Boarding Schools' Association of India

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Residential schools, popularly referred to as boarding schools, are repeatedly regulated by District authorities and State governments, lumping them with directives meant for day schools. It is insensitive to subject boarding schools to sudden closures, changed timings and weather- related holidays, because the students in these schools are living in their home away from home.

Pandemics and social unrest may result in the sudden closure of schools but is it really practical or even possible to move a few hundred boys and girls, some as young as nine years old, from the school to their homes across India and overseas in a safe and escorted manner by road or rail? Nor is it feasible for working parents, especially single mothers, from distant destinations to pick up their wards and travel through troubled areas. In such situations, solutions are best found through dialogue between a parent and the Head of the school.

Frustrations resulting from a lack of dialogue between government authorities and boarding schools, led the Head of Sela Qui school in Dehra Dun, Rashid Shafruddin to meet with Vinay Pande, former Head of Lawrence School, Sanawar, and Jayant Hari Har Lal, former Head of Sanskaar Valley at the latter’s home on 16th October, 2020. This meeting led to further dialogue with other Heads and eventually to the decision to create an effective voice for boarding schools.

A historic meeting was held at Inderlok Hotel on 20th August, 2021, where the name ‘Boarding Schools Association of India’ was adopted along with a logo and a constitution. The Decagon blue logo representing ten founding schools was designed by Rashid Sharfuddin. The founding Schools and founding members came together to form an interim Board of Management which comprised Dr Jagpreet Singh of Doon, General Surendra Kulkarni of Mayo, Capt. AJ Singh of Pinegrove, Vidukesh Vimal of Assam Valley, Prabhakaran Nair of Lawrence Lovedale, Madhav Saraswat of Scindia, as also Jayant Lal, Vinay Pande, Former Head of Lawrence School Sanawar and the former Head of Daly College, Dr Sumer Singh.

Jayant’s proposal to invite Sumer as President was unanimously endorsed and the remaining office bearer slots were filled by AJ as VP, Rashid as Honorary Secretary and Jagpreet as Treasurer.

The aims and objectives were enumerated:

<ol>
	<li>To become a voice for boarding schools and to promote the concept of such schools and advocate the advantages they offer in terms of character building, leadership training, equality, secularism, self- discipline, self- confidence, and genuine and life- long friendships and loyalties. The emphasis is on transformational education.</li>
	<li>To go beyond mere teacher training and to provide certified professional development, in the context of pastoral care and student safety, to Heads, Deputies, HOD’s, HM’s, Matrons, Tutors, Teachers. This not only ensures the best care for students but also creates opportunities for professional growth for members of the staff.</li>
	<li>With a healthy blend of schools, geographically and culturally, of legacy schools and newer schools, there are opportunities for sharing best practices and mentorship.</li>
	<li>Student and teacher exchanges to forge cultural awareness and friendships across the length and breadth of India.</li>
	<li>Opportunities for professional consultancies, education audits and academic enhancement.</li>
	<li>To promote learning for adults and students through workshops, seminars, conferences, publications and non- competitive events.</li>
	<li>To align with a good University and to jointly develop and award professional certificates, diplomas and degrees.</li>
	<li>To promote soft skills and inculcate a sense of service.</li>
</ol>

Whereas the academic and pastoral fraternity welcomed BSAI, it was necessary to allay the doubts that emerged in the minds of a few that BSAI was being positioned against the Indian Public Schools Conference. It was like comparing the Headmasters Conference UK as an adversary of the Boarding Schools’ Association in the UK. Moreover Sumer, AJ and Jagpreet have previously served as Chairmen of the IPSC and continue to be active members of that organization.

The IPSC has its own place in history as it shook the very foundations of the school education scene in India fifty years ago. At the time schools were denominational or designed for professional growth in terms of military service, service in the railways and so on. The education system lacked a liberal education and was designed to encourage followers rather than leaders. The exceptions were the Chiefs’ Colleges which trained for leadership through a diploma in administration.

