There’s been a dramatic reordering in the rankings of Bangalore’s preschools league table 2011. The pioneer Head Start Montessori has been vaulted from a lowly No.16 last year to the premier position
With the citizenry of the country’s IT (information technology) capital becoming more savvy about the requirements and purposes of early childhood education (ECE), there’s been a dramatic reordering in the rankings of Bangalore’s most admired preschools league table 2011.
The Head Start Montessori House of Children, Koramangala (estb.1984) — a pioneer ECE institution in the garden city — which was surprisingly ranked a lowly No. 16 last year has been vaulted to the premier position by an obviously better informed respondents sample comprising 302 SEC (socio-economic category) A parents and 73 teachers and principals. Likewise, the previously unranked First Steps, Cunningham Crescent Road is ranked second this year pushing Neev, Indiranagar — last year’s top-ranked preschool — to third position on the EducationWorld-C fore Bangalore’s most admired preschools league table this year.
“A year ago, there was little awareness within the young parents population and academic community about the vital role of ECE and preschool education. But after publication of the first ever league tables of the country’s best preschools by EducationWorld, and especially after EW organised the first ECE Global Conference in Mumbai in July last year, perceptions about preschool education have clearly improved within the SEC A young parents community in Bangalore, who constitute the sample respondents base. Therefore they have rightly acknowledged the pioneering role and operational experience of Head Start Montessori and First Steps, and have also factored in the relatively affordable tuition fees of these preschools compared with Neev, where fees are over Rs.10,000 per month,” explains Premchand Palety, chief executive of the Delhi-based Centre for Forecasting & Research Pvt. Ltd (estb.2000) and field research and opinion polling veteran, who also conducts school, college and B-school rating and ranking surveys for Hindustan Times, Mint, and Outlook, among other highly reputed news publications.
Certainly the 2011 league table of Bangalore’s most admired preschools sports a distinctively different look from last year’s. With the respondent public better informed about early childhood education, in addition to First Steps, several other ECE institutions, notably Cherry Tree, Vasanth Nagar; Vidya Sagar, RMV Layout; and Jackfruit House, Malleswaram are ranked among the Top 10 preschools of the garden city.
Further down the league table, several other hitherto unranked preschools notably Heritage Preschool, Malleswaram; XSEED Preschool, Sarjapur Road; Fun & Learn, R.T. Nagar and Petals Montessori, Marathahalli have debuted in the 2011 league table, indicating that high quality preschools have mushroomed in almost all suburbs of greater Bangalore which is spread over 741 sq. km. This is a welcome development because it reduces the commuting time of tiny tots in this increasingly traffic-choked metropolis.
With ten preschools having debuted in the 2011 league table of Bangalore’s 20 most admired preschools and some low-profile institutions being eliminated, nevertheless there is continuity. For instance although Neev, Indiranagar — promoted in 2005 by Harvard Business School alumna Kavita Gupta — has been dislodged from its pre-eminent position, two Neev preschools are ranked among the Top 10 with the new Neev, Whitefield (estb. 2006) weighing in at No. 11. Currently the number of Neev preschools, reputed for innovative curriculums, parental involvement, excellent infrastructure, play equipment and safety and hygiene, has risen to four with an aggregate enrolment of 450 children, setting excellent benchmarks for other preschools to emulate in this city with a large population of upwardly mobile young parents engaged in the new age IT, bio-tech and related industries.
Other preschools which have lost rank in this year’s league table include the once-upon-a-time amalgamated Gaia and Kara4 Kids, falling from No. 3 and 4 in 2010 to No. 9 and 10 this year, although both schools are highly ranked on the parameters of individual attention to students, leadership and parental involvement, with Gaia ranked second for safety and hygiene, and Kara4 Kids ranked fourth for play equipment.
Be that as it may, within the safe and hygienic three-storey premises of Head Start Montessori sited in a leafy enclave of the upscale central suburb of Koramangala and equipped with enviable infrastructure including thoroughly contemporary play equip-ment, there is evident satisfaction that the 2011 EW-C fore survey of Banga-lore’s most admired preschools has righted a “self-evident mistake” in last year’s league tables.
“Last year’s low rank accorded to Head Start was demoralising for our teachers and parents, given that we are a 28-year preschool which has pioneered Montessori education in Bangalore and perhaps South India. While ‘rankings’ can never show the soul and heart of an institution, this year’s survey has appreciated our appr-oach and given us credit for reaching out to children. We are also happy that Head Start has been evaluated and accredited by the Montessori Evalu-ation and Accreditation Board, UK. Therefore it’s cause for double celebration in Head Start,” says Riad Mahmood, managing trustee of the Head Start Educational Trust (constit-uted by founder-trustee Samina Mahmood in 1984) which promoted the Head Start Montessori House of Children (tuition fees: Rs.50,000 per year). Currently, Head Start has 640 infants aged between three-six with a student-teacher ratio of 15:1.
Surprise and delight are predominant sentiments in First Steps Nursery (estb.1984) which provides toddlers nursery, lower and upper kindergarten learning programmes to 200 infants aged between 22 months to five years in two shifts. Housed within a sprawling compound, this preschool comprises three floors housing six classrooms, a 200-volume library, a 1,500 sq. ft playing field and a roof-top swimming pool supervised by 16 highly qualified teachers. “This is definitely a moment of celebration for us in First Steps Nursery. That our contribution to the nurturing and development of children in their early years is being acknow-ledged by the citizens of Bangalore is really satisfying,” says Nandini Rao, who signed up as teacher with First Steps Nursery in its initial years in 1987, and was appointed principal in 2000. “We accord great importance to children becoming acquainted with nature, the performing arts and crafts in their early years. We believe a broad-based, informal and joyous early childhood education is very necessary for children to develop creativity and thinking skills,” she adds.
Indira Basapa, founder and promoter who has invested “heavily” in developing First Steps’ state-of-the-art infrastructure, is particularly pleased that the school is top ranked on this parameter. “We have also been highly ranked for teacher competence, curriculum innovation and safety and hygiene which are our priority focus areas,” says Basapa, who adds that a sister preschool has commenced operations with an enrolment of 43 children in Yelahanka, a hitherto distant suburb currently experiencing rapid growth, because of its proximity to the new Bangalore International Airport.
Bangalore's best preschools league table userfiles/Bangalore-league-table-pgs.pdf
Parameters of Excellence: Bangalore's Top Preschools userfiles/Bangalore-Parameters of Excellence.pdf