Page 201 - EducationWorld November 2020

sports education, leadership and
parental involvement, enabling it to
become the first non-metro school to
top the annual EWISR (estb.2007) in
this category.
“The top rank awarded to SAII in
EWISR 2019-20 is a dream-come-
true and proof of our dedication
to continuous innovation in K-12
education. National top rank is
particularly satisfying because prior
to promoting SAI International, I
invested a decade — 1996-2006 —
intensively studying best schools and
best practices in school education
around the world. After that for the
past 12 years, we have been applying
our learning and research to provide
high quality 360 degree education to
our students. Therefore, this year’s
#1 national rank in the prestigious Niru Agarwal (right): conducive environment commitment
EWISR is the fulfilment of a long-
cherished dream. It is the outcome been promoted to #2 in India and cent, enabling infrastructure. This
of sustained hard work and deter- #1 in Karnataka and Bangalore in is indicative of the intense commit-
mination of our 500-plus faculty the competitive day-cum-boarding ment of the GHS management to
and equal number of support staff, school league tables. “We accept provide the best and most conducive
as also the unstinted support of our the evaluation of our school by your teaching-learning environment to
parents community to place Odisha informed sample respondents with our students,” adds Agarwal. Cur-
on the education map of India and humility and pride. The annual rently, the CISCE-affiliated GHS has
to build a better India,” says Dr. EWISR survey is an inspiration for an aggregate enrolment of 3,300
Bijaya K. Sahoo, an alum of Utkal us to continuously strive to reach boys and girls mentored by 220
University and highly-qualified cost higher in the pursuit of excellence teachers. Moreover, together with
and chartered accountant who threw in school education,” says Agarwal, her husband, real estate tycoon
up a successful accountancy practice who takes special pride in the “grit Bijay, Niru has promoted two other
in favour of fulfilling his mission to and determination” with which the schools — Greenwood International
place educationally under-served school’s 220 teachers switched to and Greenwood High which have
Odisha (pop. 44 million) on the na- digital online teaching following the 2,300 children and 240 teachers on
tion’s education map. outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic their muster rolls. Collectively, the
In this connection, it’s perti- that forced the closure of schools Greenwood schools have signifi-
nent to note that apart from the countrywide since mid-March. cantly contributed to the transforma-
top-ranked SAII, Sahoo has also In the circumstances, Agarwal tion of preschool to higher second-
promoted the state-of-the-art SAI In- is especially pleased with the high ary environments in India’s Silicon
ternational Residential School, Cut- score awarded to GHS under the pa- Valley city.
tack (estb.2018), SAI Angan, billed rameter of curriculum and pedagogy This year’s Top 5 day-cum-
as the largest pre-primary in India (digital readiness) which has been boarding schools’ league table also
(estb.2015) and the SAI Internation- given higher weightage (150) this includes the superbly equipped
al College of Commerce & Economics year in light of the pandemic. “With Emerald Heights International
(estb.2015), all in Odisha. the high quality academic facilita- School, Indore, which has retained
Niru Agarwal, an alumna of tors (teachers) we have at GHS, it its #2 ranking of 2018-19 and 2017-
Tinsukia University and manag- was easy for us to shift to a highly 18; the vintage Hyderabad Public
ing trustee of the GreenWood effective digital teaching-learning School, Begumpet, which has
High School, Bengaluru (GHS) platform that is the envy of schools steadily moved up the league table
promoted from #3 in the previous in this high-tech city. Right from the from #9 in 2016-17 to #3 this year;
two years to #2 in 2019-20, is also start we resolved to spare no expense Modern School, Barakhambha
pleased that GHS (estb. 2004) has in providing our students magnifi- Rd, Delhi top-ranked in 2018-19

NOVEMBER 2020 EDUCATIONWORLD 201