Please refer to our email sent to C fore dated July 15 in which we clearly disagreed with the format of the EW India School Rankings 2016 survey and conveyed our refusal to participate in it. We have serious objections that in spite of our refusal, you have printed the name of DPS, Faridabad in the EWISR 2016 league tables (EW September). Using the name of DPS, Faridabad on your part is unethical and illegal as you did not have the required authorisation from us.

We request you to delete DPS, Faridabad from your list of schools with immediate effect irrespective of our ranking, and also to ensure that the school’s name is not used while announcements are being made in your awards ceremony held on September 23. We appreciate your cooperation. However, if our school’s name is used in your publication or during the awards ceremony, we will be forced to pursue legal action.

Anil Kumar
Principal, DPS, Faridabad

We believe Article 19 (1) (a) of the Constitution empowers us to fairly and objectively rate and rank education institutions of our choice in the public interest — Editor

Not acceptable

In the EducationWorld India School Rankings 2016 under the co-ed day schools category, Delhi Public School (DPS) Indore has been ranked #3 in Indore and #4 in Madhya Pradesh whereas in 2015, it was ranked #2 in the city and state respectively (EW September). It is a real surprise that the Choithram School, North Campus, with lesser infrastructure facilities and unclaimed merit positions and results is rated higher — #2 in Indore and Madhya Pradesh as well.

We regret to inform you that this is not acceptable to us as DPS, Indore meets all your prescribed parameters. For instance on the parameter of teacher welfare and development, our teachers are paid as per Sixth Pay Commission scales with all perks and perquisites and provided continuous training by the HRD Centre, Dwarka of the DPS Society. Academically, we have recorded excellent results with our class XII students averaging 84.8 percent in the CBSE board exam and 41 students scoring 90 percent-plus.

In light of the above, we request you to kindly revise the ranking and assessment parameters.

Sudarshan Sonar
Principal, DPS, Indore

All schools in the league tables are rated and ranked according to the perceptions of an independent, informed sample of respondents. Please see page 42 (EW September) for our rankings methodology — Editor

Philanthropic initiative

Re the EducationWorld India School Rankings 2016, VidyaGyan, a philanthropic venture of the Shiv Nadar Foundation, is ranked #2 in Uttar Pradesh and #1 in Bulandshahr in the category of co-ed boarding schools. The school has also been ranked #1 for ‘value for money’.

The #1 ranking for ‘value for money’ is incorrect and misleading given the philanthropic nature of the institution. Please note that VidyaGyan is a leadership academy aimed at nurturing meritorious, underprivileged rural students of Uttar Pradesh. The academy provides free-of-charge education to its students and also takes care of their nutrition and other personal needs.

We want to reiterate that VidyaGyan is a philanthropic initiative and the ‘value for money’ award misrepresents our construct.

Sadaf Khan
Shiv Nadar Foundation, Noida

Unwarranted doctorate

On page 198 of your September issue (‘India’s top-ranked girls’ day schools’), I note that I have been awarded an honorary Ph D degree by your magazine!

This is not the first time this has happened and I am beginning to think it’s because my name begins with a ‘D’, or perhaps because I have been in the education field for so long that people think I must have earned a doctorate by now!

Devi Kar
Director, Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata

Inspiring awards function

I must compliment you for the meticulous planning and execution of the EW India School Rankings Awards 2016 staged at the Leela Ambience, Gurgaon on September 23-24. This is the third year in a row that I have attended this annual education event.

I especially enjoyed interacting with my peers and it has inspired me to work towards establishing Jodhamal Public School among the Top 10 schools of India. Meanwhile, I wish greater success to the EducationWorld India School Rankings.

Trilok Singh Bisht
Principal, Jodhamal Public School
Jammu

Incorrect address

The address of Maharaja Agrasen Model School has been printed incorrectly as Ashok Vihar on page nos. 52, 86 and 146 in the September issue of EducationWorld. Please note the school is located in Pitampura, Delhi. We request you to rectify the error.

Pratibha Kohli
Principal, Maharaja Agrasen Model School, Pitampura, Delhi

We regret the error — Editor

Inspirational initiative

The whole BSF School family extends its heartiest gratitude to EducationWorld for conferring upon us the #1 rank in Jammu & Kashmir in the category of day-cum-boarding schools in the EW India School Rankings 2016 conducted by C fore, the well-known Delhi-based market research agency. We are honoured that our efforts have been recognised and we will strive to maintain this position in the coming years.

Congratulations also to EducationWorld for taking the initiative to rate and rank over 1,000 of India’s most high-profile schools across 14 parameters of education excellence.

Dr. S.K. Shukla
Principal, BSF Senior Secondary School, Jammu

Process query

We appreciate that EducationWorld/C fore conducted a comprehensive survey involving parents, teachers, principals and educationists who rated schools across several attributes (EW September). While the process involved is clearly explained in the magazine, the process of data collection and compilation is not explained. We would like to understand how you differentiate the survey results for a school with an enrolment of 5,000 students and another school with a mere 100 students? How do you arrive at the results without requesting schools to participate in the survey?

Please let us know how many parents and teachers were involved in ranking our school. What was the basis of choosing the sample? We have not filled the fact sheet for the past two years. We don’t really understand how C fore can know facts that are otherwise known to the school alone.

Sanjay Punjabi
Lancers International School
Gurgaon

All schools in the league tables are rated and ranked according to the perceptions of an independent, informed sample of 10,000-plus respondents. Please see page 42 (EW September) for the rankings methodology — Editor

Illogical academic rankings

I would like to voice my discontent about the article titled ‘India’s Top 100 CBSE/CISCE 90 percent-plus schools’ published in the August issue of EducationWorld.

The ranking for CBSE schools given on page 44 is illogical on the following grounds. The number of students with 90 percent-plus average varies depending upon the batch size of the school. Some schools have 1,279 students whereas others have 119 students writing the class XII exam. Hence, ranking them on the basis of the number of students who have scored 90 percent-plus is incorrect.

Instead you should have ranked schools according to the percentage of students scoring 90 percent plus. For example in your survey, a school which has 129 of 175 students averaging 90 percent plus is ranked #35 whereas it should have been ranked #1 as they have a whopping 73.7 percent children scoring 90 percent plus. By the same logic, it’s shocking to see a school with only 16.7 percent children with 90 percent-plus average ranked #8.

We would appreciate your rankings being conducted in a fair manner because they have an impact on public opinion. I hope this feedback is taken in a positive manner and necessary changes are made to the rankings system.

Sunita Nagpal
Principal, DPS, Sushant Lok
Gurgaon

The objective of these rankings is to acknowledge and celebrate schools which have successfully met the challenge of training large numbers of 90-plus percenters. Hence CBSE/CISCE schools have been ranked on the basis of number of students with 90 percent-plus average rather than percentage of 90-plus percent students in the class XII board exam. Please read p. 36 of our August issue for a full explanation — Editor

Shocking omission

We are shocked at the omission of Aryan International School, Varanasi from the list of extraordinary performers in ‘India’s Top 100 CBSE/CISCE 90 percent-plus schools’ (EW August). It’s really distressing to note that schools with a lesser percentage of students averaging 90 percent-plus have been included, while our name has been left out from this list. This is a serious mistake as it adversely impacts our brand in society. Our school is unparalleled in academic achievement in the entire zone. We believe your magazine should be printing authenticated data.

I hereby request you to include our name prominently in the next issue, after rectifying your mistake, and that readers of this magazine be informed about this mistake.

Dr. Anil Richharia
Academic Advisor, Aryan International School, Varanasi

See reply to previous letter — Editor