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Delhi Public School Warangal: Rethinking Primary & Secondary Education With Global Best Practices

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Ravi Kiran Reddy Veligati,ChairmanSecond only to Hyderabad, Warangal has already earned the sobriquet of an educational centre. It boasts of a NIT, Kakatiya University and Kaloji Health University and is on the threshold of adding more institutions to its tally. More like a higher education hub, Warangal has significantly catapulted the quality of higher education in the state. However, schooling was fairly an unchartered territory for educational developments. With nearly a quarter of India's population being in the age of attending school and college, whether our demographic situation is an asset for our country or not depends on the quality of their learning. Due to its legacy, good academic and extra-curricular performance and alumni network, schools affiliated with Delhi Public School Society are considered to be one of the best in India.

The DPS Society has been growing with a spirit and a goal for more than 60 years. Today, it is dedicated to fostering children's creative thinking and initiative as a fortress of learning and a forerunner of quality consciousness. DPS students have been able to reach their full potential, whether it be by earning distinctions in board examinations or by winning national or international awards in drama, debates, or sports, thanks to the vitality of the classrooms, the energy of the playing fields, and the open friendliness of the work environment. A DPS school is recognized for its exceptional board scores and great placements in entrance exams for numerous professional colleges and institutions of renown worldwide.

Introducing Warangal to Quality Education - Foundation
V. Raji Reddy and his son V. Ravi Kiran Reddy envisioned bringing the combination of high quality elementary education to Warangal under the aegis of the Delhi Public School Society. Thereby, the duo laid the foundation of the Warangal branch of the Delhi Public School. Programs for education develop as a result of felt needs, taking into account problems and circumstances. The primary fabric of any school curriculum should be knitted to include activities and events linked to character development, environmental education, health education, games and sports, visual and performing arts, culture and heritage, sharing of international experiences, etc. The Reddy's saw this as an immediate requirement for the schooling ecosystem in the state and set foot in the education industry to bring quality education for tier II and tier III cities. This will enable holistic development of their children within the city and not push parents to move to metro cities for a better chance at education for their children.

DPS Society is known for its quality standards that it maintains across the country. Hence, a check and balance through the DPS society ensures to establish a committee comprising senior educationists, retired IAS officers who have been a part of the management committee. This committee oversees the functioning of the schools in terms of quality results. The schools in turn, regularly send the results for reviewing. The society also conducts workshops to improve the quality of the faculty to enhance their skills etc. The teachers go through rigorous
Principal, and HODs to check their interaction with students, placements of lessons, compatibility with a class full of students etc. Post hiring, the teachers are screened through a probation period wherein the teacher's attitude toward the responsibilities are taken into account. All of this is supervised and scrutinized by the committee appointed by the DPS Society. Thus, the quality of education imparted to students are of the highest standards. At the same time, a feedback mechanism is also in place to let the teachers know about the areas that needs improvement. DPS Warangal is part of this ecosystem and thus, the quality standards met at the highest level at DPS Society reflects at Warangal too.

Bringing the Tech
The faculty at DPS has worked hard to revolutionise both ideas and methods to meet the demands of 21st century educational trends and international associations. Innovation is important to DPS learning programmes. The main emphasis is on learning that is enjoyable and meaningful. International and domestic academics are brought together to share varied intellectual and cultural experiences. Led by Ravi Kiran Reddy, a technocrat and an edupreneur of the new generation, DPS Warangal too deploys new-age technologies like Google Classroom platform. The institute has also tied up with a Singapore based platform called Kids loop specially designed for the kindergarten. While technology is implemented actively at DPS Warangal, the management also does a progressive analysis of the child to ensure the child is at pace with the lessons being taught. This approach becomes essential in the post-covid era.

COVID significantly impacted the fabric of education for the entire nation. A child who was in the 5th grade during COVID, spent two years online, and is now in 8th. However, online learning might not have been thorough with the child. As a result, the child may face difficulties coping with the 8th grade syllabus. The progressive analysis comes in play to assess the student and help them come back on track with the basics. As part of this approach, DPS Warangal conducted a baseline test for all students thereby identifying the current levels of the students and bring them upto the level that they are supposed to be for the class they are currently pursuing.

"We are planning to do a lot of things within the timeframe. We have got to improve the standard of the students who have slipped a little back because of COVID. So, that is the major goal for our school, and it should be a major goal for all schools across the world to bring the bottom 50 - 60 percent of the kids up to speed", says Ravi Kiran Reddy, Chairman, DPS Warangal.
Beyond the Realms of Classroom EducationDPS Warangal has consistently broken the stereotypes of tier two cities' education ecosystem by adopting practices that traditionally, only metro cities were accustomed to. The institute, as Ravi Kiran informs adopts the best in class technologies for the teaching practices.

Furthermore, DPS Warangal maintains a out of the box approach by conducting adventure camps to instill leadership skills for students. DPS Warangal has also sent students to NASA, model United Nations forums for extra-curricular activities. From robotics, to ICT, the institute ensures avant-garde education. Clearly, DPS Warangal goes a notch above the regular `extra-curricular' activities. The school also gives equal exposure to sports and has some state-of-art sports facilities in campus; a half Olympic Swimming Pool being one. While quality of education remains a significant differentiating factor for DPS Warangal, it is the blend of bringing the best infrastructure and facilities, within the affordability range, is what stands apart.

Incredible Achievements
With such a dynamic approach to education, DPS Warangal has been able to secure100 percent results in CBSE board exams in the last five years. The institute has been recognized outside the state in a plethora of titles & rankings. More so, the faculty at DPS Warangal have also proven their mettle in such national rankings & tests only to further cement DPS Warangal's reputation. The faculty retention of the institute is high, unlike other larger cities where teachers choose to move on in significantly shorter time periods. To note, DPS Warangal has higher teacher to student ratio, and lower teaching periods unlike most schools in the CBSE board. This is in line with the objective to have more feedback processes to help the child have a foundational growth. The school has 120 teachers as of now, with a total of 300 staff.

The school has been ranked within the first 200 of a national school ranking body, which is an incredible achievement for a school that has only been in the system for less than 10 years. Located in the outskirts of the city, DPS Warangal leverages the benefits of large areas to deploy key facilities for students to learn. Interestingly, the school makes the best of environment's natural lighting & atmosphere, and steers away from the use of Air Conditioners that are known to reduce the immunity of the child. "With all advancements we are very satisfied. Within a short period, we are among the top schools in the country, especially coming from a tier two city. We are very proud of what we have achieved so far", concludes the Chairman.