Pune’s long tradition of academic scholarship has prompted its citizens to readily embrace early childhood care and education. Over the past decade in particular, a substantial number of private preschools have mushroomed citywide. Here are Pune’s top preschools for the year 2016. The second most important industrial hub of Maharashtra — India’s most industrialised state accounting for 13 percent of the manufacturing output of India — Pune (pop. 3.1 million) is also the academic and cultural epicentre of the state, hosting several new-age industries as well as top-ranked institutions of higher education, including Fergusson College (estb.1885), College of Engineering (1854), the Film & Television Institute of India, apart from the Pune and Symbiosis universities. The city’s public and private institutions of higher education attract large numbers of students from India and abroad. Pune’s long tradition of academic scholarship has prompted its citizens to readily embrace early childhood care and education (ECCE). Over the past decade in particular, a substantial number of private preschools have mushroomed to cater to rising demand from upwardly mobile IT and new-age industry professionals for high-quality ECCE. In the EW Pune Preschool Rankings 2016, 573 parents with preschool children, teachers and principals were interviewed by C fore field researchers. They have crowned Leapbridge International, Kalyani Nagar and Primrose Nursery, Koregaon Park, jointly the city’s #1 proprietary preschools and EuroKids, Kalyani Nagar the #1 franchised pre-primary. Owned/Proprietary preschools Ranked #1 in the composite league table of 2013-14 and again in the segregated owned/proprietary category in 2015, this year Leapbridge International, Kalyani Nagar (estb.2009) is obliged to share the top rank with the Primrose Nursery, Koregaon Park (estb.1984) which has been steadily rising in public esteem (#3 in 2014 and #2 in 2015). The Indus Early Learning Centre, also located in the city’s tony Koregaon Park, which was ranked #1 in the pre-primaries of composite schools category last year (this category has been discontinued this year), has slipped to #2 while Vivero International, Kalyani Nagar and Leapbridge International, Aundh have retained their #3 and #4 rankings. Debuting at #5 is the second Indus Early Learning Centre, Bhosale Nagar in Pune. Both these pre-primaries are promoted by the Indus Trust which has also established the upscale IB-affiliated Indus International schools in Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad. Prriety Gosalia, chief executive of the Leapbridge International Group of six preschools in Pune and one in Mumbai (Leapbridge, Sion is ranked #3 in the Mumbai proprietary league table) with an aggregate enrolment of 525 students, is delighted that two Leapbridge pre-primaries are ranked among Pune’s Top 5. “We are absolutely thrilled with our #1 ranking in this competitive category. There is growing awareness within Pune that Leapbridge preschools offer pupils joyful learning environments which are safe and hygienic and are run by qualified and well-trained teachers. The top ranking for parental involvement, value for money and safety and hygiene is validation of our focus areas,” says Gosalia, a child psychology, education management, and multiple intelligences alumna of Bombay University, and the Multiple Intelligences…
