An analysis of Hyderabad’s Top 20 league table suggests that awareness about the value of preschool education is mainly within the city’s thin upper crust residing in Banjara and Jubilee Hills, and Gachibowli
EuroKids, Banjara Hills has retained its pre-eminent top table position as Hyderabad’s most admired preschool in the second EducationWorld-C fore Survey of Preschools 2011. Sited in the upmarket Banjara Hills suburb of Hyderabad (pop.4.6 million) — epicentre of the long-festering Telangana agitation which has split the southern state of Andhra Pradesh (pop. 85 million) — EuroKids has been rated the city’s No. 1 preschool by a respondents sample comprising 208 SECA parents and 64 principals/teachers polled by the Delhi-based C fore. Moreover EuroKids, Banjara Hills (EKBH) has been ranked first on the critical parameters of teacher competence, infrastructure provision, leadership quality, parental involvement and value for money.
“I’m happy that EKBH has retained its No.1 rank as Hyderabad’s most preferred preschool. The credit should go to our teachers — many of whom have been with us since we admitted our first batch of pupils in 2006. We invest a lot of time in in-service training and workshops, and last year two of our teachers received special achievement awards from the EuroKids International management. Upgradation of infras-tructure and play facilities are a top priority as is encouraging parental participation in school activities. It’s gratifying to learn that the city’s informed public appreciates our efforts in these areas,” says Swathi Reddy, promoter-director of EKBH (annual tuition fees: Rs.35,000-38,000), which currently has 110 children instructed by 14 teachers on its muster rolls.
While EKBH has retained its top rank, down the table there’s been considerable churn with the entry of five newcomers in the Top 10 league. Among them: Globe Toters, Jubilee Hills (No.2); Esperanza, Gachibowli (3); Open Interactive Play School, Jubilee Hills (6); Kangaroo Kids, Madhapur (7) and Time Kids, Banjara Hills (9). The entry of these preschools — which have risen quickly in public esteem — into the Top 10 has pushed Bachpan, Banjara Hills from second position in 2010 to fourth spot in 2011; Kangaroo Kids, Banjara Hills from No.3 last year to 10 this year, while the iDiscoveri XSEED Preschool, Jubilee Hills has slipped from No.6 to 8. The only preschool in last year’s Top 10 which has improved its ranking is Blue Blocks, Gachibowli, vaulting from No.9 to No.5 this year.
Sharmila Reddy, promoter-director of Globe Toters, Jubilee Hills — the first franchised preschool of the Mumbai-based Yash Birla-promoted Birla Edutech Ltd which has recently ventured into the preschools sector — is jubilant about the school’s No.2 debut. “We admitted our first batch of 130 students only last June. Therefore it’s very satisfying that within this short time we have so favourably impacted the informed public. Our excellent start is thanks to the aid and advice we receive from the Birla Edutech team which provides continuous teacher training and curriculum development inputs. With Globe Toters now established, we have drawn plans to promote a franchised Birla Public School in Kollur which hopefully will admit its first batch of class I-VI students in 2012,” says Reddy.
The entry of new preschools such as Globe Toters, Esperanza and Time Kids into the Top 10 list in this fast-track peninsular city is an indicator of rising awareness about the importance of structured early childhood education. Yet an analysis of the Top 20 league table suggests this awareness is mainly within the city’s thin upper crust which resides in Banjara and Jubilee Hills (the preferred habitats of real estate tycoons, Tollywood movie stars, and politicians), and Gachibowli (IT hub and site of the showpiece Indian School of Business). Banjara Hills hosts five of the Top 20 preschools (EuroKids, Bachpan, Time Kids, Kangaroo Kids and I Play I Learn); Jubilee Hills four (Globe Toters, Open Interactive Play School, iDisc-overi XSEED, Kidzee) and Gachibowli boasts three Top 20 nurseries (Esper-anza, Blue Blocks, Kinder Kare).
Interestingly, franchisees of well-known national preschool chains dominate the Hyderabad league table, representing a significant reshaping of the preschool landscape, with professionally managed schools supplanting traditional homestead play schools. At No. 11 is Little Millennium (formerly Roots to Wings), Himayat-nagar, affiliated with the Delhi-based ICT market leader Educomp Solutions which has franchised 250 preschools across the country; No.14 is EuroKids, Madhapur; No. 15 Podar Jumbo Kids, Secunderabad; No.17 Bachpan Play School, Ameerpet while at No.19 is I Play I Learn, Banjara Hills, a franchisee of NAKS (estb.2009), a Mumbai-based company with 125 preschools across the country.
Hyderabad's best preschools league table userfiles/Hyderabad-table.pdf
Parameters of Excellence: Hyderabad's Top Preschools userfiles/Hyderabad-Parameters of Excellence.pdf