India's best international day schools

For the third year in a row, Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai has swept the board across almost all parameters to be ranked the country’s #1 international day school

To all intents and purposes, the Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai (DAIS) seems to have consolidated its position at the very top of the EW national league table of international day schools. Since 2013, this CIE, UK and IBO (Geneva)-affiliated K-12 school has been voted the country’s #1 international day school. The 1,925 sample respondents comprising parents, students, teachers, principals and educationists interviewed by C fore in the western region have also rated the co-educational DAIS #1 on the parameters of academic reputation (for the fifth year in a row), competence of faculty (fourth successive year), teacher welfare and development (third consecutive year), leadership/management quality, and special needs education.
DAIS’ top rating on the academic reputation parameter for the past five years is unsurprising given that in CIE’s IGCSE class X exam 2015, 88.84 percent of students achieved A and A* grades, substantially higher than the global average of 28.78 percent per school.

Comments Nita M. Ambani, founder-chairperson of DAIS, which has an enrolment of 1,067 students mentored by 144 teachers: “We are both proud and humbled by this recognition. Our constant endeavour is to enhance the quality of education by implementing best pedagogical practices, and recruiting the best teachers and leadership talent and providing them opportunities for professional development, through participation in national and international workshops. The competence and commitment of our teachers and the motivating learning environment we provide our students is reflected in our school’s outstanding exam results and university placements, and our #1 rank on academic reputation, faculty competence and teacher welfare and development. Special needs education has also always been a top priority, and with the support of a dedicated team of teachers, counsellors, and para educators we have been able to make much headway. We are now working on implementing a programme for academically gifted children.”

India’s second-ranked international day school, Ecole Mondiale World School (estb. 2004) — also sited in the country’s commercial capital — is runner-up for the third consecutive year. However, the low-profile International School of Hyderabad (ISH) has risen sharply in the public esteem from #8 in 2014 to #3 nationally and #1 in Telangana and Hyderabad (pop.3.6 million). Promoted in 1982 by the Hyderabad-based International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid-Tropics (ICRISAT), granted special status as a United Nations organisation by the Indian government, ISH is sited on a 10-acre plot within the 3,500-acre ICRISAT campus, and is conferred the status of a school administered by a foreign/consular mission.

“I am pleased but surprised as I am unsure who voted for us as our student and parents body is wholly international, and our teachers are from the UK, Ireland, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Belgium and Spain as well as India. Our prime objective in ISH is an individualised and personalised approach to learning. We accord high priority to learning how to learn and develop critical thinking skills to prepare students for the challenges of the 21st century,” says Dr. Oli Tooher-Hancock, principal of the IBO-affiliated ISH which hosts 280 students instructed by 45 teachers.

Further down the Top 10 league table, there are minor readjustments with Oberoi International, Mumbai ranked #4 cf. #3 in 2014, while Pathways School, Baliawas has risen in public approbation from #6 in 2014 to #5 this year, as have Aditya Birla World Academy, Mumbai (#8 to 6) and Podar International School, Santacruz, Mumbai (#9 to 7). On the other hand, Mercedes Benz International, Pune (#8) has yielded four ranks since last year and Pathways School, Noida (#8) one. Sadhbhavana World School, Kozhikode and Billabong International, Santacruz, Mumbai are tied at #9 while three schools — Oakridge International, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, NES International, Mumbai and Ryan Global, Mumbai — share the tenth position.

Neerja Birla, founder chairperson of the CIE, UK and IBO, Geneva-affiliated Aditya Birla World Academy (ABWA, estb. 2008) which has 600 students and 99 teachers on its muster rolls, is encouraged with the school’s improved #6 all-India, #4 in Maharashtra and Mumbai ranking. “It’s heartening to learn that our efforts to make ABWA a haven of learning are being acknowledged. For this positive development, credit must go to our faculty and children who persevere and do their best. Our consistently improving academic results are testimony to their sustained efforts. The ABWA philosophy of respecting each child’s calibre, personalised care and nurturing the innate potential of students, is our strength. This ranking is a very encouraging sign that we are on the right path,” says Birla.

Likewise, Gustav J. Gropp, principal of Oakridge International, Gachibowli, Hyderabad, is “elated” about the school breaking into the Top 10. Gropp is particularly pleased that the school has maintained its #2 ranking in Telangana and Hyderabad. “We thank the parent and academic communities for acknowledging the excellent work being done by our teachers and students. I believe we have created a unique learning environment at Oakridge International. In particular, we have successfully integrated ICT into teaching and learning. Continuous improvement and innovation has enabled us to steadily move up the EW league tables,” says Gropp, an alumnus of Murdoch University, Australia.

With over 25 years experience as head of international schools in South Africa and the Middle East, Gropp was appointed principal of Oakridge, Gachibowli in 2014. Promoted in 2001 by the Hyderabad-based People Combine Educational Initiatives Pvt. Ltd, the CIE and IBO-affiliated Oakridge, Gachibowli has an enrolment of 3,000 students instructed by 265 faculty.

To view EW India Intenational Day Schools Rankings 2015 visit www.educationworld.in/rank-school/all-cities/international-school/day/2015.html