Within a decade since it was promoted, MRPS has acquired an enviable reputation for providing excellent academics, co-curricular and sports education, writes Paromita Sengupta 

In Maharashtra — India’s most industrialised state (pop.123 million) — the Mukesh R. Patel School (Residential), Shirpur (MRPS, estb.2013) has quickly acquired an excellent reputation for providing its 322 students, including 234 boarders, excellent academic, co-curricular and sports education. In the EducationWorld India School Rankings 2022-23, this relatively new CBSE (Delhi)-affiliated class I-XII school is ranked among the Top 5 co-ed day-cum-boarding schools statewide.

MRPS was promoted a decade ago by the Mumbai-based Shri Vile Parle Kelavani Mandal (SVKM) — a public charitable trust — driven by eminent educationist and incumbent legislative council member Amrishbhai Patel, president and trustee. SVKM (regstd.1934) has promoted and/or manages seven schools, 14 colleges including the top-ranked NMIMS Deemed University with an aggregate enrolment of 39,000 students.

Patel is also founder of the Shirpur Education Society (estb.1986) which has promoted over 70 education institutions in the vicinity of Shirpur. A former Maharashtra education minister, Patel is widely credited with transforming Shirpur (pop.428,088) — once an arid and educationally backward rural village in north Maharashtra — into a green, water-sufficient, well-developed town.

“The objective of our promoter-trustee Amrishbhai Patel is to provide children in Shirpur and beyond access to high-quality day-cum-boarding education to develop their holistic personalities. Therefore, a defining characteristic of MRPS is that we offer excellent academics through usage of contemporary pedagogies delivered by well-trained teachers complemented with a wide range of sports, co-curricular and extra-curricular activities,” says P. Subhash, an economics and English postgraduate of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, awarded a doctorate in economics by BAMU University, Aurangabad, and principal of MRPS since 2019.

According to Subhash, the school’s focus on holistic education and teacher training and development has paid off in a big way. MRPS has recorded excellent results in the CBSE class X school-leaving board exam. Of the 58 students who wrote the class X exam in 2022, four averaged over 90 percent and 17 passed with distinction. Likewise, in 2021, of the 53 students who wrote the class X boards, 16 passed with distinction. “In 2020, the Dhule district CBSE topper was our student. We are also expecting excellent results from our inaugural class XII batch next year,” says Subhash.

Sited on a sylvan 40-acre campus off the Shirpur-Chopda state highway, MRPS offers state-of-the-art enabling infrastructure to its 322 students mentored by 35 well-qualified faculty. The school’s main academic block comprises 20 fully-wired Smart classrooms, nine wi-fi enabled laboratories (science, art, social science, language, computer etc) and separate libraries for primary-secondary and higher secondary students with an aggregate 4,000 print volumes, 14 journal subscriptions and 15,000 digital books. The well-furbished residential block hosts separate hostels for boys and girls, a 420-seat dining hall, kitchen, infirmary, salon, indoor sports and television room.

In conformity with the school’s mission to provide balanced holistic education, co-curricular and sports education are also accorded high importance. MRPS has signed up with the Mumbai-based Furtados School of Music to provide vocal and instrumental music training in four sound-proof practice rooms. Other co-curricular activities include drama, art, Indian and Western dance, etc.

Given that 234 of its 322 students are boarders, sports infrastructure is on a par with the country’s best boarding schools. They include facilities for horse riding, boxing. swimming, tennis, badminton, athletics, cricket, football, volleyball, roller skating, wrestling, kudo, kabaddi, handball, table tennis, chess and carrom. Moreover, the MRPS campus hosts an olympic size boxing ring, an 18-horses stable, and a natural turf cricket field. Twelve professional sports coaches including former Olympian pugilist Manoj Pingle train and mentor students.

With the nine-year-old school having got off to a good start, the top management has drawn up a master plan to continuously upgrade infrastructure and administrative systems and processes. “This year, we plan to introduce student and teacher exchange programmes with institutions in India and abroad. We are also building a world-class indoor stadium and recording studio. An application for NABET (National Accreditation Board for Education & Training) accreditation has also been submitted. In short, we are fully committed to continuously improve on all fronts — academics, infrastructure, and teacher training — to prepare our students for success in higher education and workplaces of the future,” says Subhash.

ADMISSION & FEES

SVKM’s Mukesh R. Patel School (Residential), Shirpur is a CBSE-affiliated class I-XII co-ed day-cum-boarding school. Admission into classes I-VIII is open through the year subject to seats availability. The school admits boarders from class I onwards.

Tuition fee (annual): Rs.1-1.25 lakh (day scholars); Rs.2-2.30 lakh (boarders)

For further information, contact +91 90675 95936, +91 95521 93001 Email: mrpslearning@gmail.com Website: www.mrpschoolshirpur.com