5 Tough schools to get your kids into

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1. Vasant Valley School, Delhi
Inclusive education is one of the main reasons the school is popular. It has a trained educator for each class to bring a special child up to the level of the grade. Every year, it receives 3,500 applications for 68 LKG seats. It is the No. 1 day school in the Education World-C Fore survey of best schools in India.

Image: Prasad Gori for Forbes India

2. Cathedral & John Connon School, Mumbai
It is one of the toughest schools to get your child into, especially since there is a requirement to register your child at age one for a pre-school education; For admission in 2014, parents need to register their child in 2012. Reports indicate the school takes in only 40 students at this level; it is following the new RTE regulations that disallow interviewing children.

3. Valley School, Bangalore
The school takes only 32 children per batch, so there’s greater scrutiny during the selection process. The school has taken measures to implement RTE and this brings down the number of seats available to 24. Former students and teachers’ children get preference in the admission process, which leaves precious little for the 200 applications the school receives every year.

4. The School - KFI, Chennai
This Krishnamurti Foundation School is the first from Chennai to feature in the top day schools in the Education World-C Fore survey of best schools.

It has a student-teacher ratio of 1:10 and takes in only 16-20 students per batch at the first grade level to ensure academic quality. The rush for admission is high purely because the intake is so low.
Image: Partha Paul / Indian Express Archive

5. La Martiniere for boys, Kolkata
It has had its fair share of controversies in the recent past, but is still considered one of the top schools in Kolkata.

It has parents lining up for admissions year after year. The school, unlike other convents, has not stayed in the past. Its alumni and management have adopted contemporary teaching methods perhaps well in advance to other convents.