The Public Schools that emerged were social equalizers based on merit and which imparted a sense of leadership, service and also of adventure. Interaction between the Public Schools was through annual meetings of Heads and for students in competitions on the sports fields and later in cultural activities.

Member schools had to be secular, run by genuine Societies or Trusts and with Heads who served as Secretary on their school Board and had the freedom to appoint and dismiss staff as also admit and rusticate students.

BSAI concerns itself more with professionalizing residential schools and is less concerned with secularism, ownership and competition. This allows schools which have boarding but are denied membership of IPSC to learn from and grow alongside legacy boarding schools. The IPSC and BSAI thus complement each other.

BSAI, once established faced the challenge of all Heads and no officers for them to delegate work to. This handicap was felt most acutely in the growth of the organization. Boarding schools were unsure of how to obtain membership and, after they applied there were often delays in someone visiting them to take their application further. Also, there was no schedule of events for members to incorporate into their own school annual activities calendar.

Sumer requested Surendra to streamline the membership process and requested Vinay to coordinate and maintain standards with regard to workshops and events. There however was no one to ensure the smooth running of the organization as a whole. AJ took on the responsibility to host and run the official website but a website needs regular inputs to be effective and Heads are notorious for procrastinating because of their busy schedules.

In January 2022 Sumer was successful in convincing Bhavin Shah of Education World  (EW) to join the Managing Committee as the Honorary Strategic Advisor. Bhavin’s vast experience and proven abilities as an entrepreneur and financial expert brought new life into the organization. It also elevated credibility.

Bhavin later proposed the appointment of Sapna Sukul as Chief Operating Officer and as the Sumer and AJ were familiar with her potential, she was taken on board. Vinay stepped down from the Managing Committee and was appointed Head of Professional Development. These appointments and their impact gave the Association new impetus.

There was a further challenge to be faced. Schools which were Day schools with a significant number of boarding students started to apply for membership. Siddharth of Emerald Heights International pointed out that his school has five hundred boarders. The Board was seized of the matter and it was felt that we have an obligation to share our expertise with all and even with emerging schools in need of guidance.

Rashid initiated a partnership with BSA, UK, but this did not develop and may be revived at some time in the future. The Secretary of BSAI, UK, who had earlier served as Head of Boxhill School, and who is known to Sumer, explained to him that there is a trend in UK for even legacy Boarding schools to admit Day students to offset the declining demand and also for financial viability. Eventually the Board of BSAI decided to admit Day cum Boarding schools provided a school has a minimum of two hundred boarders. This number was later reduced by fifty in appreciation of the temporary decline in numbers caused by the pandemic.

The mixed schools were however designated as Associate Members without voting rights in and with no representation on the Board in January 2023 at the annual conference jointly hosted at Welham Boys, SelaQui International School and Welham Girls. How sustainable this arrangement is only time will tell. Already the Associate members exceed those that are fully residential.

The 2023 AGM was hosted by an Associate member, Emerald Heights, in Indore and this gave the organization more visibility in Central India. It also gave an opportunity for members to appreciate the infrastructural facilities for which the school has become famous. It was at this Conference that it was resolved that in future conferences Heads should be accompanied by their BSAI reps as it is they who through their networking are in the best position to drive exchanges and also attendance at workshops and seminars.

At the 2024 Conference, which was a grand affair and was hosted by Sanskaar Valley in Bhopal, there was a good turnout of BSAI Reps. The important takeaway from this Conference was the interaction delegates had with students of the second school on campus which provides an excellent and free education to the hundreds children of the less privileged.

The EW-BSAI Education Retreats hosted by Pinegrove and Sanawar in the Himalayas and, later by Sunbeam Lahartara in Varanasi were open to Promoters, Heads and teachers from all schools and from all over India. These were very well attended and full of value from an education point of view.

Further strategic exposure on the significance and value of boarding schools and BSAI to education leaders was provided during the past two EW Awards Ceremonies in Delhi, when BSAI received twenty minutes free slots. These events attract the who’s who in education and BSAI has the opportunity to enhance their understanding of the advantages of a boarding school education. EW, along with Jio, is further helping member schools with secure social media management.

Mr Bhavin Shah, facilitated the implementation of one of the primary objectives of BSAI by bringing together the Association with Professor Dr C Raj Kumar, VC of Jindal Global University. The faculty of the University is now in dialogue with Mr Vinay Pande for the design of curriculum towards the awards of Diplomas and Degrees in the management of pastoral care and safety in education.

Organizations that BSAI is partnering with are MU20 School of Opportunity which organized a 3-day event for BSAI schools in Chitkara University, Education World, AFS for International Exchanges and Life Saving Australia.

The appointment of Sapna Sukul as COO has been of significance because she is well networked and is widely respected. She receives applications and also motivates schools to apply, facilitates visits, helps with generation of reports, and stays in touch with new members. Membership has climbed steadily from twenty-five schools to sixty-four with six awaiting visits. Significantly, the geographical reach has also grown. For the majority of member schools, she is now the face of the organization and is always ready to take on more responsibility.

The 2025 AGM and Conference was hosted in Dehra Dun by The Doon School, Welham Boys and Kasiga, three schools of different vintages and designs, giving members an opportunity to observe and form ideas to implement in their own institutions. The conference was well attended and the BSAI Reps also had an opportunity to interact with and learn from Surendra.

It was at this AGM that the outgoing President, who had served as Returning Officer for the election of the new Managing Committee, announced the results and handed over charge of the organization to the new President Capt AJ Singh. The new Managing Committee has Rashid as VP, Dr Jagpreet as Honorary Secretary and Sangeeta Kain as Treasurer. Continuity and change have been achieved with Surendra continuing on the Committee and the new members inducted are Dr Dinesh Sharma, Monisha Datta of The Doon Girls School, Nishi Mishra of Scindia Kanya Vidyalaya, Vibha Kapoor of Welham Girls School and Mona Khanna of Unison.

It was resolved to accept the offers of Mayo College to host the Conference in 2026 and of SSVM Mettupalayam and Lawrence Lovedale in the Nilgiris to be the next venue of the EW-BSAI Education Summit. EW has once again offered BSAI a twenty-minute slot at the next Awards Ceremony in October.

S.No	Menu Name	SubMenu Name	Section Heading	Sort Order
1	ABOUT US	Welcome To BSAI	Introduction	1
2	ABOUT US	History & Mission	History of Boarding Schools Association of India (BSAI)	2
3	ABOUT US	History & Mission	Mission Statement	3
4	ABOUT US	History & Mission	Objectives	4
5	ABOUT US	Residential Schools	Meaning	5
6	ABOUT US	Residential Schools	Benefits of Residential Schools	6
7	ABOUT US	BSAI Rules And Regulations	1. TYPES OF BSAI MEMBERSHIPS FOR SCHOOLS AND INDIVIDUALS	1
8	ABOUT US	BSAI Rules And Regulations	2. FULL and ASSOCIATE MEMBERSHIP	2
9	ABOUT US	BSAI Rules And Regulations	3. PROCEDURE FOR ENROLMENT FOR MEMBERSHIP	3
10	ABOUT US	BSAI Rules And Regulations	4. TERMINATION/CESSATION OF MEMBERSHIP	4
11	ABOUT US	BSAI Rules And Regulations	5. MEMBERSHIP FEES:	5
12	EVENTS	Professional Development Programs		15
13	MEMBERSHIP	Membership Criteria	Definition of Criteria of Membership for Schools	12
14	MEMBERSHIP	Membership Criteria	ADMISSION:	13
15	SERVICES	Store & Services	Store & Services	11
16	SERVICES	Advisory Services	Workshops and Support	7
17	SERVICES	Advisory Services	Pastoral Care Workshops	10
18	SERVICES	Advisory Services	Student Leadership	11
19	SERVICES	Support Services	Support Services	8
20	SERVICES	Support Services	Teacher Training Workshops	9
21	SERVICES	Support Services	Setting up Residential School	12
22	SERVICES	Support Services	Evolution of Pastoral Setup	13