Euro International School

Established in 2015 by eduprenuers Shri Vikram Ahuja and Dr Shivani Kapoor, Euro International School was the culmination of nearly two decades of experience and a vision to provide Jodhpur with an institution that combined cutting edge innovative teaching methodology with the familiarity of classroom teaching.

Now lead by Principal Mrs Neha Mathur and operational director Mr Anshuman Singh Jamwal, the school team stays true to its dynamic and progressive roots. The doors of the management’s cabins are always open for the learners as well as the staff.The baseline that everyone goes home happy is sacrosanct.

The sandstone colored school building is established in a sprawling four acre area, away from the noiseand pollution of the city. Once inside the campus the first thing you’ll notice is the greenery and the picturesqueness of it all. The lush green football field and the basketball court are immediately visible. The building itself is a labor of love. It took six months of planning and designing to ensure that everything was just right. The classrooms and laboratories all have large windows to permit a lot of natural light and each class is equipped with state-of-the-art smart-boards.

While the school followed Cambridgecurriculum in the first year, it was soon decided that CBSE would be a better fit, especially for senior classes. However instead of relying on NCERT books completely, the school still prescribes customized set of course-books till grade VIII, combining the hands on activity based learning approach that is a feature of international boards, with standardized CBSE curriculum.

A glance at a class in progress will reveal that while there is a lot of learning going on, there isn’t a lot of teaching, the teachers are mere facilitators. The words of Earnest Dimnet, “Children have to be educated, but they have also to be left to educate themselves”, are at the heart of the modus operandi. Students are encouraged to learn and develop their inborn sense of curiosity, to ask questions and to reason, which are far better motivatorsthan the threat of examination and the pressure of scoring ‘good’ marks.

Each class generally begins with an exuberant exchangeof thoughts followed by a pop quiz to recap the previous day’s learning. This followed by game based learning and a group discussion that concludes with five minutes of reflection. Chalk and talk is strictly prohibited. Even in subjects where more traditional modes of learning are expected like Physics and Chemistry the faculty members are more often found in the labs demonstrating rather than in the classes, lecturing. Subjects like Mathematics are handled with extensive activities to make the learning experience joyful.

However while learning is an important part of schooling, EIS focuses on all round development of the children. Quoting Dr Seuss, “Children want the same things we want. To laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained and delighted”. Three hours on Saturdays, over and above the periods in the regular time-table, are reserved for sports and co-curricular activities. The school offers a range of different sporting facilities including but not limited to two glass-backed squash courts, an indoor badminton court, an indoor shooting range, an archery range and dedicated areas for gymnastics and Taekwondo, with trained instructors for each sport. Students can also opt to join an Art club or a Dramatics club, learn to play a musical instrument of their choice ranging from grand piano, violin, guitar, a variety of percussion instruments, or go for learning classical or contemporary dance forms in the dance studio. For those looking for something even more hands on, pottery making classes are arranged with a visiting professional and those with restless hands can try their skill at the Student’s Assembly Tinkering Workshop, a club modeled on the Atal Tinkering Lab initiative by the central government.

In 2020 the government of India released the new NEP that focused on experiential and competency based approach to learning. While the innovative policy came as a jolt to many, EIS found itself comfortably validated by its innovative teaching pedagogy, and emphasis on vocationalization. The school frequently invites experts from a variety of fields for seminars and sessions with the students to sensitize them to the multitude of non-conformational career opportunities now available. The other facets highlighted by the policy such as inclusion and equity had already been the school’s focal point since its inception, in no small part due to the founders’ vision of not only imparting literacy but rather focusing on holistic development of head, heart and hand.The result, a learner who acquires the 21^st century skills, of collaboration, creativity, critical thinking and fluent communication.

Each child is encouraged to pick at least one sport and one co-curricular activity in each academic session which they can then participate in the entire year. The school makes it a point to organize inter-house competitions as well as inter-school tournaments for each sport where the students can test their skill and be motivated to do better. Long standing favorites are the football competitions, that see all the classes out in the field, cheering along their teams.

Another example of the learning-by-doing are the grand annual functions organized at the school. Everything right from the planning of the programs to the choreography is delegated to and managed by the students under guidance of the staff. The resultant event is no less than a gala, more reminiscent of an operatic performance than anything else.

These lofty heights are not reached in isolation however;the school prides itself in maintaining a level of parent engagement and involvement few others can boast of. A continuous connect is maintained with each parent through monthly telephonic calls and social media platforms as well as the feature rich school app through which the parents have a direct hotline to the school’s edu-leaders.

While the students win plaudits the school team itself leaves no stone unturned for institutional as well as individual progression. Frequent enhancement sessions are organized by behavioral counselors to seasoned subject experts in order to facilitate continuous professional development of the staff members. The school itself recently obtained the highly coveted Platinum Grade Safe School certificate from Bureau Veritas for maintaining international level safety standards and practices both within the school and in the school transport system.

The school team is highly optimistic about the future. With star performance in AISSE and AISSCE examinations since their first CBSE batch, a steady growth trajectory and a solid foundation of guiding principles, there is a palpable certainty about their manifest destiny, that of producing confident, mentally fit and globally sensitized citizens of a proud nation.