Usually sited in green belt peripheries of India’s ill-planned metropolitan cities, day-cum-boarding schools are popular with high-income households in road-traffic choked metros. Moreover they are invariably co-educational, sparing siblings pain of separation.

Day-cum-boarding schools which provide the advantage of a wider, more diverse students body as they attract local day scholars and boarders from far-flung cities and small towns and often from abroad, are becoming increasingly popular across the country. They are usually equipped with better infrastructure and sports and games facilities than day schools simpliciter because boarders have to be kept busy and active after school hours. These superior facilities are also accessible to day scholars who as a consequence receive a more well-rounded education than they would otherwise.

Day-cum-boarding schools usually sited in green belt peripheries of India’s ill-planned metropolitan cities are also becoming popular among high-income households in road-traffic choked metros. Increasingly, high-income households anxious to spare their progeny the agony of the long daily school bus commute, are enrolling them as weekly boarders who come home every weekend.

Moreover, latter-day day-cum-boarding schools are invariably co-educational sparing siblings the pain of separation and offering male children the opportunity to learn gender egalitarianism and respect for girl children from early age.

With a new tribe of highly-educated school promoters having entered K-12 education, there’s no change from last year at the very top of the 2024-25 league table comprising 185 most respected day-cum-boarding schools. Emerald Heights International School, Indore (EHIS), and SAI International School, Bhubaneswar (SAIS) retain their joint #1 ranking.

Unsurprisingly, Emerald Heights awarded highest scores under the parameters of sports education, infrastructure and special needs education, has 790 boarders from 15 states across the country and six nationalities. Its director Siddharth Singh who took over this modest day school promoted in 1984 by his parents, in 2011, is an economics and education alum of Stonybrook University, USA and the Harvard School of Education. Under his stewardship, this CBSE and IB-affiliated day-cum-boarding school set in an emerald green 40-acre campus in suburban Indore has been top-ranked in the annual EWISR for the past three years consecutively (with 1+ accolade awarded for innovation and capacity expansion).

The record of SAIS promoted in 2006 by the late Bijoy Kumar Sahoo (BKS), whose promising career as a national pace-setter of K-12 education was tragically cut short by the Covid-19 virus three years ago, is equally impressive, indicative of the solid foundation on which BKS and his highly-qualified survivor wife Dr. Silpi Sahoo built this new genre no-expense-spared K-12 school. SAIS has been ranked India’s #1 day-cum-boarding school for five years consecutively.

Right at the top of the 2024-25 league table of India’s 185 most well-known day-cum-boarding schools, there is little change from last year with the superbly-equipped Greenwood High, Bengaluru, constructed by the renowned Salarpuria Sattva Group which has developed over 50 million sq.ft of avant-garde commercial and residential property in peninsular India, retaining its #2 position (and #1 in South India) for the third year in succession.

However the top table pecking order has been re-arranged by the dramatic promotion of the Sanskaar Valley School, Bhopal (SVS, estb.2006), Madhya Pradesh’s top-ranked school for several years, to joint #2 this year. The routinely Top 10 ranked DPS, Vasant Kunj, Delhi at #3 (promoted from #4 in 2023-24), jointly with the reclusive Pallikoodam School, Kottayam (3), Neerja Modi School, Jaipur at #4 (5), followed by the always high-ranked DPS, R.K. Puram, Delhi at #5 (2) which has ceded ground this year, complete the Top 5.

“This is validation of the excellent foundation that my late husband Bijoy bequeathed to us to continue to build upon. The most enduring legacy he left us is motivated calm and composed leadership which provides a patient hearing to all SAIS stakeholders. This has translated into our school according high importance to the mental and emotional well-being of our children, and I am pleased to learn that we have been awarded a high score under this important parameter. I am also pleased that our highest score is under the value for money parameter because we have a very generous scholarship scheme. Under our Bijoy Kumar Sahoo Scholarship programme, almost 50 percent of our children have been awarded means-tested scholarships with some meritorious students awarded full scholarship. Our highest score under community service is also well-deserved. Under our BKS 100 Libraries Project, we have established 34 fully-provided libraries in state government schools,” says Dr. Silpi Sahoo, an alumna of Utkal University, Cuttack, co-promoter of SAIS (4,110 students mentored by 340 teachers) and Chairperson of the Bhubaneswar-based SAI Group of Institutions which includes the state-of-the art SAI Residential School, Cuttack and SAI Angan Preschool. These new genre K-12 institutions have transformed the state of Odisha (pop.46 million) and its capital Bhubaneswar in particular from an education backwater into a modern education hub.

Chandresh Shah, a forestry and environmental studies alumnus of Kumaon University, Nainital who brought a wealth of teaching and admin experience (Sherwood College, Nainital, Assam Valley School, Balipara, Prakriti Valley School, Dehradun, New Digamber School, Indore, ABVPS Bhubaneswar and DPS, Chattarpur) with him when he was appointed Principal of the Sanskaar Valley School, Bhopal (SVS) in February this year, is equally happy that SVS has been promoted to top table with joint #2 rank this year.

