A civic representative sample comprising 460 SEC A preschool parents, principals and teachers have voted the previously unranked Indus Early Learning Centre, Jubilee Hills the city’s most admired preschool generating shock waves

The southern city of Hyderabad (pop 6.8 million), whose accelerating emergence as a premier academic and IT (information technology) hub has been slowed by the prolonged Telangana statehood agitation and political instability, has experienced a shock wave in the EducationWorld India Preschool Rankings this year.

Eighteen months after it admitted its first batch of 30 children in the age group two-five years, the Indus Early Learning Centre, Jubilee Hills (IELC) has been voted the city’s most admired preschool by a civic representative sample comprising 460 SEC A preschool parents and principals/teachers polled by the Delhi-based C fore. Promoted by the Bangalore-based Indus Trust, which owns and manages the premier Indus International School (IIS) in Bangalore (ranked India’s No. 1 international school in the Education-World India School Rankings 2012) and affiliated IIS class I-XII schools in Hyderabad and Pune, IELC has been ranked first on the parameters of teacher competence, infrastructure provision, innovative teaching, and leadership quality.

“We are delighted that the parent and teacher communities of Hyderabad have ranked IELC No. 1 in Hyderabad so soon after the school’s promotion. It’s an acknowledgement of the tremendous effort put in by the management and teachers to get this school off to a great start by setting international benchmarks for provision of early childhood education. The unique feature of IELC is the special attention we pay to leadership training from the infant years. Our specially prepared curriculum for pre-primary children focuses on developing the inherent communication skills, reflection, and community service aptitudes of children through joyful experiential learning,” says Nuwaira Pasha, an alumna of Bangalore University with a Qualified Teacher Status diploma in primary education from Surrey, UK, who heads IELC, Jubilee Hills as well as the primary school of Indus International, Hyderabad. Currently, 15 teachers mentor 60 students who pay stiff tuition fees ranging between Rs.98,000-1.5 lakh per year.

With IELC parachuting into the premier position on top table, there’s been a major rearrangement of the 2011 league table. EuroKids, Banjara Hills has been dislodged to be ranked No. 3 while Globe Toters, Jubilee Hills has retained its No. 2 slot which it now shares with Kangaroo Kids, Banjara Hills which has risen in public esteem to vault to No. 2 this year (10 in 2011). The Top 5 is completed by Blue Blocks ranked No. 4 (5) and Kinder Kare which has been promoted to No. 5 (13) in the 2012 league table. Both these preschools are sited in the fast developing elite suburb of Gachibowli — the hub of top-notch IT companies including Microsoft, Accenture and Wipro, as well as home to the premier Indian School of Business.

“Last year’s No. 13 rank was disappointing and inaccurate given that Kinder Kare is Hyderabad’s pioneer new era preschool offering excellent daycare facilities as well as world-class preschool education on a 10,000 sq. ft contemporary campus. We have a waiting list of over four months and are also the only preschool in Hyderabad to offer a unique refund policy under which any parent who wants to withdraw her child is refunded the balance fee within 24 hours. I’m happy our pioneering work in providing internationally bench-marked early childhood education has been acknowledged with a Top 5 ranking this year,” says Radhika Reddy, principal of Kinder Kare, Gachibowli (estb. 2006). Currently Kinder Kare (tuition fee: Rs.30,000-50,000 per year) has 230 students mentored by 46 teachers on its muster rolls.

Further down the Top 10 table, Open Interactive Play School, Jubilee Hills (OIPS), promoted by People Combine Educational Initiatives Pvt. Ltd which runs the Oakridge chain of five international schools in Hyderabad, Mohali, Visakhapatnam and Bangalore, has retained its No. 6 rank with T.I.M.E.  Kids, Banjara Hills at No. 7 (9) and the previously unranked Glendale Edufun, Banjara Hills at No. 8 having risen sharply in public esteem. On the other hand while Esperanza, Gachibowli and Bachpan, Sagar Society, Banjara Hills have yielded considerable ground, they have retained their top table status weighing in at No. 9 and 10 respectively.

“Over the past two years, OIPS has quickly acquired a good reputation for providing excellent early childhood education. This reputation has rubbed off on our just five-month-old OIPS, Gachibowli which has made it into the city’s top 20 preschools in record time. OIPS is distinguished by its carefully designed age-appropriate curriculums and well-qualified and trained teachers. It’s only a matter of time before this is more widely appreciated,” says Radhika Rao, a postgraduate of Osmania University, Hyderabad and head of academics of the two OI playschools.

The latter half of the Hyderabad Top 20 league table shows the entry of a crop of new previously unranked preschools indicating that an increasing number of edupreneurs are stepping forward to meet the rising demand for high-quality preschool education particularly in the upmarket suburbs of Banjara Hills, Jubilee Hills and Gachibowli. Among the debutants in the Hyderabad Top 20 table 2012 are Polka Dots, Jubilee Hills at No. 11, Prime Years, Banjara Hills (14), Little Einsteins, Kondapur (15), OIPS, Gachibowli (16), Bachpan, Road No. 12, Banjara Hills (17), EuroKids, Secunderabad (19) and Kidzee, Manikonda (20).

To read Hyderabad’s best preschools league table click userfiles/Hyderabad-Master.pdf

To read Parameters of Excellence: Hyderabad’s Top Preschools click userfiles/Hyderabad-Parameters.pdf