To meet the demand for high-quality early childhood education from Gurgaon’s growing pool of professionals employed in the manufacturing, IT/ITES among other industries, new-age pre-primaries have proliferated in this satellite city

Since 1981 when Maruti Suzuki Ltd, India’s #1 automobile company established its first manufacturing unit in Gurgaon (pop.876,900), this satellite city of Delhi — sited in Haryana but included in the Delhi National Capital Region — has not only attracted industry and business investment in a big way but also edupreneurs who have established several globally benchmarked K-12 schools (GD Goenka, Pathways, Scottish High) and universities (Ashoka, O.P. Jindal). Inevitably, to meet the demand for high-quality early childhood education which prepares children for success in school and higher education from Gurgaon’s growing pool of professionals employed in the manufacturing, IT/ITES among other industries, new-age pre-primaries have proliferated in this satellite city.

This year’s league table rating and ranking Gurgaon’s most-reputed preschools is encouraging with the number of sufficiently well-known ranked pre-primaries having almost doubled from 15 in 2015 to 29 in 2018. C fore field researchers interviewed 563 parents and 67 preschool principals of this steel-n-glass city to rank 29 pre-primaries inter se in two categories — owned/proprietary and franchised

Owned/proprietary preschools

Pallavan, Sohna Road/DLF Phase I (estb.2001), promoted by Arun Kapur, the celebrated director of Delhi’s top-ranked Vasant Valley School, has firmly established itself as the millennium city’s most admired pre-primary. It has been voted Gurgaon’s #1 proprietary pre-primary for the seventh consecutive year. However, this year Pallavan is obliged to share top ranking with Amiown, Sector 27 — promoted by the Amity group — ranked #2 in 2017 and #1 in 2016. They are followed by iDiscoveri XSEED Preschool, Sector 46 at #2 which has retained its last year’s ranking.

Storming into the Top 5 are several debutants: Anand Preschool, DLF Phase I at #3, Little Pearls, Cyber City ranked #4 jointly with Shalom Hills Preschool, Sushant Lok and The Shri Ram Early Years, Aravali Junior Campus #5.

Renu Kaul, director of the Pallavan schools in Sohna Road and DLF Phase I, is “deeply satisfied” that this two-unit school has retained its apex ranking with top scores under the parameters of teacher competence and development, leadership quality, value for money, and infrastructure provision. “We are very happy to have lived up to the expectations of your informed sample respondents. At Pallavan, we are constantly striving to better ourselves to ensure that our children get the best they deserve in the short time that they are with us. However, although we are delighted with our top scores for teacher competence and development, I believe our distinguishing feature is our simplicity and values-based education philosophy which puts children at the centre of teaching-learning. We love and enjoy our children and let them grow and learn naturally in a care-free environment,” says Kaul, an alumna of Delhi and Toronto universities with 13 years of experience in Vasant Valley and Springdales schools prior to being appointed director of Pallavan in 2001.

Likewise Sapna Chauhan, an alumna of the Wharton School of Business and chairperson of Amiown — Amity’s Caring Preschools (two of which are ranked among the Top 4 in Delhi and Noida), is elated that the 13-year-old Amiown, Sector 27 has regained its #1 Gurgaon ranking with top scores for innovative teaching, parental involvement, safety and hygiene and special needs education. “We are thankful to EducationWorld and your informed respondents for acknowledging our efforts to create excellence in preschool education. In Amiown preschools, our highly qualified teachers work tirelessly for the holistic development of every child in our care, bearing in mind their individual competencies and personalities. Our top ranking under the parameter of special needs education is also gratifying. All Amiown teachers have undergone a six-month training programme in ‘understanding and managing learning difficulties’ conducted by the Amity Centre for Educational Research and Training,” says Chauhan, who adds that the Amity Group is all set to launch Amiown Kahaani Publishing — a children’s book imprint.

Devicka Arora, an alumna of Delhi University and principal of the Anand Preschool, DLF Phase 1 (estb.2007), who has a grievance that this 11-year-old preschool hasn’t been ranked all these years, is grateful that it has debuted at #3 this year. “We are a low-profile school which has been quietly doing excellent work during the past 11 years. It’s time parents and educators in this city acknowledged our contribution to early childhood education. Therefore, we are pleased and thankful that although belatedly, we have been given due recognition. In particular our #2 ranking under the parameter of individual attention to students and teacher competence is proof that we have well-trained teachers who work diligently for the holistic development of our children,” says Arora.

Further down the 22-strong league table of Gurgaon’s proprietary pre-primaries, there is a revamp of the pecking order. Among preschools that have ceded ground are Pathways Early Years, Sector 49 #7 (4), Medhaam Preschool, South City-1 #8 (4), Salwan Montessori, Sector 5 #13 (7), Intellitots Early Learning Centre, Sector 28 #14 (8), Klay Prepschool and Day Care, Sector 49 #15 (8), Modern Montessori, DLF, Phase 1 #16 (10), Maple Bear, Ansal Plaza, Palam Vihar #17 (12), and Ryan Global Montessori, Sector 40 #19 (15). Meanwhile, GD Goenka La Petite, Sohna Road #9 (11) and Pumpkin House, Sushant Lok #11 (13) have improved their ranking this year.

Franchised preschools

As in 2017-18, only seven franchised pre-primaries in Gurgaon are sufficiently well-known to be ranked in the 2018-19 EW Gurgaon Franchised Preschool Rankings (pre-primaries rated by less than 30 respondents are not included in the league tables).

This year, Gurgaon’s 630 sample respondents have again voted The Shri Ram Wonder Years, Sector 54, (TSWY, estb.2016), the city’s #1 franchised preschool. TSWY is followed by Kidzee, DLF 1 which has retained its 2017-18 #2 ranking with Little Millennium, Sector 14 moving up the table to #3 (4). Completing the league table are three Mother’s Pride preschools ranked #4 (3), #5 and #7 (6) and EuroKids, Palam Vihar #6 (4)

Deepali Karnwal, chief executive of the two-year-old TSWY, Sector 54 — a franchisee of the Delhi-based Shriram Educare Pvt. Ltd and affiliated with the highly respected Shri Ram group of K-12 schools — is overjoyed with this pre-primary’s top scores on all ten parameters of ECCE excellence. “We extend our deepest gratitude to EducationWorld and your sample respondents for awarding us top scores on all ten parameters. This recognition has enthused our teachers who have resolved to adopt and adapt best global practices in ECCE. I am especially delighted that we are ranked #1 for teacher competence and development because our teachers are our greatest assets and play a major role in constantly improving and updating the curriculum. Our latest focus is on designing skills development workbooks based on multiple intelligences and improving engagement with our parents,” says Karnwal, an English alumna of Chandigarh University with certification in early childhood education awarded by Shriram Educare.

Similarly, Sarika Bharani, a commerce and business management graduate of Delhi University and IMT, Ghaziabad and co-promoter and principal of Little Millennium, Sector 14 is grateful for her preschool’s promotion to #3. “I wish to express gratitude to my dedicated teachers and parents for their continuous support. This recognition will motivate us to work towards achieving the #1 rank next year,” says Bharani. Adds co-promoter and director Bhavana Ahluwalia, an alumna of Delhi University: “We pride ourselves on being the happiest preschool in Delhi/NCR where children play-learn in a joyful and safe environment.”