Stonehill International School in Jalahobli, Bangalore North, has been ranked the best international school in Bangalore with a score of 4.30 out of 5, in a survey conducted by ThinkVidya.com, an online community of parents, students and schools.
The International School Bangalore (4.09), Sarjapur Road was ranked second, Trio World School (4.07), Sahakarnagar and Jain International Residential School, off Kanakapura Road, were jointly ranked third. Twenty-six International schools were shortlisted for ‘International Schools in Bangalore’, the first time such an independent survey was being conducted in the city. Nearly 200 individuals filed responses to the survey.
The report noted that there wasn’t any one school that topped in all the criteria’s, different schools topped in different parameters of the survey. Legacy School on Hennur Bagalur Road ranked highest in overall child development and Primus Public School Sarjapur was ranked first for value for money. Stonehill International ranked first in infrastructure and facilities, Trio World ranked first in safety, security and overall satisfaction. Jain International topped in quality of education.
The online survey was conducted between 12th April and June 30th, 2011 and to encourage participation an Apple I pad 2 was offered as a prize to one of the participants of the survey.
The Trio World School, Bangalore is at Sahakar Nagar. Pic: ThinkVidya.com.
The survey report is meant to be a guide for expatriate and Indian parents looking to enroll their children in a school with international curriculum in Bangalore. "The influx of NRIs and expats has propelled the demand for International schools in Bangalore”, says Santosh Kevlani, co-founder, ThinkVidya.com.
The schools were chosen based on Wikipedia’s definition which states ‘International School’ as a school that promotes international education, either by adopting an international curriculum such as the International Baccalaureate or Cambridge International Examinations, or by following a national curriculum different from that of the country the school is located in.”
The survey report is available at a price of Rs 450 at ThinkVidya.com from September 15th 2011. For more details, contact Rakesh Kalra – 080-41539954.
Thinkvidya.com co-founder Rakesh Kalra says that there is sheer lack of clarity on the quality of International schools in Bangalore. “Almost all the information available in public space was flowing from the schools themselves and a neutral perspective was completely missing. After we announced the survey, we were encouraged by the response from parents and teachers willing to share their inputs”, says Kalra. He adds that a number of parents are waiting for this report to come out.
- Infrastructure and facilities – size of campus and classrooms, canteen, sports grounds, library, labs etc.
- Safety and security – systems available to contact parents during emergencies, safety standards, cleanliness etc.
- Quality of education – syllabus followed, teaching methods, faculty qualifications etc.
- Overall child development – Quality of student peer groups, events and programs conducted in school to promote academics and non-academic learning (science day, music day etc.)
- Value for money – fees in comparison to the facilities provided, faculty satisfaction on remuneration.
- Overall satisfaction – Meeting overall parent’s and teacher’s expectations, parents’ recommendation to other prospects.
Weightage of each category for calculating overall ranking
- Category Weightage
- Infrastructure & Facilities 15%
- Safety & Security 6%
- Quality of Education 28%
- Overall Child Development 7%
- Value for Money 8%
- Overall Satisfaction 14%
- Brand Recognition 12%
The responses to the questionnaires were considered as primary research data. ThinkVidya team also conducted secondary research by collecting information from official school websites, reviews published across different online discussion forums and a few direct parent interactions.
The International School, Bangalore. Pic: Wikipedia.
For every school evaluated – the online survey ratings were given a Weightage of 80 % and the secondary research ratings were given a Weightage of 20%.
Although the overall response for some of the International schools was good, the expats community feedback was rather lukewarm says Kevlani. Expats who have recently migrated to India felt the schools need more than just cosmetic changes to be called a truly world class international school. He points out “They seek the change in the mind-set of school management as well as teaching staff of these International schools."
The survey was answered mostly by parents and a few teachers of the international schools, says Kalra. The parents consisted of expats, NRI’s and high net-worth individuals living in Bangalore.
The survey report is available at a price of Rs 450 at ThinkVidya.com from September 15th 2011. For more details, contact Rakesh Kalra – 9901658200.