Even though gender-segregated schools are steadily going out of fashion, competition within the category of boys day schools for best seats at top table is intense. Dislodged last year, Campion School, Mumbai has reclaimed its pre-eminent position

With gender-segregated schools rapidly becoming obsolete, the number of all-boys day schools ranked in the annual EWISR has been declining over the years. In the latest EW India Boys Day Schools Rankings 2021-22, only 53 all-boys schools are sufficiently high profile (schools assessed by less than 25 sample respondents are not ranked) to be included in this league table. 

Within this shrinking minority of all-boys day schools, Campion School, Fort, Mumbai, ranked #1 for seven consecutive years (2013- 2019) and #2 in 2020-21, has reclaimed its pre-eminent position.

This year’s 11,548 sample respondents — parents, principals, teachers and senior students — interviewed by the Delhi-based Centre for Forecasting & Research (C fore), have restored Campion School (estb.1943) to its premier position by a huge margin, awarding this 78-year-old school top scores on seven of 14 parameters of K-12 education excellence including faculty competence, teacher welfare and development, co-curricular education, online education effectiveness, curriculum and pedagogy and value for money.

“The year 2020-21 was very difficult for the entire world. And Campion too faced new challenges and hurdles, and lost its #1 rank. But since then, we have equipped the school for the future by promptly switching to online learning. In the process, we have ensured that our children have not suffered any loss of academic, co-curricular, sports and life skills education during the pandemic. Our class X ICSE results for 2020-21 are excellent and our boys won many online inter-school co-curricular competitions. Now as we prepare to reopen secondary school, we are fully equipped to implement our new hybrid teaching model for students unable to attend in-person classes,” says Fr. (Dr.) Francis Swamy, an alumnus of Mumbai University and former principal of Holy Family High School & Junior College, Mumbai and St. Mary’s, Mazgaon, was appointed principal of Campion in 2020.

Indeed this year’s seating at top table has been majorly rejigged. St. Mary’s School, Mazgaon, Mumbai has inched up to #2 (#3 in 2020-21) jointly with St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, Kolkata (4) even as St. John’s High School, Chandigarh has slipped to #3 (1). St. Joseph’s Boys High School, Bengaluru at #4 (5) and The Bishops School, Camp, Pune at #5 (3) constitute the Top 5.

Further down the Top 10 table, La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata #6 (5) and Bishop Cotton Boys, Bengaluru (6) are jointly ranked #7 with Birla High School, Moira Street, Kolkata (8) have yielded rank even as La Martiniere Boys College, Lucknow #8 has improved its last year’s ranking (11). Calcutta Boys School (8) is ranked #9 jointly with Don Bosco High School, Matunga, Mumbai (10) and St. Columba’s School, Delhi (12) jointly ranked #10 with DAV Boys Senior Secondary School, Mogappair, Chennai (9) complete the Top 10 table.

Fr. Bernard Fernandes, principal of Don Bosco High School, Matunga (estb.1942), is “honoured” by the school’s consistent inclusion in the Top 10 league table of India’s best boys day schools. “This year’s high rank is especially satisfying because during the pandemic year, our teachers and parents made extraordinary efforts to ensure continuity of quality education for our children. I believe we successfully delivered holistic learning with special focus on excellence in academics through the online medium. I must also congratulate EducationWorld and CENTA for introducing the CENTA Subject Competency Test as part of the EWISR survey. It was a unique experience as the test measured not just subject knowledge but also analytical and higher order thinking skills of our teachers. In fact, this experience has motivated our teachers to upgrade their subject knowledge as part of their continuing professional development,” says Fr. Fernandes. Currently, the CISCE-affiliated Don Bosco has 2,506 students tutored by 129 teachers on its muster rolls.

The satisfaction of having entered the 2021-22 Top 10 league table of India’s best boys schools is perhaps greater for Br. E.V. Miranda, principal of St. Columba’s School, Delhi (estb.1941), which has improved upon its #12 rank of last year.

“We value the EW rankings highly and are thrilled at the inclusion of St. Columba’s among the Top 10 boys schools of India. We were surprised by the drop in our rank last year. Therefore, we have conscientiously worked to improve on all the survey parameters. I believe our higher ranking this year is due to our online education initiatives of the past two years. Parents and students are very satisfied and proud that no child has lost academic or co-curricular education. I am also deeply grateful to our parents community which rallied together to provide assistance to families of students affected by the pandemic. Now as we have reopened the school campus, we are taking utmost care to ensure our students, teachers and parents adjust to physical classes while continuing to take advantage of online resources,” says Br. Miranda.

Within this year’s 53-strong all-boys schools league table, several institutions have risen in public esteem. Among them: M.C. Kejriwal Vidyapeeth, Howrah (Kolkata) to #12 (#19 in 2020-21), Baldwin Boys High School, Bengaluru #15 (17), Don Bosco School, Siliguri #18 (23), St. Edmunds School, Shillong #20 (25) and Salwan Boys Sr Sec School, Rajinder Nagar, Delhi #33 (40).

Mallika Mukherjee, principal of the CISCE-affiliated M.C. Kejriwal Vidyapeeth, Howrah (MCKV, estb.1997) which is currently celebrating its 25th anniversary, is very pleased with the school’s steady ascent in the EW league table from #45 in 2019-20 to #19 in 2020-21 and #12 this year. “Our improved rank this year will encourage and motivate us to work harder to continue to move up the ladder. I thank our teachers and students who rose to overcome challenges posed by the pandemic and enthusiastically embraced digital learning. The plethora of new initiatives launched over the past year is proof of the creativity, innovativeness and potential of our teachers and students. Simultaneously, we have kept our parents’ community informed about our new online pedagogies and conducted several workshops to allay their fears and apprehensions. I believe our systematic response to the pandemic-induced schools closure has helped us build goodwill among not only our parents but the local community as well,” says Mukherjee, principal of MCKV, which has 3,000 children mentored by 138 teachers.

It’s also important to bear in mind that for parents selecting most suitable day schools for their children, city rank is more important than national and state rankings. Many boys day schools ranked beyond the Top 15 in the 2021-22 national table have established excellent reputations in their host cities and states.

Thus, Campion School, Bhopal, ranked #37 nationally is the #1 boys day school in Madhya Pradesh; Loyola School, Thiruvananthapuram is India #23 and Kerala #1; and SGVP International School, Ahmedabad, ranked #30 countrywide is #1 in Gujarat.

 

Recommended: Campion School, Cooperage Road, Fort, Mumbai