Despite the Covid-19 pandemic having forced closure of this greenfield enterprise within six months of admitting its first batch, this tech-savvy IB candidate school has got off to a good start because of excellent word-of-mouth publicity received from satisfied parents and students- Autar Nehru
Prometheus snapshot: good start in bad times
Despite the mint-fresh Prometheus School, Noida (PSN, estb.2019) having experienced early turbulence because of the Covid-19 pandemic, its promoter-trustee Mukesh Sharma believes this K-12 co-ed day school has got off to a good start. Because of widespread word-of-mouth publicity received from satisfied students and parents since it admitted its first batch of 30 students in September 2019, its enrolment for the academic year 2021-22 starting in July has risen to 196. Unfortunately, six months after the school admitted its first batch, the Central government ordered closure of all education institutions including preschools, schools, colleges and universities to check the spread of the virulent virus. Thus far, this co-ed day school has been providing online education to its K-12 students, although as we go to press, it has reopened for class X-XII students on an optional basis.
Mukesh Sharma
“The switch to online learning that this new greenfield school has experienced was quick and seamless because Prometheus was conceptualised and established from the start as a tech-savvy school to provide engaging learning experiences rooted in inquiry-based and experiential learning pedagogies. As soon as schools are permitted to reopen we will go full throttle to empower our students to bloom into technologically adept, intellectually equipped, caring young people capable of fulfilling their dreams and aspirations in academia, diverse professions, and business,” says Sharma.
An alumnus of BITS-Pilani and University of Colorado, Boulder, USA, Sharma began his career with DCM Data Systems followed by stints with IBM Corporation, Quark Inc, Gale Group and Adobe Systems. In 2003, he went solo with the promotion of QA Infotech Pvt. Ltd and since then has bootstrapped several companies including QAIT DevLabs, Perseverance IT Solutions, Affidabile Solutions and WeBuildLearning. In 2019, he decided to cross the line from being a “dissatisfied parent and IT entrepreneur to edupreneur,” and leverage his “digital acumen in education with passion to reimagine teaching and learning” to establish PSN.
Spread across a 7.5 acre campus in Noida’s green Jaypee Wishful Township, PSN is a candidate school for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years, Middle Years and Diploma programmes and is pursuing authorisation as a full continuum IB World School. It also offers students the option of Cambridge IGCSE and A levels in classes IX-XII. This co-ed day school’s ultra-modern four-storeyed main building houses ICT-enabled classrooms, STEM lab facilities, auditorium, studios for the performing and visual arts, separate junior and senior school libraries, a medical clinic and dining halls.
Sports facilities include a sports centre for indoor games including shooting range, squash, yoga, and table tennis, badminton and tennis courts, in addition to a horse riding academy, Olympic size swimming pool and open playground for field games such as soccer, cricket and athletics. The school’s campus also hosts a unique Prometheus Town. This theme park for primary school children features child sized replicas of real-life workplaces such as a grocery store, police station, restaurant, etc to enable role play. Moreover to fulfill its institutional objective of providing well-balanced holistic education the school management has made provision for numerous co-curricular options including dance, music, theatre, community service, Model United Nations (MUN), field trips and adventure camps.
“The distinguishing feature of Prometheus School is that our 50 teachers follow inquiry-based learning pedagogies to nurture students’ overall development through connected, personalised and meaningful learning experiences. All our learning spaces, sports and co-curricular education facilities also enhance experiential learning. For instance in the Prometheus Town, primary school children collaborate with peers to create knowledge through hands-on learning experiences,” says Sharma.
Looking ahead Sharma foresees a great leap forward of public — especially middle class — interest in high quality globally benchmarked K-12 education at relatively affordable price points. “The extended pandemic lockdown has generated great awareness about the value of blended online and in-class education of the type we offer in Prometheus School. By providing globally comparable IB education and enabling infrastructure for the all-round development of our students at affordable price, I believe Prometheus School has a very bright future and can prove to be a gamechanger in K-12 education. This is evidenced by the excellent response we have received from parents and students even in this disruptive pandemic era. In PSN, we are confident that we will not only meet the academic and extra-curricular education expectations of our students and parents, but exceed them,” says Sharma.
Admission & Fees
Prospective parents should apply/submit admission applications online www.prometheusschool.com. Admission is based on parent/child interaction.
Fees (per year): Rs.240,000-460,000 (breakfast and lunch included)
For further information, call 0120-5058031 or email [email protected]
Also read: Noida Co-ed Day School City Rankings 2020-21
