In the more rural parts of India, many young students face a difficult choice after Grade 10: Do they leave their homes and families and move to large urban centres hundreds of kilometres away to continue their education? While this option is not favoured by parents or students due to concerns about accommodation, safety and travel, it is the only means to access higher secondary Grades 11 and 12.

In Gujarat, to address this challenge and increase educational opportunities closer to home, the Aga Khan School, Mundra achieved affiliation with the Central Board of Secondary Education in October 2020 to offer Grades 11 and 12. As a result, students no longer migrate to distant cities such as Ahmedabad, Baroda or Rajkot but transition seamlessly from pre-primary up through higher secondary in their own town.

Tracing its roots to 1905 as a Gujarati-medium primary school affiliated with the Gujarat State Board, the school has a long and rich history filled with stories of success, progress, excellence and inspiration. It prides itself on providing holistic education that goes beyond the classrooms.

During its journey, the school had transitioned into an English-medium school and expanded to offer pre-primary to Grade 10, in line with the emergent needs of the time. In 2018, it transitioned from the Gujarat State Board into a national curriculum school and produced excellent results for the first cohort the following year. In addition to a 100 percent pass rate, the top student achieved 98 percent, while more than half of the students scored more than 90 percent in at least one subject.

The school has also won more than a dozen awards. In 2019 the India Didactics Association ranked it first amongst 1,600 schools for taking “Exemplary Initiative Towards Faculty Development”. The EducationWorld India School Rankings 2019-2020 ranked it second for “Best Co-ed School” of the Kutch district and first for “Extra Ordinary Leadership”, amongst many other awards.

The expansion to Grades 11 and 12 has been a long-cherished dream of parents, students, teachers and school management. The school is proud to offer a quality educational experience that focuses on 21st century knowledge, skills, attitudes and values from pre-primary to Grade 12 (K-12). It also encourages a strong partnership with parents. One parent, Ms. Balluwala Rukhsa Yunusbhai, said of the school: “Teachers and parents collaborate on all matters regarding a child’s education… The teachers and management care for the students and treat the parents with great respect.”

Mr. Krishan Yadav, Teacher of Economics, commented, “By offering higher secondary classes … students will be able to experience a well-rounded education, focussing on high academic achievement and 21st century skills [that] develop the leaders of tomorrow.”