Students perform at the award function at Tata auditorium, XLRI, on Wednesday. Picture by Bhola Prasad

Jamshedpur, Dec. 10: The excitement among city schools died too early.

Hopefuls, who thought they would bag the Dr JJ Irani Award for Excellence in Education this year, once again missed it by a small margin.

There were 40 schools in the fray, but none among them could cross the 600 mark out of 1,000 that wopuld make them eligible for the excellence award.

The schools had put in their applications according to the guidelines set by Tata Steel Education Excellence model (based on Malcolm Balridge criteria of the UK). Carmel Junior College was the only one that closest to the 600 mark.

A panel of nine judges comprising officials of Tata Steel, Jusco and senior academicians from all over the country judged the performance of the school.

There were two steps to judgment — application assessment and a visit to the respective school.

The schools were assessed on leadership, strategic planning, student and parent focus, information and analysis, faculty and staff focus, process management and school performance results. The organisers felicitated the schools that crossed the 400 mark this evening.

Baug-E-Jamshed emerged as winner in category 1 (up to Class IV) followed by Jusco School and Tarapore School, Agrico. Category 2 (up to Class X) was won by Carmel Junior College followed by JH Tarapore School.

Sacred Heart Convent School emerged as the winners in category 3 (up to Plus 2) followed by Loyola School, Kerala Samajam Model School, Jamshedpur Public School, Motilal Nehru Public School, DBMS English School, Kerala Public School, Kadma and Narbheram Hansraj English School.

The first Dr JJ Irani Award for Excellence in Education was held in 2005 that aimed at bringing about an improvement in the schools of Jamshedpur by raising the bar of teaching and adopting new learning methods.

The guest for the function was Eliyahu M. Goldratt, an educator, management guru and author of The Goal. “The real meaning of education is to inculcate the passion to learn among children. Instead of thinking of how much time we should put in each subject, individuals must focus on self-learning so that they can grow a passion for academics as well as moral values,” said Goldratt.

B. Muthuraman, the managing director of Tata Steel, stressed on correcting the method of teaching that will lead to better results in future.

A cultural programme was organised to spread the message of unity, hard work, innovation, courage, love, faith and determination. “We gathered 572 points that shows that we are nearing the target. We would work hard and hope to bag the award next year,” said Sister Flavian, the principal of Carmel Junior College.