedicated teachers and staff who have worked in close cooperation with me and our students to make this great achievement possible. I am particularly pleased with the top rank awarded to BCS under the parameters of sports education and life skills because developing healthy minds in healthy bodies and inculcating good manners and transactional skills have been a long tradition of this school,” says Robinson, an alumnus of Lucknow, Chhatrapati Shahiji Maharaj (Kanpur) and Annamalai universities and former principal of Stanes School, Coimbatore, and St. Peter’s School, Panchgani (Maharashtra).
Another primary-secondary solidly rooted in the best traditions of India’s vintage boys’ boarding schools is Welham Boys, Dehradun which has been steadily moving up the EW league tables under the leadership of Gunmit Bindra, former principal of the all-girls Vidya Devi Jindal School, Hisar (Haryana). In 2011, the evidently progressive board of governors of Welham Boys (estb.1937) broke with tradition and created a minor sensation within the fraternity of top-bracket boarding schools by appointing Bindra the first woman principal of an all-boys boarding school. Quite obviously, the gamble has paid off because since then, Welham Boys which was ranked #16 in the EW league table of boarding schools in 2012 was promoted to #6 last year and again to #5 in 2014.
“I am pleased to note that Welham Boys is steadily moving up the EW annual league tables. I believe this is due to the excellent connect which teachers and staff have established with our students in recent years by creating a joyous and cooperative ethos in the school. Moreover, we accord great emphasis to life skills education which has been integrated into the curriculum. All this plus active encouragement given to our boys to participate in sports and games tournaments while not neglecting academics, has enabled us to provide a balanced education experience in a happy and enabling environment,” explains Bindra. Currently, the CBSE-affiliated wholly residential Welham Boys has 592 students mentored by 71 teachers on its muster rolls.
Yet perhaps the greatest advance in the public esteem in the all-boys boarding school category in the EW league tables this year, has been made by the low-profile Birla Vidya Mandir School, Nainital (Uttarakhand). Ranked #32 in 2012 and #17 last year, BVS-N (estb.1947) has been elevated to the Top 10 table in 2014.
According to Anil Kumar Sharma, a physics and education alum of Delhi and Lucknow universities, and former vice principal of the Lawrence School, Lovedale, who was appointed principal of BVS-N in 2004, the school sited on a 70 acre hill-top estate in the scenic hill station of Nainital, has a history of being one of the oldest education institutions in India. It was the Oak Opening High School, Philander Smith College, and the Hallet War School before it was purchased by the late industrialist-philanthropist G.D. Birla and re-christened Birla Vidya Mandir in 1947. Currently, this CBSE-affiliated class IV-XII school has 800 boys instructed by 40 teachers on its muster rolls.
“Although a low-profile school, BVS is a thoroughly contemporary institution which provides education on public school lines keeping in view Indian culture and global perspectives. We pride ourselves on providing differentiated learning which includes introductory courses in entrepreneurship and legal studies in fully digital classrooms and the entire range of sports, games and co-curricular education facilities to our students. I am pleased to learn that there’s growing public awareness and appreciation of what we are doing in this school,” says Sharma.
To see Boys Boarding Schools all-India ranking visit http://www.educationworld.in/rank-school/all-cities/boarding-school/boys/2014.html