The country’s best all-girls day schools have built formidable reputations for dispensing not merely rigorous academics but also co-curricular, sports and life skills education to prepare girl children for leadership positions in society India’s all-girls schools are valuable national assets. In a still largely conservative and patriarchal society where gender discrimination is rife, girls-only schools perform an important public service by dispensing quality K-12 education to girl children who would otherwise be denied it for religious and cultural reasons. Moreover, the country’s most respected girls day schools have built formidable reputations in their host cities for delivering not merely rigorous academics but also co-curricular, sports and life skills education to prepare girl children for leadership positions in society. Therefore, since 2007 all-girls day schools are ranked separately and distinctly from co-ed and all-boys institutions in the annual EW India School Rankings (EWISR). It’s important to note that the broad category of all-girls day schools — sub-divided last year to create a new category of vintage legacy schools (over 90 years of age) — comprises 89 institutions (cf. 52 boys schools) indicating continuous demand for gender-segregated education for girl children. In EWISR 2023-24, the league table of India’s best all-girls day schools has undergone a major makeover (for vintage legacy girls schools league table, see p.354). The 18,928 sample respondents comprising parents, teachers, educators and senior students interviewed by the Delhi-based Centre for Forecasting & Research (C fore) have promoted Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls Public School, Jodhpur (RKKGPS), ranked #2 in 2022-23, to joint #1 with Carmel Convent School, Chandigarh, ranked #4 last year. Sacred Heart Sr. Sec School, Chandigarh, ranked #1 in 2022-23, has slipped to #2. Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata has retained its #3 ranking of last year. Neera Singh, principal of the CBSE-affiliated RKKGPS (estb.1992), is “thrilled” that EWISR survey respondents have awarded the school 1+ rank. “Over the past two years, we have taken deliberate steps to improve on all 14 EWISR parameters, especially those on which we had received low scores. Therefore, it’s very satisfying that the collective efforts of the management, teachers and students have paid off,” says Singh, an alumna of Rajasthan and SNDT, Mumbai universities who has 25 years of teaching experience in schools countrywide, appointed principal of RKKGPS in 2008. Singh derives special pride that RKKGPS is awarded highest score on the parameters of infrastructure provision, parental involvement, community service, special needs education and sports education. “Community service is an important focus area for us. Our girl children manage a sanitary napkins manufacturing unit on campus and also participate in several rural women empowerment programmes. Sports education is a top priority with 17 games offered and all girl children compulsorily required to play one individual and one team game. It’s our focus on empowering girl children not just with academic education but also with skills of communication, teamwork, confidence, resilience, and leadership that distinguishes RKKGPS,” says Singh, who adds that the school recently inaugurated a 400-seat air-conditioned auditorium. Sited on…
