This year 52 proprietary and franchised preschools including 13 previously unranked pre-primaries were rated and ranked by 620 parents (with preschool children), teachers and principals in Hyderabad. Here are Hyderabad’s most preferred preschools 2016-17.

Ranked India’s #1 state (jointly with neighbouring Andhra Pradesh) on the Ease of Doing Business Index 2016 of the World Bank, Telangana and in particular its capital city Hyderabad, are fast emerging as hubs of IT, biotech and other sunrise industries. Consequently, growing demand from upwardly-mobile new-age industry professionals for professionally administered early childhood care and education (ECCE) and internationally-benchmarked primary-secondary education has led to the establishment of a host of new age K-12 schools as well as pre-primaries. This year 52 proprietary and franchised preschools including 13 previously unranked primaries were rated and ranked by 620 parents (with preschool children), teachers and principals in Hyderabad.

Proprietary preschools

Except at the top where CHIREC, Jubilee Hills has once again been voted Hyderabad’s #1 owned/proprietary preschool, there has been a shake-up in the 2016 league table. Oi (Open Interactive) Playschool, Jubilee Hills has inched up from #3 in 2015 to share the #2 rank with Indus Early Learning Centre, Jubilee Hills (ranked #1 in 2015 in the pre-primaries of composite schools category, which has been discontinued this year). The discontinuation of this category has also adversely impacted Kinder Kare, Gachibowli which has slipped to #3 (#1 in the proprietary category in 2015) while Indus International Junior School, Gachibowli has retained its #4 rank even as First Innings, Banjara Hills has slid to #5 from #2 last year.

Ratna Reddy, the celebrated promoter-director of CHIREC, Jubilee Hills (estb.1989) which has 222 students and 17 teachers on its muster rolls, is elated with the pre-primary’s overall #1 rank and top ranking on the parameters of teacher welfare and development and leadership quality. Moreover, its affiliate CHIREC, Gachibowli has debuted at #10 in the 2016 league table.

“Almost 28 years ago, we pioneered the concept of holistic ECCE which has since become popular in Hyderabad. Our consistently top rank is due to general acknowledgement that we have maintained and improved the quality of our ECCE programme through constant innovation, latest pedagogies and technologies. I am most pleased with our #1 ranking on teacher welfare and development because teachers are pivotal to achieving quality and excellence,” says Reddy who has a postgrad degree in child development from the University of Hyderabad and a Masters in ECCE from Iowa University, USA. Reddy is also promoter of two K-12 schools in Hyderabad — CHIREC Public and CHIREC International (both ranked among the Top 10 day schools countrywide in the EW India School Rankings 2016).

Likewise Naveen D’Souza, the Hyderabad-based business head of People Combine Playschool Initiatives Ltd which has five owned and 42 franchised Oi Playschools in Hyderabad and Bangalore, is pleased that its flagship company-owned Oi Playschool, Jubilee Hills has improved its overall ranking and is ranked #1 on the parameter of safety and hygiene. “It’s an honour that we are ranked #2 by a credible publication such as EducationWorld. We are one of few preschool chains in the country to have designed a Standard Operating Procedure and designated a dedicated team to ensure its implementation across all Oi centres. Our experiential child-centric curriculum and the attention we pay to children’s safety has evidently impacted public opinion positively. However, our biggest strength is our well-trained teachers who implement our ECCE programme with dedication and passion,” says D’Souza. 

Beyond the high end of the Top 10 table, there are many changes with several pre-primaries losing ground and four debuting in the 21-strong league table of Hyderabad’s most admired proprietary preschools. Among those who have lost ground are Blue Blocks, Gachibowli (#2 to #6), Polka Dots, Jubilee Hills (3 to 9), Kindercrest, Nallagandla (7 to 14), Strawberry Fields, West Marredpally (5 to 15) and Esperanza, Banjara Hills (6 to 16). NASR School’s two pre-primary branches — Jubilee Hills and Somajiguda — have debuted at an impressive #7 and #12 respectively followed by WeCare, Gachibowli (13).

Franchised preschools

Dislodging Kangaroo Kids, Banjara Hills (KK-BH) from its #1 position in Hyderabad will take some doing. Ranked #1 in the composite league tables of 2014 and #1 in last year’s segregated franchised category, KK-BH has once again been voted Hyderabad’s #1 franchised pre-primary followed by Globe Toters, Jubilee Hills which has retained its #2 rank for the third successive year. But further down table the Top 10 table, 620 informed sample respondents polled in Hyderabad have voted for change, promoting several pre-primaries to the Top 5. EuroKids, Banjara Hills has moved up from #5 in 2015 to #3 this year while Globe Toters, Gachibowli has leapfrogged from #10 to #4 and Bachpan, Sagar Society, Banjara Hills, from #7 to #5, is tied with Iris Florets, West Marredpally which has improved its ranking from #8 last year.

A franchisee of the Mumbai-based Kangaroo Kids Education Ltd, which has over 100 pre-primaries and K-12 schools in India and abroad, KK-BH (estb. 2004) has been voted #1 by a huge margin with top ratings on nine of ten parameters of ECCE excellence. “We are elated that KK-BH is ranked #1 for a third year in a row, it’s an endorsement of our systems and practices. I attribute this achievement to our committed teachers who provide enjoyable learning experiences to our children. The top scores awarded to us on the parameters of teacher competence, parental involvement, individual attention to students and innovative teaching are indicators that we are on the right track,” says Chandrika Chalasami, an alumna of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi and the University of Texas, Austin and promoter-principal of KK-BH, which offers a green well-equipped 1-acre campus to its 370 children aged 18 months to six years mentored by 50 teachers. 

Bindu Gaddipatti, centre director of Globe Toters, Gachibowli (etsb.2012), which has made a spectacular leap from #10 in 2015 to #4 this year, is also elated with the high ranking awarded to this four-year-old pre-primary. “We are overjoyed but not surprised by our improved ranking. Our team of teachers and support staff have worked hard to build a happy, safe and stimulating environment for every child whose talents are appreciated and developed. Our guiding philosophy is that every child is a winner. A non-competitive and enjoyable learning environment is what differentiates us from other preschools,” says Gaddipatti. A franchisee of the Mumbai-based Globe Toters, promoted by Birla Edutech Ltd, this pre-primary has 250 students instructed by 30 teachers.

Beyond the Top 5, the 21-strong league table of Hyderabad’s most admired franchised preschools comprises a mix of franchisees of national and local chains. The Hyderabad-based People Combine Playschool Initiatives Ltd has five of its franchisees in the Top 20 — Oi, Banjara Hills (6), Oi, Gachibowli (9), Oi, Vivekananda Nagar (13), Oi, Nizampet and Oi, KPHB (16) — while the Delhi-based Bachpan Playschool has seven of its franchisees in the Top 20.

Also read: Hyderabad’s premier preschools 2017-18