SBOA School & Junior College, Chennai was ranked among the Top 40 (#36) co-ed day schools all-India and #6 in Tamil Nadu and Chennai in the EW India School Rankings 2014

Sited on a 6.2 acre campus in Chennai’s bustling suburb of Annanagar, the CBSE-affiliated SBOA School and Junior College (SBOASJC) has acquired a good reputation for academic excellence and all-round development of children over the 35 years since it was promoted in 1979 by the State Bank of India Officers’ Association (SBIOA) under the aegis of SBIOA Educational Trust. The common objective of the association and trust is to safeguard the schooling of children of SBI officers who are subject to inter-city transfers. SBOASJC is the first of seven similar schools located in Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Five of them are affiliated with the Tamil Nadu State Board of Secondary Education and two with the Delhi-based CBSE.

Although initially promoted for the education of SBI officers’ children, today the K-12 school admits children from the general public and has grown in strength from 282 students and 13 teachers in 1979 to 9,929 students instructed by 354 teachers currently. To cater to the huge demand for admissions, every class is divided into 17 sections (A-Q). Last September, SBOASJC was ranked among the Top 40 (#36) co-ed day schools all-India and #6 in Tamil Nadu and Chennai in the EducationWorld India School Rankings 2014.

We focus on the holistic development of our children. Academics is a priority but we give equal importance to co-curricular and sports activities and are proud of the achievements of our students who compete at the national level  in table tennis, taekwondo, hockey, skating and athletics tournaments and in quiz, painting, dance and other competitions. Students are encouraged to develop their co-curricular and extra-curricular life skills and we provide support in the form of special coaching to hone their talents and skills, says P.C. Selvarani, an alumna of Annamalai, Madurai Kamaraj and Bharathidasan universities who joined SBOASJC in 1980 as a teacher and was appointed principal in 2009.

Committed to providing a broad-based education for its massive students cohort, according to the school’s correspondent (spokesperson) D. Thomas Franco Rajendra Dev, the management has integrated pressing socio-economic issues into the curriculum. In 2011, SBOASJC organised Environex, a three-day arts and science exhibition featuring 60 pavilions built by KG-class XI students, which attracted peers from 21 schools in Chennai. Likewise, at an Eco Art exhibition organised by the school in 2013, 400 paintings of talented students were showcased. Both these exhibitions were student driven with the purpose of encouraging co-curricular and life skills education in all schools in Chennai, says Rajendra Dev.

Inevitably, given the sheer scale and size of the State Bank of India ” by far the country’s largest (nationalised) bank with over 13,000 branches countrywide with deposits and advances aggregating a humungous Rs.1,394,409 crore and Rs.1,245,122 crore respectively in 2013-14 ” the trustees and management of SBOASJC have spared no expense in providing excellent infrastructure facilities. The school’s 195 fully wired classrooms are supplemented by six science, five computer, three multimedia and maths labs. Moreover, its wi-fi enabled library is stocked with over 25,000 book titles and subscriptions to journals and periodicals. Other facilities include a separate kindergarten play area, splash pool, indoor auditorium and roof garden.

Sports facilities too are extensive and include an athletics track, cricket ground, basketball court, football field, and indoor stadium for games including table tennis, badminton, martial arts and chess. Professionally qualified coaches train promising cricket, football, basketball, badminton, hockey and volleyball players, says Selvarani.

A full calendar of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities enlivens student life at SBOASJC. Music, dance, drama, tailoring and painting are all part of the curriculum and over 60 inter-house competitions are organised every year apart from which students participate in inter-school elocution, quiz, debate, essay writing, art and cultural competitions.

The benefits of a comprehensive education model have positively impacted academic outcomes and SBOASJC’s X and XII students have consistently recorded 100 percent results over the past decade. In 2012-13, 82 percent of class XII and 94 percent of class X students passed CBSE’s board exams with distinction.

With an established reputation as one of Chennai’s consistently top-ranked schools, the SBOASJC management plans to consolidate and enrich its education model. œWe want to provide a rich blend of traditional values-based and contemporary education so our children develop into responsible citizens of society equipped with the competencies and knowledge skill-sets of the 21st century. We are committed to helping bright and talented students reach their full potential while working hard with underperformers so they too achieve their goals in life, says Selvarani.

Quite clearly a model public sector school.

Admission & Fees
SBOASJC, Chennai is a K-12 co-ed day school affiliated with the CBSE. Admission forms for LKG and class XI are available at the school office and on the school website (www.sboajc.org), while admission into other classes depends on vacancies. The last date for submitting application forms is end February.
Tuition fees: Rs 23,430-38,088 per year.
For further information contact 044-26151145

Hemalatha Raghupathi