Page 215 - EducationWorld November 2020

to have all these strong pillars. More-
over during these pandemic times,
our teachers have smoothly switched
to digital pedagogies, inquiry-based
learning, flipped classroom and peer-
to-peer learning to continue to deliv-
er holistic education. This year’s #10
ranking will motivate us to intensify
our efforts to develop talented young
women with leadership and entrepre-
neurial skills,” says Koeli Dey, prin-
cipal of SBGS which has an enrolment
of 1,791 girl students and 139 teachers.
Beyond the Top 10 league table,
several all-girls schools have improved
their rankings. Among them DAV
Girls Senior Secondary School,
Lloyds Road, Chennai, which has
come up from #24 in 2019 to #11
Diana Marfatia: steady rise to Top 10 this year; Uttam School for Girls,
Ghaziabad, from #24 to #14, Wals-
School, Bandra West, Mumbai is mentored by 69 teachers. ingham House School, Mumbai,
ranked #9 (14) and Convent of Je- Yet the most dramatic debut in from #23 to #16, Shri Ram Centen-
sus & Mary, Bangla Sahib, Delhi this year’s Top 10 girls day schools nial School, Patna from #63 to #18
(14) is ranked #10 this year together league table is of the CBSE-affiliated and Notre Dame Academy, Patna
with Sushila Birla Girls’ School, Sushila Birla Girls School, Kol- from #42 to #21.
Kolkata which has leapfrogged from kata (SBGS, estb.1994), which has Moreover, many all-girls schools
#28 in 2019-20. skyrocketed from #28 in 2019-20 to ranked beyond the Top 20 have ex-
Diana Marfatia, principal of #10 this year. “This overdue promo- cellent reputations within their states
Bai Avabai Framji Petit (BAFP, tion is the outcome of the diligent ef- and cities, and often outperform boys
estb.1913), Mumbai is enthused by forts of our teachers and students to and co-educational schools in CBSE/
the steady rise of the CISCE-affiliated excel in academics, co-curricular and CISCE board exams. For instance, the
BAFP from #42 in 2016-17 to #10 in sports activities. The growth and de- low-profile Queens College, In-
2017-18 and #9 this year. “This is ex- velopment of an education institution dore, ranked #38 all-India, is the #1
hilarating news in the depressing pan- rests on the foundational pillars of a girls day school in Madhya Pradesh
demic year. I attribute our improved committed faculty, supportive man- (pop.73 million); St. Joseph’s Girls
ranking to the school’s excellent aca- agement, quality infrastructure and High School, Cuttack, ranked
demic reputation and competent fac- responsive students. We are fortunate #54 nationally is #1 in Odisha; and
ulty — the hallmarks of great edu- SBGS’ Dey (right): dramatic Top 10 debut Lourdes Convent High
cation institutions — as reflected School, Surat, ranked #57
by our high scores under these nationally, is the #1 girls day
parameters. Moreover, our fo- school in Gujarat (pop.63
cus on sports, yoga and other co- million).
curricular activities ensures that Although most greenfield
we produce well-rounded young schools tend to be co-educa-
women. Even during the closure tional, there are still many
of schools due to the Covid-19 conservative households
pandemic, our tradition of pro- in India that prefer to send
viding academic as well as sports their daughters to all-girls
and co-curricular education has schools for religious and cul-
carried on virtually,” says Marfa- tural reasons. Therefore, the
tia, an alumna of Mumbai Univer- league table of India’s most
sity who was appointed principal admired girls day schools is
of the school in 2016. Currently, 100-strong (cf. 53 of boys
the school has 926 girl children day schools).

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