HT to honour Mumbai schools that topped its survey this year

Principals of the city’s best schools and educationists will come together for the first Hindustan Times Top Schools Conclave 2012 on Friday in Mumbai. The conclave is a culmination of the HT’s Top Schools Survey 2012 — a unique and exhaustive exercise of rating the top 50 schools in the city including Navi Mumbai and Thane based on several parameters. And on Friday, the efforts of principals of these top schools will be recognised and honoured.

The survey, which is in its fourth year, has over time become every parent’s guide to selecting the best school for their children. Apart from the top schools, the survey also looks at key education trends reshaping the teaching-learning process in city schools. Some of the trends the survey focused on were the increasing demand for international curriculum and integration of special children in mainstream education.

It will include a panel discussion on ‘Right to Education, the road ahead’. Panellists include Vijaysheela Sardesai, Vinod Raina and Bindu Rana.

Implemented in 2010, the RTE Act is the country’s biggest education initiative that aims at ensuring free and compulsory education for all children between 6 and 14 years. But this revolutionary Act has hit roadblocks at every stage. In Maharashtra, implementation of the Act is still a distant dream with several clauses such as 25% quota for underprivileged children and elimination of screening tests for admissions still being challenged.