I am delighted to note that the annual EducationWorld India School Rankings has gone global with the introduction of the EW Global School Rankings 2019-20 (EW September). This will enable parents in our neighbour countries to also make well-informed school choices.

Bindu Narang
Bangalore

Ranking review request
We are shocked to learn that Candor International School is ranked #7 in Bangalore and Karnataka (last year’s rank was #6) in the latest EducationWorld India School Rankings 2019-20. In fact, over the past 12-18 months, our school has improved by leaps and bounds, achieving many milestones in academics, co-curricular and sports education, and faculty achievements.

We humbly request the awarding committee to review and reconsider our rankings as we strongly believe that we deserve to be ranked among the Top 3 international schools of Bangalore.

Ajit Narayan
Principal, Candor International School, Bangalore

There is no awarding committee. Please study rankings methodology (p.42) — Editor

Reassessment plea
We are delighted that Shri Guru Gobind Singh Convent School has been voted #1 in Fatehabad city by EducationWorld for the past two years. Given our latest initiatives and achievements, we believe our school deserves to be top-ranked in the state of Haryana.

Towards this end, we request the ranking agency to re-assess our school and the quality education it has delivered over the past 16 years.

MD HS Sanghera
Sh. Guru Gobind Singh Convent School, Chimmo, Fatehabad

Legal notice
In the EW India School Rankings 2019-20 league tables (EW September), we were appalled and disappointed to find Cygnus World School ranked #12 in Vadodara (lowest in the city), #55 in Gujarat state and #345 all-India in the co-ed day schools category.

We have not provided any information to you, nor has your magazine approached us for any information. Therefore, we would like to understand on what basis these ranks have been awarded to us. It is a very serious matter for us and if not addressed, we will be obliged to take legal action.

Kanchan Joshi
Principal, Cygnus World School, Vadodara

Please study rankings methodology (p.42) — Editor

Baseless rankings
I am writing to express my dissatisfaction with the ranking of DPS Visakhapatnam Steel Plant in the EW India School Rankings 2019-20 (EW September). The three schools of Visakhapatnam ranked above us are far below in all parameters of EW assessment. Our board exam results are best in the district and the state.

Moreover, ours is the only school in the city with 95 percent staff being paid Seventh Pay Commission salaries and other service benefits.

Our school is 28 years old and is sited on a 13-acre campus in the RINL township, a public sector unit, and our students win most of the local championships and have the highest rate of admission in IITs/medical and other professional courses. In the circumstances, please refrain from publishing baseless rankings.

SK Pandey
Principal, DPS Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, Visakhapatnam

The EW India School Rankings Survey 2019-20 is based on the perceptions of 12,213 knowledgeable sample respondents who rated India’s Top 1,000 schools on 14 parameters of school education excellence. See p.39 & 42 of EW September — Editor

Doubtful validity
We are grateful to the EW team and survey respondents for ranking Spring Dale Senior School the #1 school of Amritsar. However, on closer scrutiny of the city league table, we found another school is also ranked #1 in Amritsar. Though we are happy to acknowledge emerging schools with good practices, the scores don’t appear to be based on a ground-level survey.

A school which has thus far not sent a single batch of class X students to the boards cannot be at the same level of a school with a long history of academic achievement. Ditto in co-curricular and inclusive practices. This has raised doubts in our minds about the validity of your survey. Therefore, we invite you to visit our school and conduct a fair survey. This is important to ensure that our stakeholders continue to have faith in your rankings.

Rajiv Kumar Sharma
Principal, Spring Dale Senior School, Amritsar

Academic reputation is only one of the 14 parameters on which schools are rated and ranked — Editor

Erroneous category
Gurukul Kurukshetra, a 107-year-old fully residential all-boys school with 1,500 students living in hostels sited on 40 acres of school estate and 180 acres of farmland, has been ranked in the EducationWorld survey for the past three years. This institution was adjudged #1 in Haryana in the boys’ boarding schools category in 2017-18 and 2018-19.

However this year, Gurukul Kurukshetra is ranked #1 in Haryana and Kurukshetra in the category of boys’ day schools. Please correct this error.

Col Arun Datta
Director, Gurukul Kurukshetra
Haryana

We regret the misclassification. We have corrected it on our website — Editor

Personal meeting request
I am amazed to find schools with lower board exam averages being ranked higher than Bal Bharati Public School (BBPS), Dwarka in the co-ed day schools category in EWISR 2019-20. BBPS, Dwarka is ranked #8 on the parameter of academic reputation despite hosting the maximum number of NTSE/JSTSE scholars. It is therefore surprising that a school which is head and shoulders above its contemporaries is ranked lower than its peers. I would request a personal meeting with you to understand the rankings criteria so that the school is fairly represented in public perception.

Suruchi Gandhi
Principal, Bal Bharati Public School, Dwarka, New Delhi

The annual EW India School Rankings Survey 2019-20 is based on the perceptions of 12,213 knowledgeable sample respondents who rated India’s Top 1,000 schools on 14 parameters of school education excellence including academic reputation, teacher competence, sports education, life skills, etc. Academic reputation is only one of the 14 parameters and board exam results are of marginal importance in our rankings methodology — Editor

Corrigenda
• In the EW Special Needs Schools Rankings 2019-20 league tables (EW, September), the name Sunderji’s Early Intervention Centre, Pune (#7) is incorrect. It’s Sunderji’s Institute of Special School, Pune.
• In the EW Budget Private Schools Rankings 2019-20 league tables, R.N. Shah International School, Vile Parle, Mumbai, has been inadvertently ranked #10 instead of the M.P. Shah English High School, Vile Parle, Mumbai. The corrected table is printed below.
The errors are regretted — Editor