Don't always have to be Old to win Gold

It’s only 11 years old. Its first batch of Class 12 students passed out just seven years ago. It is so young, in fact, that its alumni base is still in its infancy. Yet, Sanskriti School was voted the best in Central Delhi by respondents of the HT-C fore survey.

Established in 1998 by the Civil Services Society in Chanakyapuri, Sanskriti scored high in almost all fields— from competence of faculty to infrastructure provision.

“It was set up to cater to the needs of government officers whose children had trouble getting admission to good schools due to their frequent transfers,” said Abha Sahgal, the school’s principal.

Sixty per cent of seats in the school are reserved for children of government servants.

One reason why Sanskriti has succeeded in achieving so much in such little time could be the individual attention each student receives here. There is one teacher for every 12 students, a student-teacher ratio higher than what most other schools in the city offer.

The infrastructure at Sanskriti is, again, what very few schools can boast of. The school has four libraries, a swimming pool, a diving pool, ramps for disabled students, amphitheatres, music recording rooms and separate rooms for dancers.

The school also recycles and makes its own paper.

“One of Sanskriti’s strengths is its stress on extra curricular activities,” says Tanvie Vinayak (17), a Class 12 student.

But Sanskriti is also often criticised for its excessive focus on co-curricular activities. This in some ways, say critics of the school, takes away the focus from academics.

But Ritika Khera, 23, an alumnus of the school and now a student of S.P mJain Institute of Management and Research, Mumbai, has a different take.

“Sanskriti doesn’t focus more on extra curricular activities, it actually balances academics with co-curricular, which other schools forget to do,” she said.

“I scored over 90 per cent in my Class 12 but it was the extra curricular participation that gave me an edge in my college education and later in job and MBA interviews.”

Among some unique co-curricular activities that students must take part in is a mandatory village trip for Class11 students.

“The trip was an eye opener and has inspired me to think about starting my own NGO one day,” said Vinayak, who had gone on the trip last year.