Monday, March 19, 2001		The world of  dot.com

Beeline in front of reputed schools

EXAMINATIONS are over and beeline of admission-seekers can be seen in the corridors of reputed schools. Here are some sites that have a database of reputed schools in various cities of India.

Making the right choice for one’s school is a nightmare, especially if you’re looking for a residential school. Goodschoolsofindia.com is a Web version of the well-received book that gives all information about India’s best residential schools. The book, Guide to Good Schools of India, by Sandeep Dutt, was first published in the year 1999 and received positive reviews and response from the media, schools, parents and the students. The book and the site provide detailed and comprehensive information of the schools’ philosophy, background, campus, atmosphere, staff, the head, affiliations, sports, co-curricular activities, fee structure, admission procedure and management. The page, "choosing a school" gives details about the important features that one needs to look at when deciding the school for the child, which includes proximity, fees, subject choice, teaching methods and size of the class in terms of number of pupils. "We at goodschoolsofindia.com are committed to make India, the schooling destination of the world," the home page proclaims.

"At eGurucool we help you defy the boundaries that define your school," so says the site. The portal has various reputed schools listed state-wise. The Chandigarh page under the UT link has a list of more than 20 schools. Another category of schools has links to Punjab Government and Army Welfare Education Society schools. The site also has a column "Principal in conversation" where Principals from reputed schools voice their opinion on different topics.

The home page of this site opens up with a prayer to Goddess Saraswati. This page has been divided state wise and each state has been divided into four sub-groups — schools, colleges, universities and others. The site is the brainchild of allwonders.com, an intellectual asset of Compare Infobase Private Limited, an organisation building interactive and futuristic Web sites. Allwonders has been among the first movers in the Indian dotcom sphere. The company at present handles 24 live portals.

The site by Eklavya Institute of Teacher Education (EITE) has a database of reputed CBSE-affiliated schools. The institute offers short-and-long term courses to upgrade skills of existing and new teachers, and has been set-up by Eklavya Education Foundation with the aim of providing a pool of high quality teachers to society. Eklavya is a non-profit organisation working towards improving the quality of school education. The portal has kids, parents and teachers sections.