Except for the #1 rank which has been retained by the J.B. Petit High School for Girls, Mumbai, the Top 10 league table of India’s most admired girls day schools has undergone a major makeover.

There’s a major shake-up in the EW India Girls Day Schools Rankings 2017-18. Except for the #1 rank which has been retained by the J.B. Petit High School for Girls, Mumbai, the Top 10 league table of India’s most admired girls day schools has undergone a makeover.

Carmel Convent, Chandigarh has risen in public estimation to #2 (from #4 in 2016) as has the Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls’ Public School, Jodhpur to #3 (6). The ascent of these institutions has pushed La Martiniere for Girls, Kolkata to the #4 (2) position, a rank it shares with Maharani Gayatri Devi Girls’ Public School, Jaipur which has moved up from #7 last year. Loreto House, Middleton, Kolkata has retained its #5 rank even as Modern High School, Kolkata is tied at #6 (3) with Nasr Girls, Hyderabad (8). The Top 10 table is completed by St. Mary’s Pune, ranked #7, Sacred Heart Secondary, Chandigarh at #8, Villa Theresa High School, Mumbai at #9 and La Martiniere Girls College, Lucknow at #10.

Benaifer P. Kutar, principal of the vintage K-X J.B. Petit High School for Girls, Mumbai (JBP, estb.1860), is delighted that the “massive” sample respondents polled by C fore have reaffirmed JBP as India’s #1 girls day school and top-ranked it on the important parameters of academic reputation, faculty competence and leadership/management quality. “The #1 rank is encouraging validation of the efforts put in by the management and teachers over the past several decades to provide an enriching school experience to generations of girl students. Our students graduate as articulate, expressive and confident women, not afraid to voice their opinions, while respecting the sentiments of others and appreciating multiple perspectives and views. Last March we unveiled the ambitious ‘JB Building Excellence’ redevelopment project under which we plan to expand and modernise the campus and introduce the International Baccalaureate diploma programme. This will effectively complement the existing heritage building and benefit girl students for generations to come,” says Kutar, an alumna of SNDT University, Mumbai who signed up as teacher in 1995 and was appointed principal of the school in 2010. 

Neera Singh, principal of the Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls’ Public School (RKKGPS), Jodhpur, which has been advancing steadily up the girls day schools league table, is also elated by the school’s progression to the Top 3 this year. Promoted in 1992 by Maharaja Gaj Singh II of Marwar, this new-gen school which has 1,310 day scholars, is ranked #1 in Rajasthan (pop. 68 million) and also top-ranked in its category for infrastructure provision.

“As the school celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, the news of our promotion to #3 has energised the entire RKK fraternity comprising faculty, students and parents. I believe the major factors that have contributed to our rising reputation within the informed public are transparent and democratic functioning; our collaborative “we” culture; focus on integrated development and schooling for life; development of 21st century skills such as critical thinking, problem solving and decision making; continuous infrastructure upgradation and faculty development. Our #1 rank on infrastructure is especially heartening because the management has invested heavily in providing the best facilities including a state-of-the-art sports complex, performing and creative arts rooms, and modern labs for our girl students. Future expansion plans include a music studio, athletics tracks and a new pre-primary feeder school,” says Singh, an alumna of Rajasthan and SNDT universities with over 25 years teaching experience who was appointed principal of the school in 2008.

Aashrita Dass, principal of the vintage La Martiniere Girls College, Lucknow (LMGC, estb.1869), which has been consistently ranked among the country’s Top 10 girls day schools and #1 in Uttar Pradesh — the country’s most populous state (212 million) — is equally pleased with the school’s #1 UP ranking. “I accept this honour with humility and a deep sense of pride and thank our teachers, students and parents who have all worked hard to make this possible. We offer our girls a well-balanced education focusing on academics, sports, values education, outdoor learning and life skills development. The system of no textbooks until class V has created a stress free environment for our youngest children. We also provide our girls with the best infrastructure — we recently inaugurated a new 1,000-seats auditorium on campus. Our objective is to prepare our students to take on the challenges of life head on and emerge triumphant,” says Dass, an alumna of Isabella Thoburn College, Lucknow and Faizabad University who has been associated with LMGC for the past 27 years, first as student and then as a teacher. 

With many conservative households in India still preferring to send their girl children to all-girls schools for religious and cultural reasons, the league table of India’s most admired girls’ day schools is 86-strong (cf. 47 of boys day schools). Moreover, many of the all-girls schools ranked within the Top 50 have excellent reputations within their states and cities, and often outperform all-boys and co-educational schools in CBSE/CISCE board exams. For instance, DAV Girls Senior Secondary School, Mogappair, Chennai, ranked #18 nationally, is the #1 girls day school in Tamil Nadu (pop.67 million); the Convent of Jesus & Mary, Waverley, Dehradun, ranked #29, is #1 in Uttarakhand (pop.10 million), and Notre Dame Academy, ranked #38 all-India, is the #1 all-girls day school in Bihar (pop.112 million).

To view Girls Day Schools Rankings 2017, please visit: http://www.educationworld.in/rank-school/all-cities/day-school/girls/2017.html