India’s first ISO 9001 certified school, this institution has come a long way since it was promoted in 1980 and has many landmark achievements to its credit From modest beginnings in 1980 in a private home to India’s first ISO 9001 certified school, Modern School, Lucknow has come a long way. The globally recognised quality certification, awarded to the school in 1997, is one of the many landmark achieve-ments of this Kg-class XII CISCE affiliated school which is also the sole Indian member of The Koalaty Kid programme to Education and Training, a quality improvement programme developed by the American Society of Quality, an organisation committed to creating better workplaces and communities. Moreover in 2003 this 24-year-old co-educational school received a certificate of commendation from the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) for the excellent quality systems it has established. “Our emphasis in Modern School is on achieving, maintaining and enhancing qualities which students and the community value. It could be proficiency in computers or the English language, or developing personality traits like confidence and courtesy,” explains Rakesh Kapoor, an alumnus of Delhi and Lucknow universities and founder chairman of Modern School. He has developed the Kapoor Quality Education System (KQES) with inputs from renowned seer Patanjali’s Yogasutra and quality systems pioneer W. Edward Deming’s Total Quality Management (TQM) theory. According to Kapoor, the principles of KQES require formulation of systems which encourage questioning, research, discovery, team learning and academic rigour to motivate students to excel and persuade school managements to develop new pedagogies. Kapoor’s homegrown KQES is the driving force behind Modern School’s dogged insistence on quality. The school’s mission statement is “to impart quality education that achieves learning without cramming, excellence without distress, nurtures relationships of unconditional love and esteem and inculcates discipline without fear”. “Insistence on quality in education and practice of KQES in particular has enabled Modern School to set academic standards and develop a unique identity which is an amalgam of best Indian and western practices. Thus while morning assemblies feature readings from the sacred texts and Vipassana, our students also successfully compete in global scientific competitions. This emphasis on holistic education has made all the difference to Modern School,” says Shakuntala Jaisinghani, principal of Modern School and formerly principal of the B.R. Birla Public School, Jodhpur. Spread over four acres in central Lucknow, Modern School has an enrollment of 1,468 male and female students and 50 teachers. Affiliated to the Delhi-based Council for Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), teaching at the 24-year-old school is activity and project based. “Our teaching methods are based on analysis and application. We believe that whatever a student learns in school should be applicable in the world outside. Information accumulation is important for passing board exams but learning is vital to the very process of living. Thus our commerce students try their hand at devising advertising campaigns and science students prepare projects on space tourism,” adds Jaisinghani. With pan India examination boards (CISCE, CBSE) incrementally even if belatedly testing students…
