In the glamour category of EWISR 2015, Woodstock School, Mussoorie, last top-ranked in 2011, has staged a comeback. Moreover, Good Shepherd International, Ooty has risen spectacularly in the public esteem to be jointly ranked second with Kodaikanal International School
The two-year reign of Kodaikanal International School (KIS) as India’s premier wholly residential international school is over. The 114-year-old KIS has been bested by its traditional rival the Woodstock School, Mussoorie (estb.1852), last top-ranked in 2011. Moreover, this year KIS has been jointly ranked #2 with Good Shepherd International School (GSIS), Ooty, which has risen spectacularly in the public esteem to be upgraded from #5 in 2014.
Sited on a 250-acre pristine campus in the foothills of the Himalayas, Woodstock is rated #1 across all international schools (including international day and day-cum-boarding schools) on the parameters of internationalism, co-curricular education and safety and hygiene. “A large share of the credit for regaining our top rank should accrue to our exceptional teachers who believe it’s not enough for students to have information in their heads; they help young people to develop vision and passion in their hearts. Therefore, top ratings on the parameters of co-curricular education and internationalism are particularly satisfying. Education in Woodstock is deliberately holistic, and given our breadth of nationalities, languages, cultures and faiths, we have a deep well of cultural wealth to draw upon,” says Dr. Jonathan Long, an alumnus of Nottingham and Oxford universities and former principal of Mahindra United College, Pune and Aiglon College, Switzerland who took char-ge as principal of Woodstock in 2011.
Good Shepherd International’s great leap upward in EWISR 2015 has also cheered the faculty and students of this school sprawled across two state-of-the-art campuses aggregating 170 acres in the salubrious hill station of Ooty. This CIE, UK and IBO-affiliated K-12 school is ranked #1 among all international schools on the parameters of co-curricular education, infrastructure and pastoral care. “We are very pleased GSIS has finally been conferred its rightful status among the best international residential schools of India. In particular, the #1 ratings for co-curricular education, infrastructure provision and pastoral care are a great honour and accurate assessment of GSIS, because it’s highly improbable that any other school countrywide offers matching enabling infrastructure and learning environment. I’m confident that our teachers and students will continue to strive to raise standards and GSIS will achieve #1 ranking soon,” says Dr. P.C. Thomas, founder-principal of GSIS which has an enrolment of 815 students instructed by 201 teachers.
Likewise, Lt. Col. (Retd.) Y.H.V.S. Prasad, principal of the Cathedral Vidya School, Lonavala (CVSL, estb. 2008) — an affiliate of the 150-year-old Cathedral and John Connon School (CJCS), Mumbai (ranked #4 in the co-ed day schools category) — is pleased with the school’s steady rise within the small community of elite residential international schools. In EWISR 2015, this CIE, UK and IBO-affiliated class IV-XII school is ranked #6 overall and #2 in Maharashtra.
“Our improved ranking this year needs to be attributed to our collaborative teachers, management’s vision, support of our parents and students, and our deep collaboration with CJCS, one of the country’s most prestigious day schools. In CVSL we provide an international pedagogy that nurtures innovation, leadership and vocational skills embedded in a strong values system. Excellence is a continuous journey at CVSL and the consistently improved ranking in the EW league tables will motivate us to improve further,” says Prasad, former principal of The Lawrence School, Lovedale and Oakridge International, Vizag who took charge at CVSL in 2013. Currently CVSL has 240 students and 40 teachers on its muster rolls.
With new millennium parents preferring day and day-cum-boarding international schools which are mushrooming in metros and tier-II cities, reputable wholly residential international schools are a shrinking minority. Of the nine schools in the EWISR 2015 league table, the vintage Hebron School, Ooty (estb. 1899) has retained its #4 rank while SCAD World School, Coimbatore has improved its ranking from #7 in 2014 to #5 this year, as has Vishwashanti Gurukul, Pune to #7 (9). Completing the league table is Kimberley — The Boarding School, Chandigarh, which has also risen in public esteem from #10 in 2014 to be ranked #8 this year.
To view EW India International Residential Schools Rankings 2015 visit http://www.educationworld.in/rank-school/all-cities/international-school/residential/2015.html