Responding to pressing demand from the middle class for professionally delivered English-medium ECCE, a rising number of edupreneurs have stepped forward to promote model pre-primaries in the textiles city. Here are Ahmedabad’s top-ranked preschools 2017-18

In the western seaboard state of Gujarat which is currently witnessing high voltage campaigning by the Congress and BJP for the legislative assembly election scheduled between December 9-18, education reform is conspicuously missing from the election agenda of all political parties. Ill-advisedly, as the state — flaunted by former three-term chief minister and now prime minister Narendra Modi as the country’s most advanced model state — fares poorly in education and human development. According to the National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), Gujarat ranks #18 on its Education Development Index, way behind states such as Sikkim and Karnataka.

But instead of focusing attention on raising teaching-learning outcomes in the state’s government schools, successive governments in Gandhinagar have been preoccupied with interfering (‘regulating’) with the tuition fees of private schools. For instance on March 20, the BJP government enacted the Gujarat Self-financed Schools (Regulation of Fees) Act, 2017, under which all private schools including schools affiliated with CISCE, CBSE, international boards, are subject to government-prescribed tuition fee ceilings.

Fortunately, early childhood care and education (ECCE) — which according to a growing number of educationists worldwide, is more important than primary education — has escaped the attention of Gujarat’s regressive neta-babu brotherhood. Therefore, even if belatedly, responding to pressing demand from the middle class for professionally delivered English-medium ECCE, a rising number of edupreneurs have stepped forward to promote model pre-primaries — proprietary and franchised — in Ahmedabad (pop.8 million), the state’s business and commercial capital.

Proprietary/owned

The textile city’s 590 sample respondents comprising parents with preschool children and teachers/principals interviewed by C fore field researchers, have once again voted RedBricks Junior, Satellite (estb.2009) the city’s #1 proprietary preschool and top-rated it for teacher competence, infrastructure, individual attention to students, innovative teaching and parental involvement. Rising Kids, Bopal and Olive Green Kids School, Navarangpura have interchanged their 2016 ranks to be ranked #2 and #3 respectively this year while Vedant International School, Maninagar has retained its #4 rank with Little Wings Holistic Childhood Centre, Bopal, impressively debuting within the Top 5.

“I feel a sense of gratitude and vindication about Redbricks retaining its #1 rank. It hasn’t been an easy journey to establish a developmentally appropriate preschool in an environment where parents are obsessed about developing their children’s academic abilities from youngest age. This recognition from Ahmedabad’s informed public is an endorsement of our efforts to deliver enjoyable ECCE to our children. Our top ratings on teacher competence, innovative teaching and parental involvement is a result of our holistic approach to early years education,” says Renita Handa, an alumna of St. Xavier’s College, Ahmedabad and Bentley University, USA and promoter-director of Redbricks Junior, Satellite, which has an enrolment of 261 pupils and 32 teachers. 

Further down the ten-strong league table of Ahmedabad’s most admired proprietary preschools, Thumbelina Nursery & K.G. School, Naranpura, has slipped to #6 (4 in 2016) as has Square 1, Anand Nagar Road to #8 (6), Smart Kids, Maninagar to #8 (7) and Lakshya Preschool, Bodakdev, S.P. Ring Road to #9 (8) while 9Kids, Memnagar has debuted at #7.

Promoted in 2014 by the H.B. Kapadia Group which manages nine K-12 schools in Ahmedabad, 9Kids is the group’s first foray into early childhood education. “I attribute this recognition to our unique curriculum and learning spaces which promote hands-on learning. We have specially designed nine learning spaces and an integrated curriculum to deliver experiential learning. With a teacher-pupil ratio of 1:9, our teachers give every child individual attention to develop her intelligence and emotional quotient while simultaneously involving parents. Last year, 9Kids received an Award for Education Excellence at the Indo-American Education Summit 2016 and the Devang Mehta National Education Award for Innovation in Early Learning,” says Poonam Sedani, principal of 9 Kids Preschool, which has 370 children and 60 teachers on its muster rolls.

