Although in the new millennium the majority of greenfield primary-secondary schools tend to be co-ed, there is no shortage of children applying for admission into the country’s all-girls boarding schools offering thoroughly contemporary all-round education. Here are India’s best girls boarding schools 2020-21 Worldwide, and 21st century India is no exception, gender segregated primary-secondary schools are becoming rare. However, in conservative societies where the women’s emancipation movement is yet in its nascent stages, all-girls boarding schools serve a useful social purpose. They offer pathways to girl children to access high-quality education that enables holistic development. India’s legacy girls boarding schools, some of them of more than a century’s vintage, not only provide good academic education, but also excellent infrastructure and institutional encouragement for the development of co-curricular (music, drama, theatre) and sports education in safe and secure environments. Given India’s numerous castes, creeds and social circles that don’t favour co-education, the appeal of all-girls schools, especially boarding schools is enduring. Even in developed OECD countries, there’s some re-thinking on the merits of single sex education which enables girl children to flower in free and conducive environments. Although in the new millennium the overwhelming majority of greenfield primary-secondary schools tend to be co-ed, there is no shortage of children applying for admission into the country’s all-girls boarding schools offering thoroughly contemporary all-round education to prepare them for higher education and leadership positions in government, industry and business. Therefore, ab initio since the pioneer annual EducationWorld India School Rankings league tables were introduced in 2007, your editors have accorded equal, if not higher, importance to all-girls day and boarding schools by rating and ranking them inter se on the same parameters as all-boys and co-ed schools. An indicator of the abiding popularity of all-girls boarding schools in 21st century India is that their number has continued to multiply. Progressive, capital intensive greenfield girls boarding schools continue to mushroom, giving older, vintage institutions in this category stiff competition. Therefore seating arrangements at the Top 10 table of the country’s girls boarding schools are changing every year. This year Scindia Kanya Vidyalya, Gwalior (SKV, estb.1956) which was runner-up in the two years past, and was last ranked #1 in 2017-18, has regained its premier rank in the girls boarding category with top scores under the parameters of teacher welfare & development, teacher competence, sports education, individual attention to students, leadership and value for money. This year’s sample respondents have ranked SKV above Mayo Girls, Ajmer top-ranked in 2019-20. In the latest EWISR 2020-21, Mayo Girls is jointly ranked #2 with Welham Girls, Dehradun (#4 in 2019-20) which has been given a huge promotion. The remaining places at the Top 5 table have been awarded to Unison World School, Dehradun and Ecole Globale International tied at #3 as they were last year; Mussoorie International #4 (5) and Hopetown Girls, Dehradun #5. It’s noteworthy that four Dehradun-based girls boarding schools are among the Top 5 in 2020-21. “Receipt of news that SKV has regained its top…
India’s best girls boarding schools 2020-21
EducationWorld December 2020 | Cover Story