Vidya Devi Jindal School, Hisar (Haryana)

Promoted in 1984, the philosophy of Vidya Devi Jindal School, Hisar is to develop the potential of every student to become a beacon of social renewal and empowerment

Sprawled over 47 green acres on the outskirts of Hisar (pop. 1.7 million), an industrial hub of the thriving state of Haryana (carved out of Punjab in 1966), Vidya Devi Jindal School (VDJS) is a CBSE affiliated residential school for girls. Promoted in 1984 with the objective of educating the girl child and empowering women, VDJS is an initiative of steel magnate the late Om Prakash Jindal (1930-2005).

Over the past two decades this class IV-XII girls school, which is a member of the National Progressive Schools Conference, Indian Public Schools Conference and is affiliated with the British Council, Round Square (USA) and the United Nations Women‚ Empowerment movement, has built itself a global reputation. Currently the 700 students enrolled at VDJS include girls from Nepal, Bhutan, Indonesia, USA, Australia, and Canada.

The philosophy of the school is to develop the potential of every student so that she becomes a beacon of social renewal and empowerment. “At VDJS a girl grows from being an individual into an institution who is the anchor of other institutions such as family, the economy and society. Here she learns to be of service and yet not be subservient. She learns to articulate her own needs and aspirations while fulfilling those of others. VDJS is a futuristic gurukul. A child learns to be rooted in tradition while developing an international outlook. Living in VDJS is preparing for life outside it,” says Gunmeet Bindra, the recently appointed principal of VDJS. An alumna of Calcutta and Punjab universities and the Delhi School of Economics, Bindra is the former founder principal of two Delhi Public Schools.

Adds the school’s administrator Lt. Col A.K. Suri (retd.): “The distinguishing feature of VDJS is its unique blend of Indian ethos and culture with contem-porary teaching-learning pedagogies. Living with nature, respecting the environment, conserving energy and limited resources is second nature to our staff and students. Sharing a common boundary wall with Hisar Cantonment, VDJS is a safe residential school where girl children can grow into confident and well-balanced young women.”

The school’s immaculate 47 acre campus includes a 38-classroom academic block, a utility block housing the learning resource centre, art gallery, sculpture lab, various science laboratories, dance, music and e-learning rooms, fashion studies, home science, and desktop computer labs, a 15,000-volume library, a large auditorium, health club, dining hall with a seating capacity of 1,000 students, 18 bed hos-pital, outdoor swimming pool, and four well-equipped hostels. A computer lab equipped with state-of-the-art laptops was inaugurated earlier this year.

On the cusp of its silver jubilee year, VDJS has established extensive international linkages during the past two eventful decades. One of the five schools worldwide conferred the International School Award by the British Council in 2004, VDJS is an enthusiastic participant of the IAYP programme (International Award for Young People, earlier known as Duke of Edinburgh Award). The school has a vibrant five-year-old student and staff exchange partnership with the Lancaster Girls Grammar School, UK. As one of only ten schools in South east-Asia which are members of the prestigious Gordonstoun-based Round Square International Services, VDJS has recently added student exchanges with Bishops College School, Canada; Standstead College, Canada; Stanford Lake College, South Africa and Millenium School, Dubai.

In common with all internationally benchmarked schools, VDJS has invested liberally in developing the school’s sports and co-curricular activities infrastructure. The sports complex offers a 400 metre athletics track, hockey ground and basketball, volleyball and tennis courts, outdoor swimming pool and skating rink. Unsurprisingly the school’ hockey XI has won the IPSC Championship trophy for six years consecutively. Hockey, basketball, tennis, badminton, volleyball, athletics, throwball, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo and roller skating are an integral part of the school calendar. Adventure sports programmes such as trekking, rock climbing, rappelling, and water sports rowing, river rafting and parasailing are also arranged by the school every year.

Although VDJS is “too young an institution” to boast distinguished alumnae, the school’s management expresses satisfaction that its ex students are proving themselves in a range of traditional and new-age careers including medicine and engineering, interior design, jewellery/textile design, media, IT, banking, judiciary, state civil services, police, visual and the performing arts. “It’s only a matter of time before they reach the top of their chosen vocations,” says Suri confidently.

Looking ahead, the VDJS management has drawn up ambitious plans to expand the activities of the school and transform it into a centre for social and education excellence on women’s empowerment issues. As the school steps into its silver jubilee year in 2009, it sees itself as a model institution nurturing responsible women citizens who can play a vital role as enlightened leaders of modern India. “We are conscious that new challenges and horizons lie ahead. But the vision and continuous inspiration of our chairperson, Deepika Jindal, drives us to tap deep reservoirs of strength, resources and potential,” says Gunmeet Bindra.

Quite clearly sited within an environment in which the male-female ratio is rapidly declining and women are not given the social respect they deserve, VDJS seems all set to right this iniquity.

Autar Nehru (Delhi)

Also read: OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana