School Hunting - Finding A Good CBSE School In Mumbai

It's that time of my life, when the tables have turned for me. A few years ago my parents would be hunting for good colleges and speaking to the Principals to assess if the institute was a good fit. Now, with my little one getting ready for formal schooling, it's my turn to hop around town looking for a good and reputed school for my son to study in!

While Mumbai is flooded with schools, a vast majority of them offer the state education curriculum i.e. Secondary School Certificate. This board of education is governed by the state of Maharashtra and is also the board from which I completed my own schooling. 

Since my graduation from school, many rules have changed in the SSC board and the curriculum too always had a reputation of being 'easier' compared to the other two prominent education boards - ICSE and CBSE. 

ICSE schools were by far the most popular schools in Mumbai. However, they were also slightly premium and intellectual for the ordinary student. CBSE schools, which are the most popular schools across the country, surprisingly are a new feature in Mumbai. 

With the commercialization of education, many new boards have sprung up like International Board (IB) and IGCSE (Cambridge Assessment). These schools are undoubtedly far ahead in their pedagogy, infrastructure and curriculum, but this excellence comes at a heavy price, which not every working parent can afford. 

Hence, my choice was between an ICSE and CBSE school. After visiting one of each type of schools, I decided that my preference would be CBSE board. I also consulted with family and friends, who all confirmed that the CBSE curriculum is designed for success in Indian competitive examinations, preparation for Govt. jobs and for sharpening one's mathematical and analytical skills. They also emphasize on the importance of co-curricular activities like sports, arts & music. 

I soon realized that based on the recommendations of the CBSE board, all affiliated schools provided certain minimum infrastructure such as laboratories, access to sports activities and other co-curricular activities. The teacher to student ratio could not exceed 1:30.  

I was fairly happy with the facilities provided by CBSE schools; they were not super fancy and exorbitant and neither were they too archaic. My challenge, however, was that applying to one school would not be sufficient, considering the number of students entering the school life each year in places like Mumbai. 

Hence, I went about trying to find more CBSE affiliated schools, particularly in the Western suburb areas of Mumbai i.e. Andheri, Oshiwara, Lokhandwala, Jogeshwari and Goregaon. 

In my area of residence too, parents seem to prefer either SSC schools or ICSE schools. CBSE board is still not one of the top priorities of parents, even though the fees are fairly affordable and the curriculum is not very intense. 

So resorting to the option of extensively researching on the Internet, I was able to find the below schools which are affiliated to CBSe board - 

1. Ashok Academy 

Pros - Principal is very good. 

Cons - School premise is small. 

2. Raigad Military School

Pros - Large playground, classrooms and labs. 

Cons - Not very well known. Difficult to find reviews of the school online.

3. MVM International School

Pros - Large campus and well equipped classrooms. Large playground. 

Cons - Offers both CBSE and SSC boards during different time slots. 

4. Shri Harshad C Valia International School

Pros - Offers Karate and Basketball as part of the curriculum.

Cons - Offers both CBSE and SSC boards. 

5. Rajhans Public School 

Pros - One of the largest and best school campuses I have seen in Mumbai

Cons - Admission needs to be secured in pre-primary itself. Admission forms are hardly available for Primary grades.

If you have been a part of these schools or you know other CBSE schools in the Western Suburbs of Mumbai which are not featured here, do drop a comment and let me know what you like about the school!