This year the newly promoted (2003) Indus International, Bangalore and Dhirubhai Ambani International, Mumbai have ended the four-year duopoly of the vintage Woodstock, Mussoorie and Kodaikanal International. Summiya Yasmeen reports In sharp contrast with the largely undisturbed Top 10 pecking order of British-inspired legacy boarding schools, in the league table of India’s most admired new genre international schools, the old order has changed. This year Indus International School, Bangalore (estb. 2003) and Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai (estb.2003) have ended the four-year duopoly of the vintage Woodstock School, Mussoorie (estb.1854) and Kodaikanal International School (KIS, estb. 1901), to be ranked India’s most respected international schools. Since the EW India School Rankings were introduced in 2007, Woodstock and KIS have alternated as the country’s top two international schools. For the annual EW-C fore surveys, international schools are defined as institutions which offer the syllabuses and curriculums of foreign examination boards such as IBO, Geneva; CIE and Edexcel, UK and The College Board, USA from at least middle school (class VIII) onward. Moreover, with a large number of international schools also offering students the option of writing national exams (CISCE or CBSE), only primary-secondaries with more than 30 percent of students enroled in the international programme are classified as international. “That’s why even though more than 200 schools countrywide classify themselves as international, we have rated and ranked only 40 of them where over 30 percent of the student body is committed to writing the examinations of offshore boards,” explains Premchand Palety, chief executive of C fore. Accredited by the Geneva-based International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) and UK-based Cambridge International Examinations (CIE), Indus International School, Bangalore (IIS), which was co-ranked second last year, is top-ranked this year with an aggregate score of 1294. IIS, which hosts 1,100 students mentored by 130 teachers, is also ranked first on a record five parameters of educational excellence including teacher welfare and development, co-curricular education, individual attention to students, leadership/management quality, and community service. “It’s a special achievement and honour for IIS-Bangalore to be rated by the public as India’s No. 1 international school, above institutions established a century before us. I attribute our top ranking to several factors including the vision and leadership of the top management, high-quality faculty, excellent year-round teacher training, a unique leadership curriculum which begins in kindergarten, and emphasis on whole education with academics and co-curricular and sports education allotted equal attention. Our first rank on the parameter of parental involvement can be ascribed to the open, transparent and participatory relationship we share with parents, who as part of a Parents Advisory Committee provide the school continuous feedback,” says Sarojini Rao, principal of IIS. IIS-Bangalore has additional reason to celebrate. Its two affiliated schools in Hyderabad and Pune — promoted in 2007 and 2008 respectively by the parent Indus Trust — are also ranked among the top 15 international schools count-rywide. IIS-Hyderabad is ranked No. 11 and IIS-Pune 13. “The rise of Indus International schools in Hyderabad and Pune, promoted less than four years ago, to the Top 15 is very…