Franchised preschools

Dislodging EuroKids, Satellite (EK-S) as Ahmedabad’s #1 franchised pre-primary will take some doing. A franchisee of the Mumbai-based EuroKids International Pvt. Ltd which has over 900 franchised preschools countrywide, EK-S was ranked Ahmedabad’s #1 preschool in the composite preschools league tables of 2013-14. Subsequently in 2015 when the EW India Preschool Rankings were divided into proprietary and franchised categories, EK-S has been topping the franchised preschools league table with monotonous regularity. This year as well, the EW sample respondents have voted EK-S #1 overall and top-ranked it on the parameters of teacher competence, individual attention to students, leadership quality and innovative teaching. 

Beula Canara, promoter-director of EK-S (estb.2002) which currently has 340 children and 25 teachers on its muster rolls, is elated about the preschool being ranked #1 for the fifth consecutive year. “I am inspired by the recognition bestowed upon us by informed parents and teachers of this city. I have no hesitation in giving the credit for our consistent performance to the balanced curriculum and excellent teacher training support provided to us by EuroKids International. Recently, we were conferred the Star Performer Award in the EuroKids’ Euro Star contest. Above all, I’m delighted that we have been able to give our children a good start in life,” says Canara, a business management graduate of the Xavier Institute of Social Service, Ranchi with teaching experience in Ahmedabad’s Mount Carmel and St. Kabir schools.

The highlight of the EW Ahmedabad Preschool Rankings 2017-18 is that there’s minimal change in the franchised preschools league table. Following EK-S, the next ranks in this year’s league table have been retained by Kalorex Preschool, Maninagar (#2), Rangoli Preschool, Bopal (3), Shanti Juniors, Prahladnagar (4), EuroKids, Vastrapur (5) and Kalorex Preschool, Isanpur (6). Apple Kids, Vastrapur (7) and EuroKids (8) are the only exceptions with both pre-primaries yielding ground since 2016. Shanti’s Hopskotch, Thaltej (9) and Kalorex Preschool, Navarangpura (10) and The Tree House, Satellite (11) have also retained their 2016 ranks.

Another distinguishing feature of Ahmedabad’s franchised Top 10 league table is that unlike other metro city league tables which are dominated by franchisees of national ECCE chains such as EuroKids, Kangaroo Kids and Tree House, it is dominated by franchisees of local/indigenous preschool chains such as Kalorex, Shanti Juniors and Rangoli. For instance, the Ahmedabad-based Kalorex Group manages 21 owned and franchised preschools in Gujarat, Shanti Juniors 113 and Rangoli 65 preschools statewide.

Suman Mishra, promoter-director of Shanti Juniors (SJ), Prahladnagar, has mixed feelings about her preschool retaining its #4 rank. “Though it’s nice to know that we haven’t slipped in the rankings, we were expecting a higher ranking. We are a seven-year-old preschool and have been consistently working on improving ourselves and have introduced many innovations such as special activities to develop children’s presentation and communication skills. The curriculum provided by our head office is excellent and our teachers make special efforts to ensure the holistic development of children. This year, we were rated #1 in an internal audit conducted by Shanti Juniors among all its preschools nationwide. We hope that next year your respondents will take note of our efforts to offer high-quality early childhood care and education,” says Mishra, an MBA postgrad of Allahabad University who worked with Lyka Hetero Healthcare Ltd before signing up as a franchisee of Shanti Juniors in 2010. Currently, SJ, Prahladnagar has an enrolment of 280 students mentored by 30 staff.

The 16-strong league table of Ahmedabad’s best franchised preschools has witnessed the debut of three new pre-primaries — Kalorex, Nikol at #14, Rangoli Preschool, Bhuyangdev at #15 and EuroKids Gurukul, Memnagar at #16. 

Also read: Ahmedabad’s best preschools 2019-20