Staged over three days on October 14-16 in Delhi, EWISRA 2025-26 featured stimulating lectures, enriching panel discussions and awards presentation ceremonies during which high-ranked primary-secondary schools in four main categories were awarded certificates and display plaques, writes Summiya Yasmeen.

The three-day EducationWorld India School Rankings 2025-26 Awards (EWISRA) conclave — the largest gathering of K-12 leaders countrywide — uniquely combined celebration and learning through awards ceremonies, expert panels, and stimulating lectures. The sequel of the annual EducationWorld India School Rankings (estb.2007) — the world’s largest and most comprehensive school ratings and rankings survey that ranks over 4,500 schools in 518 cities countrywide — EWISRA 2025-26 attracted over 3,000 educationists including school promoters, trustees, principals and senior teachers from all corners of the country.

Staged over three days (October 14-16) in the expansive ballroom of The Pullman Hotel, Aerocity in the national capital, EWISRA featured thought-provoking keynote addresses, enriching panel discussions and awards presentation ceremonies during which high-ranked primary-secondary schools in four main categories — day, boarding, international and vintage legacy — and 14 subcategories under them, were awarded certificates and display plaques.

Among principals and education leaders conferred awards on the occasion were Bindu Oberoi, Board Chair, Oberoi International School, Mumbai; Dr. Shishir Jaipuria, Chairman, Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Education Institutions; Deepak Madhok, Chairman, Sunbeam Group of Education Institutions, Varanasi; Niru Agarwal, trustee, Greenwood High, Bangalore; Abhimanyu Basu, Dean and CEO, Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai; Nishi Misra, principal, Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya, Gwalior; Dr. Gunmeet Bindra, principal, Daly College, Indore; Praveen Raju, director, Suchitra Academy, Hyderabad; and Sharmila Bakshi, principal of the Vasant Valley School, Delhi.

Moreover on the occasion, Rustom Kerawalla, Chairman, VIBGYOR Group; Alka Sharma, Chairperson Central Public School Udaipur and Dr. Fr. Fabianus Minj S.J, Principal, Loyola School, Bilaspur were conferred the EW Lifetime Achievement in Education Leadership Award 2025-26. Dr. A.K. Pansari, Director, Royal Global School, Guwahati; Pradip Agarwal, CEO, Heritage Group of Institutions, Kolkata and Jyoti Kapur, Chairperson, Shri Ram Global School, Greater Noida were presented the EW Extraordinary Achievement in Education Leadership Award 2025-26. Simultaneously, Education Leadership Awards were presented to several edupreneurs/school leaders who have made exceptional contribution to raise teaching-learning standards and upgrade Indian K-12 education (see p.136).

Also on the packed agenda of the three-day conclave was felicitation of schools ranked under the EW Grand Jury India School Rankings 2025-26. These schools were ranked by a specially constituted Grand Jury of eminent educationists and conferred awards under differentiated parameters including campus architecture and design, design thinking, leadership, career counseling, high happiness quotient, SDGs commitment (see p.86).

EW conclave partners were Grayquest Education Finance Pvt. Ltd, Mumbai; Lead Group, Mumbai; Educational Initiatives Pvt. Ltd, Bengaluru; Western Australian Certificate of Education; Schoolnet India Ltd, Delhi; BenQ India; Popcorn Furniture & Lifestyle Pvt. Ltd, Delhi; Edunext Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Noida; Chitkara University, Punjab; Aerobay; Stock Paper Scissors; FabrIQ; PayU; Open Door; Furtados School of Music; iDream Career; Edusoft IT Solutions Pvt. Ltd, Delhi; AcadAlly; Smart Shapes; World Academy of Career Programmes; AccessUSA; GetsettoWork, USA and Afairs Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd, Kolkata.

In the pages following, we present a selective pictorial essay of the EWISRA 2025-26 conclave. For the full pictorial presentation of the three-day event (October 14-17) visit www.educationworld.in.