By TC Bureau

GoldenGate International College of Kathmandu has emerged as the best all-round HS School of Nepal, with Ace Higher Secondary School and Kathmandu Model Higher Secondary School coming close as first and second runners up in the NewBiz organized Everest Bank HS Schools Rating-Ranking- Awards initiative. Gandaki Higher Secondary Boarding School, Pokhara, emerged the best school outside the Kathmandu valley and the topper in the Western Region, while Merryland Higher Secondary School of Biratnagar is the topper in the Eastern Region, and Gorkha International Public Higher Secondary School emerged the topper in the Mid-Western Region. A total of 23 Higher Secondary Schools have been placed in the top ten across Nepal.

New Business Age group, which is the fastest growing business media of Nepal, with Nepali daily Aarthik Abhiyan, English monthly New Business Age, and English news-weekly The Corporate, has announced the most comprehensive multi-parameter rating-ranking-awards for the best performing Higher Secondary (Plus 2) Schools of Nepal. The Everest Bank sponsored awards have been backed by co-sponsors like Hero Motor Cycle, CAI, Prime CA, hospitality partner Himalaya Hotel, and media partners Himalaya TV, Headlines & Music FM radio.

At a ceremony held on June 19, Wednesday, at Hotel Himalaya Chief Secretary of Nepal Government Leela Mani Poudyal and other Dignitaries distributed the awards. The ranking was based on the voluntary disclosure of various data related to more than 20 criteria by the interested leading HS schools of Nepal on multiple parameters and also the HS Board results of the schools in the last two years (2068 and 2069 BS).

Most such evaluations by various media are usually based on academic results of HS Board exams. However, such evaluation does not do justice to the holistic growth of the students, especially with regards to sports, cultural activities, social work, prizes and achievements, development measures of weak students, and preparations for higher professional courses. The various parameters considered were HS academic results of two years with 20 points, infra-structure with 10 points (campus size and ownership, rooms, computer and science labs, etc), co-curricular activities, ECA, sports and social work together 20 points, faculty numbers and qualification, library and teaching tools etc together 20 points, preparation for and success in higher professional courses after HS with 10 points, and various other smaller parameters together being 20 points (like, integrating parents in the system, collaborations at national and international levels, etc).

The entire project, close to the heart of the NewBiz Chairman Madan Lamsal, has been conducted over two months by a team led by Prof Ujjwal K Chowdhury, former Dean of Symbiosis International University, Pune, India. The Jury included eminent persons like senior educationists Prof Dinesh Chapagain and Dr Bijay KC, younger educationists like Narottam Aryal (Executive Director, King’s College), Roshee Lamichchane, (Faculty, KCM), eminent bankers like PK Mohapatra (CEO, Everest Bank), Sujit Mundul (Director, Standard Chartered bank Nepal), corporate professionals like Suman Shakya (CEO, Digitainment), Chang Agarwal (Director, Himalaya TV), Sajita Joshi (Product Manager, Asian Pharmaceuticals).

The initiative is designed to contribute to the understanding and practice of holistic multi-dimensional school education at plus 2 level, and not just focus on academic results of HS exams, and it also balances the inputs of the education system with the output in various forms of marks, awards, social work, higher professional admission, etc.

Several members of the jury also made useful suggestions for future evaluations. Suggestions made by jury members include that along with number and qualification of teachers, the aspect of quality of teaching also needs to be quantified. Further, along with activities and awards of the school, also the aspects of discipline and culture of the school need to be incorporated. Further, along with success in engineering, medical and management admissions, also success in social sciences admissions in higher education should be considered. Further, along with batch-size, admission criteria and applicants for admission need to be taken into the ambit of rating and ranking of schools. “These and other issues shall be incorporated in the next similar evaluation in 2014,” noted Prof Chowdhury.


OVERALL RESULTS:

23 Schools Shared the Top 10 Positions

1. GoldenGate International College, Kathmandu
2. Ace Higher Secondary School, Kathmandu
3. Kathmandu Model Higher Secondary School, Kathmandu
4. Xavier International College, Kathmandu / Nobel Academy, Kathmandu
5. Gandaki Higher Secondary Boarding School, Pokhara (w) / Little Angels H.S.S., HattibanLalitpur
6. Global College, Kathmandu
7. Reliance International HSS, Kathmandu / Merryland H.S.S, Biratnagar (E)
8. Gyanodaya Bal Batika Higher Secondary School, Lalitpur / Premier International H.S.S, New Baneshwor
9. St. Lawerence College, Kathmadnu
10. Nepal Police Higher Secondary School, Kavre / Sagarmatha H.S.S, Pokhara, kaski / The Times International College, Kathmandu / Tilottama Higher Secondary School, Butwal (w) / Xavier Academy College, Kathamandu / Gorkha International Public H.S.S, Dang (mid-west) / Cobass College, Biratnagar (E) / National Institute Of Science & Technologym, Kathamandu / Whitefield College, Kathmandu