The best high schools in the world: From Eton to India

In certain religious traditions, Pride is the deadliest of sins. It leads the others the way a general leads an army. Without pride, so it is said, the rest of the sins are an organized mess, unable to accomplish much damage in global terms.

But sometimes pride is useful and sometimes it is earned. Is this sinful to say? Maybe so, but the pride I am referring to is pride of place, the place that has led the author of the following addition to the best schools in the world series, to incorporate what many religious traditions value most highly: A commitment to service, to leadership, and intellectual rigor all under the serious gaze of a character building culture. The pride of place, instead of causing widespread damage has instead caused the graduates of this school to change the face of India and, it can now be said, of the world, for the better.

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Deep in the foothills of the Himalayas in the Chandbagh Valley in Dehradun, India there is an institution that has functioned as an alma mater to India's greatest politicians, authors, businessmen and philosophers. Founded in 1935 during the time of British rule in India, it has been dubbed the 'Eton of the East' for quite some time. A home to boys from the 7th to the 12th grade, it serves to provide a well-rounded and holistic learning experience during one's formative years.

The school aims to inculcate in its students the lofty ideals of excellence, diligence and humility prescribed by its founding fathers. This is a premier global institution that provides it boys with ion a strong all-round education-academics, sports, extra-curricular and above all character building. A melting pot of different cultures, not only do students from all over South Asia come here for their studies, but as a Round Square school, Doon has a well-established exchange network with boarding schools in England, South Africa, Australia, Canada and USA including Deerfield Academy in Massachusetts.

The Doon Campus is a sprawling 70 acres with over 150 species of trees adorning its gardens spread all around the school.  The school relies on the House System to increase the efficiency and competitive spirit among its students. Other than five permanent houses (Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kashmir, Tata and Oberoi) named after the contributing provinces at the time it was founded, there are also two temporary houses where new students are sent for a year before they are summoned to one of the five main houses. Discipline is enforced by the students themselves with a House Captain and Prefects appointed from every house. A school days starts at 6:15 AM with Physical Training in the morning and continues with a day of classes (7 classes all 40 minutes each) ending at 1:45 PM upon which students assemble at the dining hall for lunch. There is mandatory sports time in the evening from 4:30 to 6:30 PM with study time afterwards.

To be the best, not only do you have to employ the best teachers, but you have to attract the brightest minds. With a strength of roughly 400 students, Doon is extremely selective. Known for its tough admission, prospective students have  to undergo 4 entrance exams in English, Math, Science and General Knowledge and if they make it past this round, they have to undergo a grueling face-to-face interview with the Headmaster where they're asked to do anything from reading T.S Eliot out aloud to solving an intuition-based math equation. All the students are required to take ICSE exams in their class tenth after which they are given an option to either go for International Baccalaureate or acquire Indian School Certificate. The former was introduced as an option for the first time in the year 2007 and was a resounding success with 9 of 26 students breaking the 40 point barrier.

Anyone who is a headmaster or important administrative official in any of India's schools has more likely than not served as a teacher at the Doon School. In a world where reputation is everything, the Doon School far exceeds its reputation. The Doon School brand is unique. It survives time and improves with each generation. Many of India's schools try to emulate it, but there is only one real McCoy and it’s been going strong for 78 years.

I would like to thank Dilsher for writing such a wonderful overview his school. He represents much of what the school promises to inculcate in the students: Intelligent, worldly, wise, and open to learning in many forms. In the coming year he may be acting in Hollywood, or teaching in rural India, or doing one of a thousand other things. He has found that his willingness to take risks-- to put himself under the pressure of a demanding life in a boarding school known for its rigor and for its old school traditions of hierarchy--is often the best way to prepare for the challenges of the world. It is no surprise he has excelled in his current university. He has friends from all over he world and he has the ability to contribute his wise words while also listening and learning from others. The world is all before him.

I would credit Doon with forming Dilsher and his fellow students with the tough stuff needed to flourish in a competitive world. In his brilliant  The Man Within My Head,   the wonderful Eton educated Pico Iyer talks abut how even the most storied of boarding schools are also places in which students are put to the test: in classes, in dorms, and in many other less than politically correct ways. It is anything but what some think of when they imagine the life people lead in such places. The places that have  ‘stately pleasure domes’  (Coleridge, Kubla Khan) are the colleges and universities across the US. The facilities and amenities afforded to students are second to none. It is not a Spartan training. Instead, the building boom and hiring of huge new numbers of administrators, trainers, and counselors serve to make sure that well-being and tolerance are placed near the top of institutional goals. At places like Doon, the emphasis is on rigor, challenge, and character. The emphasis is first and foremost on learning through rigorous teaching and  strict moral education. Whether the Doon School model and the current US university ideology can be brought into useful dialogue is a question worth debating, something I hope a number of people will do in the coming months.