RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

The objective of this research is to arrive at a list of top schools in each zone in Delhi NCR. The research had 3 major modules i.e. Desk Research, Factual survey & Perceptual Rating survey. Post collection of data a methodical analysis was done to rate the various schools that participated in the study and rank them accordingly.

A sample survey was conducted across 12 zones in Delhi

1. North
2. East
3. West
4. South East
5. South West
6. Central
7. Dwarka
8. Noida
9. Greater Noida
10. Gurgaon
11. Ghaziabad
12. Faridabad

The category of respondents who were intervened rated each of the schools based on their experience with the current school and their perception with respect to other schools.

Experiential & Perceptual

• School teachers
• Parents of existing students
• Students

The survey was executed during 2^nd week of August to 2^nd week of September 2020.

The ranking process in the current year, imbibed a holistic research module involving an objective study and a perceptual study. While the objective study is done to capture a true reflection of what exists, the perceptual study on the other hand is deemed important to comprehend how the different actors and the stakeholders perceive the schools. Thus, these two modules in tandem help to make the ranking process more robust.

In order to get robust data the study was completed in the following phases –

A comprehensive list of schools was generated with the help of secondary sources, magazines and other publications. The various sources used for generation of school list included:

• CBSE approved list of schools
• List of school from previous surveys
• Newspapers/ parents’, teachers’ blogs

As it is not possible to get a completely exhaustive list of schools and include them in the survey, we had option of adding any new school name in the survey form if any respondent mentioned any school name outside our list. Effectively, every school had a chance of getting covered in the survey if their name was mentioned by the respondents.

Factual data collection

More than 750 schools were sent the factual data questionnaire and then were rigorously followed up telephonically to share their factual data.

The factual data sheet focuses on the following information areas:

• General information of the School
• Establishment
• Affiliation
• Total number of students
• Board toppers
• Infrastructure & facilities
• Total campus area
• Laboratories/ other facilities
• Teaching methodology
• Sports facility
• Extra-curricular activity
• Medical facility
• Teachers facility
• Total number of teachers
• Student teacher ratio
• Experience of teachers
• Network
• Exchange programs and global exposure
• Disaster Management
• Awards
• Fee structure

The third module was a perceptual survey which was conducted amongst a selected set of respondents including students, teachers and parents of current students through telephonic interviews given the COVID-19 pandemic. This was done to arrive at a ranking and rating of all the listed schools as well as any other that they are aware of.

The sample selection was done using convenience sampling method. However the sample was spread out geographically to get better representation.

A robust approach is followed to arrive at the final rankings. The step by step process is given below:

Perceptual Score

• Ratings on various parameters for each school
• Calculating importance of various parameters by interacting with key stakeholders the teachers and parents to arrive at weights for each parameter
• Calculation of raw scores and weighted scores for each parameter
• Calculation of overall score for each school using importance weightages.

Factual Score

• The information collected corresponding to similar parameters as in the perceptual survey
• A detailed scoring system has been developed for each parameter
• After assigning scores to each parameter, raw scores are calculated
• The raw scores are weighted by their importance to arrive at weighted scores
• The final score for a school are a weighted average of Perception Score and Factual Score - equal weight age given to both

While calculating the ranking – those schools that did not participate in the factual survey (were assigned average factual score) to make it more holistic. However perceptual scores were obtained for them.

Leaders

Schools that have high affinity and familiarity with them. They command respect by the community for their academic performance and infrastructure, and are generally viewed as the best.

Challengers

Waiting-in-the-ranks schools - ready to grab the initiative from the leaders sooner than later. This set comprises of schools that have scored well in the research but didn’t feature in the top 10 but have potential to be in leader category in future.

Innovators

There are some schools who have implemented innovative approaches of imparting education; such schools were considered for “Innovators” category. Their ranks have been assigned, considering both qualitative & quantitative performance. Typically, these were schools that recently started and are in existence for a less than 6 years.

• A thorough review of the instruments and parameters was undertaken by Senior Researchers and the experts in their fields.
• Best efforts were made to reach maximum schools and their participation was called for
• Those schools who have not shared their factual questionnaire within the allotted time, but rank high on the basis of perceptual score was assigned an average Factual score for calculating their overall ranking.
• The schools, who have shared their factual questionnaire, were asked to give self-attestation on genuinety and authentication of the information.
• The represented rankings are based on shared information. Market Xcel undertook reasonable measures to get complete and accurate information. However, any lapse or concealment of information or any part thereof that would have impacted results in any way is beyond the control of Market Xcel. Hence, we assume no responsibility towards the said.