Promoted in 1996 by the globe-girdling Chinmaya Mission, CIRS has acquired a nationwide reputation for excellent academics blended with co-curricular education steeped in Indian culture and traditions – Hemalatha Raghupathi

Nestled in the foothills of the Western Ghats and encompassing a 78-acre sylvan campus on the outskirts of the textiles city of Coimbatore (pop. 3.46 million), the Chinmaya International Residential School (CIRS, estb.1996) has acquired a nationwide reputation for excellent academics blended with co-curricular education steeped in Indian culture and traditions. In the latest EducationWorld India School Rankings 2016, CIRS is ranked #2 countrywide and #1 in Tamil Nadu in the co-ed boarding schools category. Moreover, with 24 out of 49 students averaging 90 percent-plus in the CBSE class XII examination last year, CIRS is the #1 school academically in this category and among the Top 10 countrywide. 

Envisioned in the 1970s by visionary Vedanta master Gurudev Swami Chinmayananda, who promoted the Chinmaya Mission (CM, a globe-girdling spiritual and cultural renaissance movement started in 1953), CIRS was formally inaugurated on June 6, 1996 by Swami Tejomayananda, who succeeded as head of CM after Swami Chinmayananda’s mahasamadhi in 1993. However, during his lifetime Chinmayananda established 300 CM centres worldwide to organise and coordinate the spiritual, cultural, education and social service projects of the mission. Since then, the Mumbai-based Central Chinmaya Mission Trust (CCMT) has promoted 103 Chinmaya Vidyalaya day schools across the country, eight colleges, two free-of-charge Harihar schools and one Chinmaya Vidyalaya day school in Trinidad (West Indies). 

Promoted 20 years ago with the prime objective of providing (secular) Indian culture and values-based education to children of the 17 million Indian diaspora, this class V-XII school currently has 580 students (of whom 20 percent are from abroad) mentored by 90 well-qualified teachers. Affiliated with the Delhi-based Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), CIRS also offers the diploma programme of the Geneva-based International Baccalaureate Organisation for classes XI-XII. 

“The prime objective of CIRS is integrated development of every student. Programmes for physical fitness, emotional development, independent thinking, values-based education, meditation and yoga are all woven into the curriculum and daily calendar of the school. Our students are given wide exposure to Indian culture through lectures on customs and traditions, celebration of festivals of India and by way of project work. Moreover, we have a structured programme for our students to develop a universal outlook through partnerships with schools in the UK, USA and Africa. One such initiative is the Generation Global video conferences programme organised by the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, UK, which enables CIRS students to interact with their counterparts in schools worldwide,” says Shanti Krishnamurthy, principal of CIRS. A mathematics and education postgrad of Madras and Annamalai universities Krishnamurthy has over 35 years of teaching and administration experience in the Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Jamshedpur (1981-2002), M.Ct.M Chidambaram Chettiyar Group of Schools, Chennai (2002-2006), and as founder-principal of the Mahindra World School, Chennai (2006-2009).

A striking feature of CIRS is that CCMT has spared no expense in equipping it with state-of-the-art infrastructure for academic, sports and co-curricular education. The school’s wi-fi enabled 78-acre campus with a built-up area of 29,000 sq. metres hosts 28 well-ventilated classrooms equipped with smartboards, six hi-tech science, a biotech and two computer laboratories, a 700-seat multipurpose air-conditioned hall, a huge amphitheatre, an audio-visual room, soundproof recording rooms and separate practice rooms for music, dance and art. CIRS also boasts three spacious libraries stocked with 19,600 books, 60 journal subscriptions, a collection of educational CDs and DVDs, spiritual books and an air-conditioned reading room.

The school’s four boys’ hostels and three for girls offer well-furnished dormitory accommodation with multi-cuisine dining options to cater to students from 19 countries. Excellent healthcare facilities include a well-equipped modern clinic-cum-dispensary, separate sick wards for boys and girls and a dental clinic. 

Sports and games facilities include a swimming pool, gymnasium, four basketball, three tennis, three volleyball and two indoor badminton courts, a large field games ground, 400-metre athletics track and table tennis room. “Sports education is given as much importance as academics with qualified coaches mentoring students in a variety of track and field events and providing special training to students competing in district, state and national level tournaments. Our students have also excelled in the National Cadet Corps (NCC) training programmes,” says Krishnamurthy. 

Looking forward, the management’s concerted effort is on improving CIRS’ academic reputation and infrastructure. “We are working on developing an aptitude for research among our teachers so they acquire better understanding of the psychological pulls and pressures of students and curriculums, to improve our teaching-learning outcomes. We also want our students to develop an interest in research and enquiry to enable them to succeed in a rapidly changing world, in which traditional careers and entire industries are becoming obsolete at a frightening pace,” says Krishnamurthy.