Yuvabharathi Public School, Coimbatore

Ranked Coimbatore’s #1 co-ed day school in the EducationWorld India School Rankings 2016-17, in the short span of 12 years YBPS (estb. 2005) has established an excellent nationwide reputation for delivering holistic education – Hemalatha Raghupathi

Sited on a 6.6-acre campus encircled by green forest in North Coimbatore’s suburb of Thudiyalur, the K-12 Yuvabharathi Public School (YBPS, estb. 2005) was in the news recently for inaugurating South India’s largest in-school multisport FIFA-approved synthetic Tiger (New Zealand) turf complex. The all-weather facility comprising football and cricket fields and a six-lane athletics track was inaugurated on June 21 by N. Jagadeesan, wicketkeeper-batsman of Tamil Nadu’s Ranji Trophy team. 

Within a short span of 12 years, the CBSE-affiliated YBPS has established an excellent reputation in the textiles city for delivering holistic education combining academic rigour, sports excellence, internationalism and an array of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.

In the EducationWorld India School Rankings 2016-17, YBPS is ranked among India’s Top 55 co-ed day schools and #1 in Coimbatore (pop. 1.6 million). Recently conferred the British Council’s International School Award 2015-18, the school has an enrolment of 1,946 students including 920 girls instructed by 154 teachers. 

Promoted by well-known educationist the late Dr. Bhuvana Anand under the aegis of the Bharat Educational Society (BES), YBPS is currently managed by her husband Anand Chinnasamy. Established in 1971 by Anand’s mother Jaya Chinnasamy, BES comprises three K-12 institutions including Bharathi Matriculation Higher Secondary School (estb. 1972), Bharathi Rehabilitation Centre for differently abled children (1990) and Jayam Foundation Matriculation Higher Secondary School (class VI-XII, estb.2014) — all in Coimbatore. 

“Our objective is to strike an optimal balance between academics, co-curricular and sports education to enable integrated development of children. Our teachers encourage students to develop their multiple talents and intelligences, and cultivate inquiring minds with critical thinking and analytical skills in a non-stressful, safe and joyful learning environment. At YBPS, we have successfully blended new-age pedagogies with awareness and appreciation of India’s rich culture and heritage, to nurture global leaders,” says Geetha Jayachandran, an alumna of Madras, Alagappa and Bharathiar universities who started her teaching career in 1999 in Tirupur before signing up with Bharathi Matriculation Higher Secondary School, in 2006. In 2009, she was appointed vice principal of YBPS and within six months promoted to principal. 

According to Jayachandran, the distinctive features of YBPS are its ICT-enabled pedagogies which are student-centred, project-work oriented, experiential and interactive, and its continuous emphasis on teacher training. This special attention to applications-based learning and teacher training has paid rich dividends with senior secondary students consistently faring well in the class XII board exams. In 2016-17, of the 49 students who wrote the class XII school-leaving CBSE exam, 37 averaged 85 percent-plus. 

To realise its institutional objective of delivering well-rounded education, YBPS offers a wide palette of extra-curricular activities including yoga, chess, art and craft, vocal and instrumental music, dance, theatre, robotics, and 11 club activities such as science, maths, cookery, needlework and photography. Moreover, students are encouraged to participate in community outreach programmes. A team of YBPS students was conferred the ‘ICan award’ of Design for Change (a global movement founded in 2009 by educator Kiran Bir Sethi) in 2013 for organising a blood donation campaign, and again in 2016 for delivering literacy classes to school bus drivers and conductors. Last November, 20 class X students participated in NITI Aayog’s Atal Innovation Mission Challenge and won Rs.20 lakh grant-in-aid for building an Atal Tinkering Laboratory in YBPS. 

The school’s experiential pedagogies and extensive co-curricular menu are enabled by state-of-the-art infrastructure. The wi-fi enabled campus hosts 61 classrooms fitted with smart boards and projectors; four well-equipped science, three computer, robotics and STEM labs; two spacious air-conditioned libraries stocked with 12,000 volumes and 35 periodicals; yoga hall; art, music and dance rooms and a 500-seats multipurpose auditorium.

However, the USP (unique selling proposition) of YBPS is the prominence given to sports training by the management which has mandated a compulsory hour of playtime every day. Sports facilities include volleyball, two basketball and three synthetic indoor badminton courts, all-weather synthetic football, cricket and hockey grounds, a 100 m roller skating rink, 25 m swimming pool, 300 sq.m paddocks for horse riding and gym. Mentored by 18 professional coaches, YBPS students have won accolades in several state and national tournaments. 

Another distinguishing feature of the school is promotion of biodiversity and green practices on its campus. YBPS students grow and maintain two organic and herbal gardens, and the unique 5.5-cent Miya Waki forest hosting 234 species of trees. Last year, class VIII students completed a study on biodiversity at the campus in collaboration with the Coimbatore-based Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, and compiled their findings in a book titled Walking Closer with Nature @ Yuva. 

With the school quickly establishing itself as Coimbatore’s most sought-after primary-secondary, the top management is now focused on infrastructure upgradation. “Expansion plans include an open-air 1,500-seats auditorium, a separate senior secondary block and full-fledged canteen. Beyond infrastructure, we are committed to continuously contemporising our pedagogies and teacher training, boosting sports participation and equipping students with 21 st-century skills,” adds Jayachandran.