Indus Valley World School, Kolkata

During the past 13 years since it admitted its first batch of 150 students, IVWS has steadily improved its reputation and is currently ranked #14 in Kolkata in the co-ed day schools category in the EW India School Rankings 2020-21 – Baishali Mukherjee

Sited on a 1.4-acre campus in Kolkata (pop.14 million), Indus Valley World School (IVWS, estb.2008) is a CBSE-affiliated co-ed day school highly reputed in the City of Joy for providing high-quality K-12 education to its 1,930 students including 805 girl children, mentored by 140 teachers. During the past 13 years since it admitted its first batch of 150 students, it has steadily improved its reputation for delivery of progressive holistic education. In the latest EducationWorld India School Rankings 2020-21, IVWS is ranked #117 nationally and #14 in Kolkata in the co-ed day schools category.

IVWS was promoted in 2008 by Sailesh Khaitan, chairman and managing director of the Khaitan chemicals and fertilizers group of companies which had earlier promoted the Bhagwati Devi Memorial International School (estb.1966) ranked #15 in Kolkata among co-ed day schools to provide globally benchmarked primary-secondary education. In 2019-20, IVWS was ranked for the first time by 12,213 EducationWorld sample respondents and awarded an India ranking of #250.

Since then, this school has risen steadily in public esteem. Managing trustee Shankar Lal Gupta attributes this to the school’s emphasis on “sound values-based education on the foundations of humanitarianism and integrity and our focus on making students future-ready for careers of the 21st century”.

“In IVWS, we nurture lifelong learners in a joyful environment that encourages students to develop their personalities and multiple intelligences. We also accord high importance to technology-aided learning to enable our students to meet the challenges of the 21st century. We ensure they grow up in a culturally diverse environment that fosters mutual respect and broadens their horizons to become global citizens,” says Amita Prasad, director of IVWS. An alumna of Lady Brabourne College, Kolkata and Jadavpur University, Prasad started her career in 1985 with the highly reputed Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata, and acquired rich teaching and admin experience in Loreto House, Middleton and The Heritage School, Kolkata, prior to being appointed director of IVWS in January 2019.

Constructed by reputed Kolkata based firm Kothari & Associates, the IVWS management has provided students with a 14-acre campus hosting 609 plants within vertical gardens, 60 varieties of trees and 341 potted plants. With a built-up area of 5,662 sq. ft, its two academic wings house 109 fully-wired classrooms fitted with Smartboards, air-conditioned physics, chemistry, biology, computer, geography, home science, psychology, and mathematics laboratories. Moreover, the school’s four libraries house 22,000 learning resources including books, journals, CDs, DVDs and 88 magazine subscriptions.

“Moreover, IVWS’ 140 teachers are highly qualified and well-trained to deliver a mix of traditional and experiential pedagogies to boost children’s learning outcomes,” says Prasad. In 2020, 61 of the 109 students who wrote the CBSE class X exam, and 20 of the 96 who wrote the class XII board exam averaged over 90 percent.

In keeping with the promoters’ mandate to provide students well-rounded education, participation in sports and games and co-curricular activities is compulsory. Facilities are provided for playing cricket, basketball, football, billiards, swimming, lawn tennis, badminton, squash, karate and chess. Co-curricular education facilities include music and dance, and yoga halls with students encouraged to become active members of any of the 21 student clubs for gardening, debate, quiz, mime, choir singing, theatre, nature, pottery, culinary, photography, film making & videography. In 2020, the school was certified as a ‘Fit India School’ by the Union ministry of youth affairs and sports. Following directives of the Central and state governments, on-campus education has been under lockdown for 16 months. However, online education of all students was initiated in April 2020 and has continued since. Apart from using audio-visual aids such as PowerPoint presentations and educational videos from YouTube, IVWS teachers are employing innovative tools such as JamBoard, White Board, Padlet, AWW App, Chat Bot, WACOM, Microsoft Make Code Editor, Kahoot Quizzes, Bamboo Paper App, Loopy & Google Lenses, and Kami to ensure teaching-learning continuity.

With the restart of in-school education still uncertain, the IVWS management and faculty have developed robust hybrid teaching-learning capabilities. “Our teachers are regularly trained to use new digital technologies through capacity building workshops. Moreover, we have budgeted remedial classes for children who fall behind. We believe our hybrid teaching-learning system which is being continuously upgraded, will develop creativity, communication, collaboration, critical thinking and problem-solving skills of our students, and prepare them for 21st century higher education and workplaces,” says Prasad.