United Kingdom’s international organization for cultural relations and educational opportunities, British Council, hosted the International School Award (ISA) ceremony in Delhi on December 5. This year, 45 schools from East and Northeast India were given the accreditation.
The British Council International School Award, which has a presence in 31 countries, is a benchmarking scheme that accredits schools with an outstanding level of support for nurturing global citizenship in young people and enriching teaching and learning. The ISA supports this purpose by encouraging opportunities for international learning and recognizing and celebrating the achievements of educational institutions that create them.
This year, the ceremony was attended by more than 88 teachers, educationists, school leaders and heads of organizations. One school from Guwahati was also felicitated at the ceremony. The range of participating schools varied from large private schools to government schools from rural areas and schools for students from marginalized communities.
The awards ceremony is the culmination of the ISA journey. ISA awards are a recognition and celebration of exemplary practices of internationalism in schools – in both the curriculum and values held by students and teachers. The ISA network allows schools, teachers and students to network with likeminded schools across the world and exchange new ideas and effective practices. Students learn to developa global outlook, preparing them for life and work in a global economy. Teachers, who can also be nominated for and win ISA awards at an individual level, also have the benefit of global recognition through ISA.
In addition, a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) workshop for school leaders was also conducted for leaders from over 70 schools. Designed for all professionals who have leadership responsibilities and aspiring seniors, this two-hour workshop aimed at creating sustainable solutions for school leaders.
Duncan Wilson, director, schools, English and skills at British Council said, “British Council has been supporting international collaboration to improve access to quality education, skills and qualifications for 70 years in India. Today the world is becoming a more connected place. Students and teachers who are going to succeed in this world need to have an international, outlook. We need to shift the focus of education towards more value-oriented experiential learning, away from the traditional emphasis on academic and knowledge-based learning. What the ISA awards does is to encourage schools to work with global citizenship values, offer a benchmark to teachers who want to offer best practice and learning practices and recognize those who achieve excellence in these areas. I am very pleased to see so many participants from this year’s awards scheme and hope to see more in the future.”
Debanjan Chakrabarti, director East and Northeast India at British Council said, “We have a thriving network of schools in East and Northeast India who have been accredited with the International School Awards. The British Council’s work in schools is focused on bringing systemic change by building capacity and capability of teachers and we are delighted to have worked with teachers across schools in East and Northeast India to do this. Today the need is to move from propositional to procedural learning, pupils need to know ‘why’ and ‘how’ more than ‘what’ and ‘when.’ We hope more schools enroll for the International School Awards and go on this global journey of creative learning with us, benefiting their students and teachers alike.”
The winning schools from East and Northeast are: M.D.B.D.A.V. Public School, Bankura; Mount Litera Public School, Begusarai; SBD International School, Bhadrak; SAI Angaan, Bhubaneshwar; KIIT International School, Bhubaneswar, Delhi Public School, Bokaro; Ryan International School, Bolpur; MadhusthaliVidyapeeth, Deoghar; Guru Gobind Singh Public School, Dhanbad; DAV Model School, Durgapur; Guru Teg Bahadur Public School, Durgapur; Suderashan Public School, Guwahati; DAV Public School, Hazaribagh; M.C. KejriwalVidyapeeth, Howrah; Asian International School, Howrah; ADLS Sunshine School, Jamshedpur; Baug-e-Jamsheed School, Jamshedpur; Dayanand Public School, Jamshedpur; DBMS Kadma High School, Jamshedpur; JH Tarapore School, Jamshedpur; JUSCO School South Park, Jamshedpur; Kasidih High School, Jamshedpur, Kerala Public School, Kadma, Little Flower School, Jamshedpur; JPV DAV Public School, Katni (MP); Griffins International School, Kharagpur; St Agnes School, Kharagpur, Apeejay School, Kolkata; Ashok Hall Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Kolkata; BDM International, Kolkata; Calcutta International School, Kolkata, Casa Di Bambini, Kolkata; Modern High School for Girls, Kolkata; Mongrace Montessori and Day Care Centre, Kolkata; Purwanchal Vidyamandir, Kolkata; St Thomas’ Girls’ School, Kolkata; Swarnim International School, Kolkata; Vivekananda Mission School, Kolkata; Usha Martin School, Malda; OP Jindal School, Raigarh; Krishna Public School, Raipur; Monnet DAV Public School, Raipur; Delhi Public School, Ranchi; Sarala Birla Public School, Ranchi; Sant Nandlal Smriti Vidya Mandir, Singhbhum.
