Kangaroo Kids, Bandra has been rated and ranked the national commercial capital’s No.1 pre-school in the inaugural EducationWorld- C fore Survey of India’s Most Preferred Pre-schools 2010
Africa-born, Australia-educated Lina Ashar’s courage and commitment to the cause of pre-school education — hitherto the preserve of middle class housewives running day care centres disguised as pre-schools in gardens, garages and residential premises — has paid off spectacularly. Since she promoted Kangaroo Kids Education Ltd (KKEL) and the very first Kangaroo Kids pre-school in the upscale Mumbai suburb of Bandra in 1993, the company has expanded into a transnational chain with over 80 schools, including 12 K-12 institutions in 17 cities across India, two in Dubai and one in the Republic of the Maldives.
Over the same period, Kangaroo Kids, Bandra, which began with an enrolment of 25 children in a 600 sq. ft flat 17 years ago, has transformed into a model pre-school spread over seven classrooms dispensing early childhood education to 60 children aged between 1.6-six years. And fittingly, Kangaroo Kids, Bandra (tuition fees: Rs.3,300-4,160 per month) has been rated and ranked the national commercial capital’s No.1 pre-school in the inaugural EducationWorld- C fore Survey of India’s Most Preferred Pre-schools 2010.
“It’s been a long journey and there were times when KKEL’s intent, pedagogy and credibility were ques-tioned and criticised. Therefore the external validation provided by the EW-C fore pre-schools survey based on customer and expert evaluation is great encouragement for my team, which has put in sustained hard work in challen-ging environments. I am particularly gratified that on the vital parameters of teacher competence, infrastructure provision, individualised attention to students, parental involvement and innovative teaching, our pioneer Kangaroo Kids, Bandra has been voted the best in Mumbai. It shows that we have set new benchmarks in early childhood education,” says Ashar, an education graduate of the Victoria College, Melbourne who migrated to India in 1993 to promote the KKEL and Billabong school chains under the owned and franchised models. According to Ashar, the novelty of KKEL/Billabong education initiatives is the 127-strong Brainworks research and development unit whose innovative pedagogies and output she is ready, willing and able to share with government and municipal schools to improve and upgrade them in the national interest.
Traditionally open and receptive to new ideas and influences in education, Mumbai (pop. 14 million) is relatively well-endowed with early childhood education (ECE) institutions with several vintage nurseries serving as prep schools for entry into the city’s most prestigious primary-secondaries such as Cathedral & John Connon, Campion and Bombay Scottish. Thus while Kangaroo Kids, Bandra was promoted relatively recently in 1993, West Wind, Breach Candy (ranked No. 4 in the EW-C fore survey) was established in 1947, Casa Bambino (3) in 1966 and Sophia Nursery, Breach Candy (6) in 1971. Mumbai’s relatively westernised upper middle class has long been aware of the importance of foundational pre-school education and the city’s top 20 pre-schools have long waiting lists and admission queues despite prescribing stiff tuition fees ranging from Rs.2,000-12,000 per month. Within the commercial capital’s elite, it’s well-known that admission into the best primary-secondaries is almost impo-ssible without prior entry into the city’s top-ranked ECE schools.
“Although West Wind is one of Mumbai’s oldest and most respected nursery schools, I’m not surprised that we aren’t ranked among the first three because we prefer to maintain a low profile and never advertise. Most of our students are children of alumni or siblings. Therefore it’s a pleasant surprise that parents and teachers in Mumbai have ranked West Wind among the city’s top five pre-schools. I attribute this accolade to my excellent and devoted teachers who pay a lot of individual attention to our children,” says Roshan Curmally who took charge as principal of West Wind (tuition fee: Rs.3,000 per month), which currently hosts 65 children in the age group two-six, way back in 1948.
Parents fortunate to get their children into Mumbai’s top-ranked pre-schools which according to a young parent is a “super-human task, even more difficult than admission into the best primary schools because the annual intake is very small”, are more than satisfied that ECE standards are excellent and improving all the time. “Since they are not subject to government inter-ference, the managements of the top-ranked pre-schools tend to be very open-minded and receptive to best practices from the West where there’s heavy research in ECE,” says Kanchan Kundanmal whose son Krish (3.5) is a student of the Sunflower Nursery, Walkeshwar, ranked 8 in this EW-C fore survey.
Adds Ooravis Pathanki whose son Zahan graduated from West Wind and is currently a class I student of the Cathedral & John Connon School, and whose daughter Ariyaane is enroled in this vintage pre-school: “A professionally-run, proven pre-school is vitally important as it builds the foundation for children’s future intellectual development.”
Mumbai's best pre-schools league table userfiles/Mumbai league table.pdf
Parameters of excellence: Mumbai's Top Pre-schools userfiles/Parameters tables-Mumbai.pdf