Affiliated with the UK-based Cambridge International, SIV is the first international school of the sacred city of Varanasi, widely acclaimed as the world’s oldest urban habitat

SIV campus: Varanasi’s first international exams board affiliated school

The latest high-potential venture of the Varanasi-based Sunbeam Group of Educational Institutions (SGEI), a fast-track private school chain of Uttar Pradesh (pop. 245 million), is Sunbeam International Varuna (SIV, estb.2022). Affiliated with the UK-based Cambridge International, SIV is the first international school of the sacred city of Varanasi, widely acclaimed as the world’s oldest urban habitat. Sited within the group’s four-acre Sunbeam School & Hostel, Varuna campus, this class I-IX co-ed international day-cum-boarding school has quickly acquired an excellent reputation for dispensing internationally benchmarked education to its 250 students mentored by 35 well-qualified teachers.

“The prime objective of SIV is to provide students of Uttar Pradesh the option of an international curriculum, pedagogies and certification from the highly respected Cambridge International, UK exam board. Our specially trained faculty and 1:7 teacher-student ratio ensures every child receives individual attention and mentoring to excel academically and emotionally in workplaces. We intend to provide internationally-benchmarked schooling to nurture well-rounded students equipped to succeed anywhere in a fast-globalising world,” says Dr. Deepak Madhok, the go-getting Chairperson of the Sunbeam Group, who has master-minded SGEI’s growth from one school in 1990 to nine owned and 17 associate schools, two women’s colleges, an autism centre and a free school offering vocational education. These institutions provide high quality education to 35,000 students mentored by 2,000 teachers.

 However, the seeds of the Sunbeam Group were sown way back in 1972 in Bhagwanpur (Varanasi) by educationists Dr. Amrit Lal ‘lshrat’ Madhok and Deesh ‘Ishrat’ Madhok who undertook a mission to promote schools to deliver high-quality English-medium education in India’s largest Hindi-language state. In 1990, Deepak, an alum of Benaras Hindu and Allahabad universities resigned from the UP State Public Services Commission to take his parents’ mission forward.

Unsurprisingly, to establish Varanasi’s first international exams board school, the SGEI management has spared no effort or expense. SIV’s three-storey red and white aesthetically designed academic building houses 30 fully-wired classrooms equipped with Interactive Flat Panels, nine state-of-the-art robotics, composite computer, physics, chemistry, biology, geography and psychology laboratories, a Podcast studio, two 800-seat multi-purpose halls and a 500-seat amphitheatre.

The school’s library houses 2,000 print volumes and 35 magazine subscriptions in addition to multiple online resources. SIV also offers fully air-conditioned residential accommodation with meals served in a 280-seats dining hall, to residential students from across Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Nepal and West Bengal.

Sports facilities include fields for cricket and football, a 25-metre swimming pool, designated yoga, chess, carrom, table tennis. aerobics and martial arts rooms, boxing ring, roller skating rink, basketball, badminton and volleyball courts and 10-metre shooting range.

The co-curricular education menu is also extensive with children provided opportunities to learn the fine arts, instrumental and vocal music, drama, dance and pottery. Students also have the option to sign up for Scouts & Guides training, hobby clubs (quiz, e-scrapeshala, sustainability, Math Smart, MUN) and participate in Cambridge Climate Quest programs, environment sustainability and community service initiatives.

Two years on with all teething pains over, SIV is running smoothly. “Over the next two years, SIV will be upgraded into a full-fledged class I-XII international school with our students writing the Cambridge AS & A Level exams. Simultaneously, we will continue to improve our academic processes, invest in professional development of teachers, strengthen global partnerships for student/teacher exchange programs and upgrade infrastructure facilities,” says Madhok.

ADMISSION & FEES

Sunbeam International Varuna is a class I-IX co-ed international day-cum-boarding school affiliated with the UK-based Cambridge Assessment International Education. Admission into SIV is based on an entrance test and interview. The school accepts boarders from class III.

Fees (per year): Day scholars: Rs.107,900-145,350 

Boarders: Rs.304,160-349,450.

For further information, email [email protected] or call 9721452805; website: www.sunbeamschools.com/school/siv