With three consistently top-ranked co-ed boarding schools having been elevated to the Ivy League category, there’s been a rearrangement of seats at top table this year

AVS principal Amit Jugran (centre): continuous professional development outcome

Although it’s your editors’ long-standing lament that post-independence India’s children and youth — the world’s largest and high-potential child population —  haven’t been given the attention and sufficient official and societal support they deserve, one of the positive developments in K-12 education is the continuous promotion and multiplication of co-ed schools in which girls and boys learn side-by-side in mixed gender environments. 

This is a positive development because when boys and girl children learn together in co-ed classrooms, they develop mutual respect and learn gender equality and etiquette from early age. In particular male children learn to respect and empathise with girls from their early years. This is likely to reduce crimes against women as children grow into adulthood and increase the national FLFPR (female labour force participation rate), a metric under which India suffers in comparison with Western as also almost all Asian countries. Several recent research studies indicate that if India’s FLFPR  rate of 33.7 percent improved to equal Asian countries such as China, Vietnam and Indonesia, India’s annual GDP growth rate would increase by 2 percent which is necessary for India to attain its national goals of Viksit Bharat (‘developed India’) and a $30 trillion annual GDP (cf.4 trillion currently) by year 2047 when the nation will celebrate its centenary of freedom from foreign (British) rule.

Against this backdrop, it’s encouraging that the league table of India’s most respected co-ed boarding schools comprises more institutions than in 2024-25. Moreover, following the creation of a new Ivy League category of boarding schools and elevation of three consistently top-ranked co-ed boarding schools to that elite category, there’s a been a rejig of the top table seating order this year.

Hitherto, a perennial bridesmaid ranked #2 in 2021-22 and 2022-23 and #3 last year, the imaginatively conceived Assam Valley School, Balipara (AVS), set on a 235 acre campus within a massive tea estate in India’s premier superior teas growing region, is India’s #1 co-ed boarding school of 2025-26. AVS is awarded highest score under seven of the 14 parameters of boarding school excellence including the critically important parameters of pastoral care and mental and emotional well-being services.

Amit Jugran, an English literature graduate of Punjab University who began his career as manager in the blue-chip Hindustan Lever Ltd (1999-2009) before switching tracks and serving with Aditya Birla Public School, AVS and Mussoorie Public School, before being recalled as headmaster of AVS in 2022, is delighted that this new genre superbly equipped school has been voted India #1 this year. 

“AVS is not only a school that provides our 750 students mentored by 114 highly-qualified teachers excellent pastoral care which has translated into emotional and mental well-being — parameters accorded highest importance in AVS — but also high-quality academic education. We invest heavily in the continuous professional development of our teachers — Rs.15 lakh last year. The outcome is our high scores under the parameters of teacher competence and academic reputation. In short, our highest scores under critically important parameters are proof that we provide our children balanced, all-round education in a supportive ecosystem that enables them to learn joyfully,” says Jugran.

As a result of Rishi Valley, Chittoor, Pinegrove, Dharmapur and CIRS, Coimbatore — all co-ed boarding schools — having been elevated to the new Ivy League category, there’s been a re-arrangement of seating at the top table of co-ed boarding schools this year.

The superbly equipped Kasiga School, Dehradun with top score under the parameter of infrastructure, has been promoted to #2 (from #3 in 2024-25); Miles Bronson Residential, Guwahati to #3 (4) and #1 in North-east India; Selaqui International, Dehradun is #4 (2) jointly ranked with Punjab Public School Nabha (5). This year’s sample respondents have awarded big promotions to New Era High, Panchgani (#10 last year), Sagar School, Alwar (9) and Anubhuti School, Jalagaon (6) which are jointly ranked #5, completing the top table cohort.

Sagar School, Alwar principal Tanu Tiwari: pandemic exodus recovery priority

Tanu Tiwari, a medical sciences, education, English and life sciences postgrad of Guru Nanak University, Amritsar with a Masters in zoology from Hemnandan Bahuguna University, Garwahl whose career trajectory includes teaching stints in Mussoorie International, Scindia Boys, Gwalior (2010-19) and Vidya Devi Jindal Girls (2019-24) and currently principal of the Sagar School Alwar, is elated by the big promotion awarded to this co-ed boardin

Sagar School, Alwar principal Tanu Tiwari: pandemic exodus recovery priority

g  school (estb. 2001). Especially since SSA is still in the process of recovery from a large exodus of children during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2021-23.

“The big promotion awarded to SSA by your knowledgeable sample respondents indicates that there is rising awareness of the efforts that the school management is making to recover from the pandemic when our enrollment declined from 280 in 2020 to 150 currently.  Therefore I am very encouraged by the big promotion that your sample respondents have awarded SSA this year. I am especially pleased with the high scores awarded to us under the parameters of co-curricular education and internationalism and pastoral care. To revive the morale of our children and parents, we give high importance to co-curricular subjects such as the performing arts, sports and international outreach by participating in events and activities of Round Square, UK, AFS and Model United Nations organised by schools and various organisations, as also students and faculty exchanges with schools abroad. This outreach has lifted parents and children’s morale and I am confident that we will recover our pre-pandemic enrolment in the near future,” says Tiwari. Currently SSA has 120 students, including 50 girls on its scenic 155-acre campus in Alwar.

Beyond the top five, several other high-quality co-ed boarding schools have been awarded promotions in the Top 10 table. Among them Isha Home School to #7 (10); Sai International Residential, Cuttack #7 (8); St. Michael’s Siliguri #10 (12) and #1 in West Bengal. Further down the Top 20, Himali Boarding School, Kurseong at #14 (20) and Vikash Residential School, Bhubaneswar #20 (30) have been given big promotions by this year’s sample respondents.

For reasons enumerated earlier, it is encouraging that the 2025-26 league table of co-ed boarding schools is lengthier than last year’s and substantially longer than of boys and girls boarding schools. It’s important to note that all the institutions included in this year’s table are carefully curated fully residential schools which by definition are likely to be more capital-intensive than day schools.

It’s also pertinent to bear in mind that schools modestly ranked in the national league tables may well be top or highly ranked in their host states which are more populous than most European countries.

For instance the Rajghat Besant School, Varanasi ranked India #9 is the #1 co-ed boarding school of Uttar Pradesh (pop. 220 million); Ahbyasa International, Toopran ranked India #18 is top-ranked in Telangana (pop.38 million) and St. Thomas Residential, Thiruvnanathapuram India #31 is #1 in Kerala (pop.36 million). For parents anxious to provide the numerous advantages of boarding school education within state boundaries not too far from home, state rankings may be more important than national.