“SVS has been ranked among India’s Top 10 schools and #1 in Madhya Pradesh for over a decade and this promotion to top table was overdue. I’m especially pleased with our high scores under the teacher development and co-curricular education parameters because we invest heavily in teacher training, and for co-curricular education, we have constructed a purpose-built complex to encourage children to develop their performing arts intelligences and skills in new-age vocations including design and sound recording. As for our top score under the leadership parameter, the credit should accrue entirely to our top management team — I have taken charge only recently — led by our Director Jyoti Agarwal, who has created a unique open door culture with a sharp focus on educating special needs children. As a result, SVS is a happy school with high importance accorded to the mental and emotional development of our children as indicated by our high score under this parameter,” says Shah. Currently, the CISCE and Cambridge International-affiliated SVS sited on a fully-equipped 40-acre campus, has 2,508 children mentored by 228 teachers on its muster rolls.

Also seated with the Top 5 are several excellent primary-secondaries routinely ranked among the Top 10 in the annual EducationWorld India School Rankings (EWISR, estb.2007) which over the years has evolved into the world’s largest and most comprehensive schools ranking survey. They are the Yadavindra Public School, Mohali (YPS, Punjab) co-ranked #6 (7) with The Mann School, Delhi (7), Central Public School, Udaipur #7 (8), Shri Ram Centennial School, Patna #8 (10), the high-profile Shree Sarasswathi Vidhyaah Mandeer, Coimbatore co-ranked #9 (10) with Chennai Public School which has risen spectacularly in the public esteem from #48 in 2023-24. These co-ranked schools are Tamil Nadu’s #1 day-cum-boarding schools.

“I am encouraged by the steady upward progress of YPS, Mohali in the annual EWISR. It provides great impetus to teachers, parents and students to give their best,” says Major Gen. T.P.S. Waraich, VSM & Bar (Retd.), principal of this routinely Top 10 ranked school (estb.1979) sprawled over 29 acres which offers its 1,900 boys and girl children facilities to participate in 22 sports and field games. Unsurprisingly, YPS has nurtured several national sports champions who have represented India in sports including swimming, squash and women’s cricket.

Yet perhaps more important than its higher ranking this year are the top scores nationally awarded to YPS, Mohali under several critical parameters of school education excellence. YPSM has been awarded highest score under the parameters of teacher welfare & development, co-curricular education and internationalism, and curriculum and pedagogy (higher order thinking skills).

“I am delighted with the top scores awarded to us under these parameters which are of critical importance. Teachers are the backbone of every school and we send 45 teachers for intensive training with the CISCE board every year. Re international outreach, we have exchange programmes with schools in several countries including Japan, Denmark, UK, Canada and the US. Likewise, I am pleased that your sample respondents have acknowledged that we educate our children with a thoroughly contemporary curriculum through new digital technologies on our fully-wired campus,” says Waraich, an alum of Madras University and National Defence Academy, Pune who during a distinguished career in the highly disciplined Indian Army (1977-2015) as a tank technology and armaments instructor, also served stints in Congo, Sudan and the US.

Yet perhaps the star of this year’s EWISR day-cum-boarding schools 2024-25 league table is the Chennai Public School, Thirumazhisai (CPST, estb.2011) which has made a spectacular leap forward in the esteem of the informed public to #9 from #48 last year. With high scores under teacher competence, co-curricular education, curriculum and pedagogy, leadership and infrastructure, this low-profile school is jointly (with Shree Sarasswathi Vidhyaah Mandheer, Coimbatore) ranked Tamil Nadu’s premier day-cum-boarding school. Spread over eight sylvan acres in suburban Chennai, this Cambridge International and IB-affiliated K-12 school hosts 2,005 children mentored by 142 teachers.

“I am especially satisfied with the high scores awarded to us under the faculty competence and infrastructure parameters because we are intensively training our teachers to become familiar with the new 5+3+3+4 curriculum mandated by NEP 2020 in purposefully built theme-based classrooms. Our high score in leadership is connected with the great importance we accord to teacher training with strong emphasis on encouraging teachers to adopt differentiated, innovative academic and co-curricular teaching and learning practices. Moreover to safeguard the mental and emotional well-being of our children, we have a three-persons team of highly-qualified teachers to provide counselling services,” says Chitrakala Ramachandran, an English and Hindi postgrad of Bangalore University and multi-linguist (six languages) principal of CPST who brought several decades of teaching and admin experience in schools in Bengaluru and Abu Dhabi with her when she was appointed principal of CPST in 2017.

Beyond the Top 10 completed by DPS, Siliguri and ODM Public School, Bhubaneswar, several day-cum-boarding schools have made marginal gains in EWISR 2024-25. Sunbeam English School, Bhagwanpur, Varanasi has retained its last year’s #16 ranking and Shri Ram Centennial School, Dehradun has improved its rank to #20, while the well-furbished SCAD World School, Chengalpattu (Tamil Nadu) has been awarded a huge promotion to #21 (41). Ditto the low-profile but highly-respected Sanjay Ghodawat International School, Kolhapur promoted to #24 (29) and #1 in Maharashtra (pop.115 million), India’s most industrialised state. Likewise, the previously unranked Woodside School, Ooty has made an impressive debut at #29.

It’s important to bear in mind that some invariably capital-intensive day-cum-boarding schools modestly ranked in the national league table, may be top-ranked in their host states, several of whom are more populous than most European countries. For instance, Sunbeam School, Suncity, Varanasi ranked #15 is top ranked in Uttar Pradesh (pop.230 million), DPS, Siliguri ranked #10 in India is ranked the #1 day-cum-boarding school in West Bengal (pop.95 million). And since in day-cum-boarding schools, day scholars usually by far outnumber boarders, their state and especially city ranking need to be accorded greater weightage.