Even though gender-segregated schools are steadily going out of fashion, competition within the category of boys day schools for best seats at top table is intense. Dislodged last year, Campion School, Mumbai has reclaimed its pre-eminent position With gender-segregated schools rapidly becoming obsolete, the number of all-boys day schools ranked in the annual EWISR has been declining over the years. In the latest EW India Boys Day Schools Rankings 2021-22, only 53 all-boys schools are sufficiently high profile (schools assessed by less than 25 sample respondents are not ranked) to be included in this league table. Within this shrinking minority of all-boys day schools, Campion School, Fort, Mumbai, ranked #1 for seven consecutive years (2013- 2019) and #2 in 2020-21, has reclaimed its pre-eminent position. This year’s 11,548 sample respondents — parents, principals, teachers and senior students — interviewed by the Delhi-based Centre for Forecasting & Research (C fore), have restored Campion School (estb.1943) to its premier position by a huge margin, awarding this 78-year-old school top scores on seven of 14 parameters of K-12 education excellence including faculty competence, teacher welfare and development, co-curricular education, online education effectiveness, curriculum and pedagogy and value for money. “The year 2020-21 was very difficult for the entire world. And Campion too faced new challenges and hurdles, and lost its #1 rank. But since then, we have equipped the school for the future by promptly switching to online learning. In the process, we have ensured that our children have not suffered any loss of academic, co-curricular, sports and life skills education during the pandemic. Our class X ICSE results for 2020-21 are excellent and our boys won many online inter-school co-curricular competitions. Now as we prepare to reopen secondary school, we are fully equipped to implement our new hybrid teaching model for students unable to attend in-person classes,” says Fr. (Dr.) Francis Swamy, an alumnus of Mumbai University and former principal of Holy Family High School & Junior College, Mumbai and St. Mary’s, Mazgaon, was appointed principal of Campion in 2020. Indeed this year’s seating at top table has been majorly rejigged. St. Mary’s School, Mazgaon, Mumbai has inched up to #2 (#3 in 2020-21) jointly with St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, Kolkata (4) even as St. John’s High School, Chandigarh has slipped to #3 (1). St. Joseph’s Boys High School, Bengaluru at #4 (5) and The Bishops School, Camp, Pune at #5 (3) constitute the Top 5. Further down the Top 10 table, La Martiniere for Boys, Kolkata #6 (5) and Bishop Cotton Boys, Bengaluru (6) are jointly ranked #7 with Birla High School, Moira Street, Kolkata (8) have yielded rank even as La Martiniere Boys College, Lucknow #8 has improved its last year’s ranking (11). Calcutta Boys School (8) is ranked #9 jointly with Don Bosco High School, Matunga, Mumbai (10) and St. Columba’s School, Delhi (12) jointly ranked #10 with DAV Boys Senior Secondary School, Mogappair, Chennai (9) complete the Top 10 table. Fr. Bernard Fernandes, principal of Don Bosco High…
