Bengaluru: The British Boarding School – an old favorite among India’s affluent – is also gaining popularity among Bengaluru’s elite families. International schools in the city have reported instances of their students moving to schools in European countries, particularly the UK, for high school or higher secondary classes.
“We have seen some students enroll in boarding schools in the UK in middle school and high school over the years for various reasons. But I think this trend has largely been in India for a long time, at least in cities like Bengaluru. During the pandemic, the Covid-19 lockdown for schools began, while private institutions in other countries quickly reopened,” said Kavita Gupta Sabharwal, head of school, Neev Academy.
The principal of yet another international school confirmed that recently a handful of their students had moved on to European schools for high school. These included schools in Switzerland and the UK. He said that parents want to give their children a chance to grow up to be independent. However, given the extremely high cost, only a small section can afford these schools, he pointed out.
“Parents in Bengaluru make decisions after much thought, in contrast to the trend in smaller cities, which are often driven by necessity. Some, of course, choose the usual elite schools, while others choose quiet, private choose schools that are otherwise unheard of but are doing well. This is in contrast to the dominant Asian trend where students from China enroll in schools across the world,” Kavita said.
Chumbak co-founders Vivek Prabhakar and Shubhra Chadha have enrolled their daughter in Brockwood Park School, Hampshire, UK from 2021, when she was in 9th standard. Set amidst 40 acres of parkland, the school was founded by teacher-philosopher Jiddu. Krishnamurthy in 1969.
“The decision to enroll our daughter there was made after months of discussions. This school teaches many values that we wanted her to imbibe. Here, community comes first, relationships are valued and children are surrounded by nature grow up outdoors. There’s limited screen time and no laptops/phones, and the kids are taught discipline and independence. We loved the school and its philosophy. It didn’t matter that it was in the UK,” Vivek Said.
“Now for many families, children are privileged. The quality of education we want to give is different from the education we get. So we started looking for schools in India and abroad. When we found Krishnamurti’s schools in India When we investigated, we realized that the exposure in the UK is much higher,” he said.
Entrepreneur and investor, Aditya Kaura chose Cheltenham College for his daughter, who completed Class 10 under the guidance of a career counsellor. “We find that placement opportunities for undergraduate programs at top universities have increased significantly in traditional UK schools as opposed to Indian schools. This has opened up avenues that they would not have otherwise experienced. A person is also about development. Many of our children live in sheltered environments. A boarding school would be like an awakening and show them what the real world looks like. So we wanted our daughter to experience that,” They said.
Coincidentally, his eldest son joined King’s College, London for the mathematics program in the same year.
Many foreign schools send their representatives to various metro cities in India where interested parents can meet them.
“We have seen some students enroll in boarding schools in the UK in middle school and high school over the years for various reasons. But I think this trend has largely been in India for a long time, at least in cities like Bengaluru. During the pandemic, the Covid-19 lockdown for schools began, while private institutions in other countries quickly reopened,” said Kavita Gupta Sabharwal, head of school, Neev Academy.
The principal of yet another international school confirmed that recently a handful of their students had moved on to European schools for high school. These included schools in Switzerland and the UK. He said that parents want to give their children a chance to grow up to be independent. However, given the extremely high cost, only a small section can afford these schools, he pointed out.
“Parents in Bengaluru make decisions after much thought, in contrast to the trend in smaller cities, which are often driven by necessity. Some, of course, choose the usual elite schools, while others choose quiet, private choose schools that are otherwise unheard of but are doing well. This is in contrast to the dominant Asian trend where students from China enroll in schools across the world,” Kavita said.
Chumbak co-founders Vivek Prabhakar and Shubhra Chadha have enrolled their daughter in Brockwood Park School, Hampshire, UK from 2021, when she was in 9th standard. Set amidst 40 acres of parkland, the school was founded by teacher-philosopher Jiddu. Krishnamurthy in 1969.
“The decision to enroll our daughter there was made after months of discussions. This school teaches many values that we wanted her to imbibe. Here, community comes first, relationships are valued and children are surrounded by nature grow up outdoors. There’s limited screen time and no laptops/phones, and the kids are taught discipline and independence. We loved the school and its philosophy. It didn’t matter that it was in the UK,” Vivek Said.
“Now for many families, children are privileged. The quality of education we want to give is different from the education we get. So we started looking for schools in India and abroad. When we found Krishnamurti’s schools in India When we investigated, we realized that the exposure in the UK is much higher,” he said.
Entrepreneur and investor, Aditya Kaura chose Cheltenham College for his daughter, who completed Class 10 under the guidance of a career counsellor. “We find that placement opportunities for undergraduate programs at top universities have increased significantly in traditional UK schools as opposed to Indian schools. This has opened up avenues that they would not have otherwise experienced. A person is also about development. Many of our children live in sheltered environments. A boarding school would be like an awakening and show them what the real world looks like. So we wanted our daughter to experience that,” They said.
Coincidentally, his eldest son joined King’s College, London for the mathematics program in the same year.
Many foreign schools send their representatives to various metro cities in India where interested parents can meet them.