A model of Delhi Public School New Town, getting ready to open its gates in April

The bull here seems to be charging up the education highway as well. The Delhi Public School experience certainly points to that. ?Three schools in three years. Nowhere, other than in Delhi, have we seen such growth. Our schools involve big investment, mind you,? chairman, Delhi Public School Society, Narendra Kumar, points out.

Delhi Public School opened its account in the city in 2003 in Ruby Park. In 2004, came DPS Mega City. Now, 2005 will see the birth of its third venture, DPS New Town, in Rajarhat. ?The response has been beyond our expectations,? Kumar adds.

The 129th member of the DPS family will formally open its doors in April, but admissions started formally on Friday. Sprawled across 12 acres in the heart of Action Area I of Rajarhat, the school promises to have every facility that new-age educational institutions can boast.

?We are moving from class-centric to student-centric education. The next session will focus on sports,? Kumar explains. A testament to that agenda is the huge football ground that arrests attention in the model. Next to it are tennis lawns and a swimming pool. A yoga and meditation centre lies at the other side of the complex. For activities to continue in summer and monsoon, an air-conditioned auditorium will be provided for.

The school will start off with students till Class VII and will apply for ICSE affiliation. Construction is on for the junior wing.

The admission age to nursery will be four-plus. Principal Ruma Chandra, so far engaged with DPS Vasant Kunj in Delhi, has already started receiving inquiries from parents. And she is surprised no end at suggestions that children should be admitted even earlier. ?This seems to be a trend in Calcutta. ?Please spend some quality time with your children before sending them to school?, I told them,? she exclaims. The cut-off date for Class I is September 30, by which a child has to be six-plus to join.

Though each unit is self-sufficient, care is taken to impose the DPS quality control on the courses, Kumar insists.

Asian Hotels, promoters of the Hyatt Regency chain, are the franchisees of DPS New Town. Shiv Jatia, managing director of the group, admits that it is the catchment area of Rajarhat that the school is primarily aiming to cater to. But improved infrastructure (read the Rajarhat Expressway and the Haldiram connector) would mean students from Salt Lake and Lake Town as well. However, Jatia insists that the new school would not eat into the student base of DPS Mega City. ?It is seven km from us,? he says.

Though Delhi is not saturated yet, Jatia, the hotelier, is happy to see his diversification plan take off from Calcutta. ?The present government,? he says, ?is very upbeat,? he says, adding that he was keen to plan more schools under the DPS banner in Howrah and other fringe areas of the city.

DPS itself is in the multiplication mode. ?We are starting four schools in Dhaka this year and one in Chittagong,? Kumar informs. This will add to the 27 chapters functioning abroad, from Kuala Lumpur to Kuwait.

Was Calcutta lacking in schools with new-age facilities that so many are coming up at such frequent intervals over the past few years? ?It lacked DPS schools,? is all he would say before rushing for his flight.