Page 66 - EW December 2020

Cover Story EW BOYS BOARDING SCHOOLS RANKINGS 2020-21

its top rating under the parameter of
leadership. This has prompted Gen.
Kulkarni to question the credibility of
the sample respondents.
“There are apples and oranges
which can’t be compared even within
the category of boys boarding schools.
Indeed very few schools in India can
be compared with Mayo College un-
der a wide range of parameters. For
instance, you have rated Welham Boys
higher than us under the parameter of
value for money. Please compare the
fees of the two schools and see what
they offer on a 30-acre campus vis-a-
vis our 186-acre campus. Second, for
Welham Boys itself, you have given
the school a huge jump under the pa-
rameter of leadership this year. Has BKBCE’s Dr. Sanyal (centre left): Maharashtra #1 pride
Sangeeta Kain done something magi-
cal in a year in the wake of Gunmeet Pilani at #6 (6); St. Paul’s, Dar- we have committed ourselves to
Bindra who was ranked #1 for her jeeling #7 (4); Birla Vidyamandir, maintaining this ranking in the state
leadership during the past five years? Nainital #8 (5); Rashtriya Indian which has a large and diverse popula-
I have taken the trouble to point these Military College, Dehradun #9 (8) tion of over 110 million,” says Dr. S.K
things out because your magazine is and the B.K. Birla Cente for Edu- Sanyal, an alumnus of Bombay and
the one a majority of people refer to cation, Pune (BKBCE, estb.1998) Osmania universities who acquired
for rankings. You have created a fan- which has risen high in the public es- over two decades of teaching and ad-
tastic business model but you could teem to be ranked among the Top 10 min experience in several institutions
create a legacy which becomes the (14) countrywide. countrywide, including St. Joseph’s,
gold standard in credibility,” advises In this connection, it’s noteworthy Kolkata, St. Xavier’s, Mumbai and
Kulkarni. that four low-profile boys boarding YPS, Mohali before he was appointed
In defence of EWISR 2020-21, schools promoted by the well-known principal of BKBCE in 2013.
Kulkarni and other critics of the business house of Birla are ranked Beyond the Top 10, several schools
world’s largest schools rankings sur- among the Top 10. Various branches have made impressive advances
vey, should note that the survey is of the Birla Group seem intent upon in this year’s boys boarding league
based on the perceptions, not intimate making an impact in K-12 education table. Among them: Atmiya Vidya
factual knowledge, of 11,368 sample by way of gender segregated institu- Mandir, Surat at #13 (18) nation-
respondents. Parents of school-going tions. None of the Birla schools na- ally and #1 in Gujarat (pop. 65 mil-
children who constitute the major- tionwide is co-ed. lion); Rashtriya Military School,
ity of the sample respondents data- “The entire school management Chail (Himachal Pradesh) #16 (18);
base can hardly be expected to have and staff thank your sample respon- the previously unranked Gurukul,
detailed education domain knowl- dents for elevating us to the nation- Kurukshetra (Haryana), Sainik
edge, and they vote according to their al Top 10 table and ranking us the School, Golpara (Assam) and St.
perceptions shaped by anecdotal premier boys boarding school of the Hilda’s (Boys), Ooty (Tamil Nadu)
evidence, informal dinner table con- industrially advanced state of Maha- at #17, 18 and 23 respectively.
versations and bazaar gossip. In the rashtra. We value this recognition by Although in normal times, state
circumstances, institutions that invest EducationWorld whose veracity and rankings are not of great importance
in brand building, devise communica- authenticity are unparalleled. I would for boarding schools, in these pandem-
tion strategies and public information like to take this opportunity to thank ic times they assume some importance
campaigns will inevitably be higher the management, staff, students and as anxious parents may be disinclined
ranked than publicity shy institutions parents whose strong support has to send their children to distant resi-
averse to scrutiny. Regrettably, Mayo paved the way to this great achieve- dential schools. In the circumstances
College falls within the latter category. ment. EducationWorld has ranked the #1 rankings in their states of the
The remainder of the Top 10 table us Maharashtra’s #1 boys boarding schools named above in EWISR 2020-
is made up of Birla Public School, school since 2015-16 and since then 21 is not inconsequential.

66 EDUCATIONWORLD DECEMBER 2020