Dr Jagdish Gandhi, right, the co-founder of City Montessori School - (CMS) began in 1959 with just five pupils. Now, on average, classes contain 40 to 50 students and teachers say lessons work well with that number 47,000 pupils attend largest school in the world in India. It was only when me and my wife persuaded a woman to send the children from her extended family that it all started, and even then it was only five children. Started from very humble beginnings and back then we only had a loan of 300 rupees to fund our school. But from word of mouth it slowly spread and children started coming. Year after year the numbers swelled. Now the worlds biggest school. There are over 20 campuses around Lucknow and we are bigger than the population of many towns. Dr. Jagdish Gandhi, 75, and his wife Bharti in 1959 with just five pupils. Today, it sprawls over 20 campuses across the city - and is still growing. The schools rapid growth saw it officially recognised by the 2013 Guinness Book of Records as the worlds largest, taking the crown from Rizal High School in Manila, Philippines, which had just 19,738 pupils. CMS employs an army of 3,800 staff, including teachers, support staff, cleaners, rickshaw drivers, and even electricians, carpenters and gardeners. CMSs sheer size means it has never convened for an assembly - because there is no venue large enough to house them all. The school receives no government funding, instead charging a relatively modest 1,000 rupees a month in fees for younger pupils, rising to 2,500 rupees a month for seniors. Being at the worlds largest school means you get to make lots of friends and meet many different people, with different interests and tastes. The school prides itself on its high values and ethics and teaches children how to be good citizens within the community But there are challenges too - standing out ahead of your peers is difficult. You have to work twice as hard to make sure you get noticed, otherwise you are just another student among thousands of others. Fellow pupil Harsh Rai, also 14, added: It is definitely competitive, particularly to get into the school teams. But if you make one then you can certainly feel proud of that because you are the creme of the crop. Class sizes range from 25 pupils all the way up to 50 in a single room. Each pupil is also assigned a teacher who is responsible for his or her pastoral care, something staff believe means no one gets neglected or forgotten. Getting into a school team is a challenge with so many pupils but also means that they strive harder to achieve, one student said. Worship, right, is also an important part of daily school life. Miss Archana Mishra, who has taught English at CMS for the past six years, said: There is a good rapport between the students and the teachers. It is very easy to teach them and there are not many problems with them. We try and keep classes below 50 pupils, and generally they are usually around 40 to 45 pupils on average. We find this is a manageable number and everyone gets enough attention. And with so many pupils, she admits it can be difficult avoiding students outside of school hours. Usually if we see each other, we both tend to ignore one another. We see enough of each other at school. The worlds largest school is in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India. The schools population is greater than many towns in the country. Alongside traditional subjects such as Geography, Maths and English, students also learn about world peace. CMS is also the only school in the world to be awarded a UNESCO prize for its efforts in this field. We are not just teaching subjects but also the love of the world. The people of Lucknow have shown that they like our philosophy - thats why there is no space left and admissions are so sought after.
Posted on: Tue, 29 Oct 2013 05:22:22 +0000