DPS Rohini beats all, conquers north poll

In many ways, the history of Delhi Public School (DPS), Rohini — one of the newest entrants to the now 150-school-strong DPS fraternity — mirrors that of the first DPS established at Mathura Road in 1949, report Harsha Baruah and Jatin Anand.

In many ways, the history of Delhi Public School (DPS), Rohini — one of the newest entrants to the now 150-school-strong DPS fraternity — mirrors that of the first DPS established at Mathura Road in 1949.

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An initiative that began small — during an afternoon shift at the borrowed premises of DPS, Mathura Road in July, 1995 — DPS Rohini has come a long way in a short span of time.

It began with a strength of 250 students and just eight teachers and now runs from its own building in Sector-24 Rohini.

It has more than 2,000 students and an almost perfect academic record, achieving all of this in just 14 years.

“Since we belong to the DPS family, we have certainly had an edge over others,” says Rita Sen, the founding headmistress and current principal.

With a clear cut emphasis on the “holistic development” of its students, both academics and performing arts are given prominence at the school.

“When it comes to prioritising between academics and co-curricular activities, I would like to believe that DPS Rohini lays 60 per cent emphasis on the former and 40 per cent on the latter,” Sen says.

Taking a break from watching Dead Poets’ Society in the audio-visual room, Class 11 student Pramati Anand says she feels her school strikes a good balance between academics and co-curriculars. She has previously studied in Manav Sthali School and DPS Navi Mumbai.

A parent, who did not want to be named, says the school has many good things to offer but does not hold enough parents and teachers meetings.

“This means parents are not always taken into confidence when the school decides to adopt, maybe, a new practice or a start new project.”

One aspect the school does want to improve upon is space for sports. “Land is very hard to come by,” says Minakshi Khurana, headmistress of the junior section.

“At the moment, we have a tie-up with the DDA’s Rohini sports complex. The students have also been demanding a swimming pool,” she smiles.

The school also has two libraries, with the junior section library housing around 5,000 books, and the senior 15,000.

The school has an infirmary with a full-time doctor and a nurse. It also has a trained counsellor to advise children on academic as well as other problems.

Counsellor Shubha Chandrashekhar, an MA in Psychology, says her job includes helping differently-abled children or hyperactive students cope with stress and also help children facing adolescence anxieties.

“My approach is to get parents and teachers involved. The solution has to be a team effort. Sometimes, teachers refer children to me, and in some cases children approach me directly...,” she says.

With subjects like computer education and even foreign languages like French, German and Japanese accessible to students from Class 2 onwards, DPS Rohini ensures a well rounded growth of its students’ personalities.