Page 67 - EW October 2024

of the renowned Rabindra Bharati
University founded by Nobel laureate
Rabindranath Tagore, with teaching
and admin experience in the Assam
Rifles and Adiyta Birla Public School,
Renusager (UP), appointed principal
of SBA in 2009.
On the high score awarded to SBA
under the parameter of leadership,
Das is characteristically self-effacing.
“Credit for that should accrue to our
wonderful team at SBA and our board
chairman Kumaramangalam Birla,”
he adds.
Further down this year’s 14-strong
boys boarding schools league table —
truncated by your editors’ considered
decision to carve out separate Vintage
Legacy Schools league tables of insti-
SBA principal Santanu Das: well-balanced education tutions over 90 years age, faith-based
schools are dominant.
ter at TDS and high-ranked Mayo cipal Santanu Das is “heartened” Two Gujarat-based boys board-
College and former principal of the that SBA is closing the huge total ing schools, BAPS Swaminarayan
Top 10 Punjab Public School, Nabha score gap of 24 points that separated Vidyamandir, Vadodara #6 (8),
(estb.1960). it from the top-ranked TDS last year. Atmiya Vidya Mandir, Surat #7
Singh is also pleased that the TDS Moreover, Das derives considerable (9) and Ramakrishna Mission,
has been awarded top scores under comfort that on “two vital and seem- Vidyapith, Deoghar (Jharkhand)
the sports education, infrastructure, ingly contradictory parameters”, viz, at #9 (13) have been awarded promo-
and pastoral care parameters. “TDS academic reputation and mental and tions by this year’s survey sample re-
has a long-standing tradition of ac- emotional well-being services, SBA spondents.
cording high importance to sports has been awarded top scores. Consequently, Guru Nanak Fifth
education and our boys always do well “Our prime objective towards Centenary School, Mussoorie, #8
in inter-school and IPSC meets. This which we have been working during (6) has been obliged to cede ground
year, they have done well in national the past 20 years, has been to provide while the Bhaktivedanta Guru-
shooting competitions following the our boys holistic, well-balanced edu- kula and International School,
precedent set by Dosco Olympic Gold cation. Therefore, our highest scores Vrindavan (Uttar Pradesh) at #10
medalist Abhinav Bindra. Infrastruc- on these seemingly contradictory pa- has retained its last year’s ranking
ture development has also received a rameters is a telling comment that we followed by The Gurukul Jyoti-
big boost with the inauguration this are on the right track. In this school, sar, Kurukshetra (Haryana) #11
year of a state-of-the-art fully-wired we also accord high importance to (12) and The Gurukul, Nilokheri
auditorium with a seating capacity of pastoral care and I am delighted to (Haryana) #12 (11).
850. The highest score for pastoral learn that we have the second high- The league table of vintage legacy
care for students is also thoroughly est score under this parameter. Com- boys (and girls) boarding schools
deserved because our tutorial system bined with the top score of mental and league tables are dominated by vener-
under which one teacher mentors emotional well-being of students, it is able institutions promoted by Catholic
eight students is unparalleled and validation that our children are being and Protestant Christian missionar-
unique to India,” adds Singh. Current- provided a happy learning experience ies. The league table of relatively new-
ly, TDS hosts 600 students mentored in SBA. In addition, the good scores age boarding schools features a large
by 78 teachers on its 70-acre forested we have been awarded under faculty number of institutions promoted by
campus which also hosts 100 bird and competence, co-curricular and sports Hindu seers.
108 tree species. education and infrastructure provi- This restoration of balance pro-
Although the Bangalore-based sion are markers of the high quality vides traditional Hindu faith house-
Sarla Birla Academy (SBA, all-round learning experience we pro- holds aspiring for boarding school
estb.2004) is ranked #2 (together vide to children under our care,” says education for their children a welcome
with Welham Boys, Dehradun), prin- Das, a physics and German postgrad choice.

OCTOBER 2024 EDUCATIONWORLD 67