Delhi Public School, R. K. Puram

Delhi Public School (DPS), R. K. Puram (often called DPS RKP or RKP) is a co-educational day and boarding public school educating pupils from the 6th to 12th grades, located in the South Delhi district of New Delhi, India. In addition, two separate campuses in Vasant Vihar and East of Kailash comprise the Junior or Elementary School Branch for pupils from Nursery through the 5th grade.

Widely regarded as one of the most prestigious and academically competitive schools in India, DPS R.K. Puram regularly features at the top of various rankings for academic excellence.^[2][3] DPS R.K.Puram is affiliated to the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the country's largest educational board, and is recognized by the Department of Education, Govt. of NCT Delhi and the Ministry of HRD, Govt. of India.^[4] It is also a member of the Indian Public Schools' Conference (IPSC)^[5] and the National Progressive Schools' Conference (NPSC).^[6]

History

Founded as a Public School in 1972 in New Delhi, DPS R.K. Puram is a private institution run by the not-for-profit Delhi Public School Society. Ms. Lathashishtha served as its first Headmistress. It was the second school founded by the Delhi Public School Society, the first being the Delhi Public School at Mathura Road, and today serves as the Society's flagship school.

In 1978, Mr. R. S. Lugani was appointed as the school's first Principal. He served as Principal until 1992, and is credited with pioneering the "DPS R.K. Puram" system, which utilizes a combination of innovative teaching methods and a result oriented curriculum and evaluation system in order to maintain consistently high academic standards. In 1992, Mr. Lugani was awarded the Government of India's fourth highest civilian honour, the Padma Shri award, by then-President of India, R. Venkataraman for his contributions in the fields of Education and Literature.^[7]

Mr. Lugani was succeeded by then-Vice Principal, Dr. (Mrs.) Shayama Chona–an internationally renowned educationist and disability rights activist–who served as the school's Principal from 1992 until her retirement in August 2009. Under her leadership, the school stewarded the establishment of the Tamana Special School, a school for the education of children with special needs.^[8] During her tenure, the school also began admitting students with visual and other impairments. Dr. Chona was conferred with the Padma Shri in 1999, and subsequently with the Government of India's third-highest civilian honour, the Padma Bhushan award in 2008–making her the only educationist to receive two of the country's four highest civilian honors.^[9] In 2002, the school was felicitated at the "Computer Literacy Excellence Awards for Schools" by then-President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam as the "Best School at the State (Delhi) Level" and the second runner-up for the entire country.^[10] After Dr. Chona's retirement from the position of Principal, Dr. D.R. Saini (who graduated from DPS R.K. Puram in 1991) served as Principal through 2015, when he was succeeded by Ms. Vanita Sehgal.

Since its founding, DPS R.K. Puram has maintained its standing as one of the most exclusive selective schools in India.^[11] In 2014, for example, 2,800 applications were received for 140 Nursery school spots this year, yielding an admissions rate of only 5 percent, which–as The New York Times noted–rivals that of top universities in the United States.^[12]

Current Administration

Campus

The school is a day and boarding school with 9,500 students on its rolls.^[4] Although situated in the heart of the upscale South Delhi urban area, DPS R.K. Puram has a sprawling campus of over 12 acres, along with a separate sports campus spread over 6 acres.^[13]

Hostel accommodation is also provided to more than 400 boarders from across the country, with separate hostel facilities for boys and girls.^[14] Competition for a place in one of the hostels is intense and is awarded on a merit-only basis.^[15]

Academics

Academic excellence is at the forefront of the school, with its record-setting results over the past few decades in filtering its student body into the top colleges and professional institutes in India and abroad earning it both national and international acclaim.^[16] Students of DPS R.K. Puram routinely excel in the intensely competitive national (Indian) entrance examinations to the top professional institutes in India. A large number of students go on to attend medical colleges such as AIIMS and JIPMER, engineering colleges such as the IITs and BITS Pilani, and law schools such as National Law School of India University. Graduating students also win places at other noteworthy national colleges such as Lady Shri Ram College for Women, St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, and the Shri Ram College of Commerce. DPS also sends at least 150 students to the most selective undergraduate institutions in the US every year, with many more attending universities in Great Britain, Australia and Singapore.

School Activities

Student Government

The Student Government is headed by Head Boys and Head Girls from the 12th grade, who oversee the Students' Council, the Cultural Society, the Debating Society, the Quizzing Club, the Environment Club and the Social Service League, with each sub-body having a President, a Secretary and Members. There is also an Editorial Board–comprising Editors, Deputy Editors, Art Editors, Special Correspondents and Photo Editors--which publishes the annual school journal, the Dips Diary.^[17]

Clubs and Societies

Extracurricular activities are a compulsory element of the curriculum, and form part of a student's evaluation. There are over forty active clubs and societies, including drama, painting, sculpture, community service, music, senior and junior English debating societies, economics, astronomy, computer science, physics, and robotics. Each society is presided over by a faculty member, and often hosts various guest speakers and experts. Prominent figures and delegations visit the school regularly to interact with the students; these have included heads of state, politicians, artists, writers, diplomats, and industrialists from around the world. Some of the most high-profile clubs on campus include: Aeross (Aerospace Society), Exun^[18] (Tech club), the Interact Club (which also organizes international Model United Nations events), the Debating Society, and the Quizzing Club.

Recent Recognition and Student Accolades

In May 2017, a team of 2 students from the school was awarded the Grand Prize at the 2017 NASA Ames Space Settlement Contest.^[19][20]

In December 2016, DPS R.K. Puram was recognized as "India's Best School for 2016-17" (Jury’s Choice Award) by Education Today, based on various parameters including Academic Reputation, Co-Curricular Education, Sports Education, Holistic Development, Individual Attention, Leadership Quality, Infrastructure, Special Needs Education, Innovative Teaching and Value for Money.^[21]

In 2016, a team of 12 students from the school was felicitated by the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi for their outstanding achievements in the field of aerospace research--including by winning the 2015-16 Asian Regional Space Settlement Design Competition (ARSSDC), and emerging as International Runners-Up in the finals of the International Space Settlement Design Competition held in July 2016 at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida, USA.^[22]

In 2016, the school's Vice-Principal and Head of the Biology Department, Mrs. Anita Singh, was conferred with the prestigious State Award for Teachers for the year 2015-16 by the Directorate of Education.^[23]

Select List of Notable Alumni

Academia

• Priyamvada Natarajan – Professor in the Departments of Astronomy and Physics, Yale University; Guggenheim Fellow.

Business

• Ruchir Sharma – Head, Emerging Markets Equity, Morgan Stanley; international bestselling author of Breakout Nations and The Rise and Fall of Nations.^[24]
• Kunal Bahl – Co-founder and CEO, Snapdeal.
• Rohit Bansal – Co-founder and COO, Snapdeal.
• Harsh Chitale – CEO, HCL Infosystems.
• Aditya Julka – Co-founder and former CEO, Paddle8.

Film Industry

• Randeep Hooda – Bollywood and independent film actor.
• Kriti Sanon – Bollywood actress and model.^[25]
• Maneesh Sharma – Bollywood film director.
• Indrani Dasgupta – Bollywood actor and model.^[26]
• Shilpa Shukla – Bollywood and independent film actress.
• Amol Parashar – Bollywood actor.

Government

• Raghuram Rajan – 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. ^[27]
• Nikhil Kumar – Former Governor of Kerala [2013-14] and Nagaland [2009-2013]; former Delhi Police Commissioner; former Director General, NSG.
• Pravesh Verma – Member, Parliament of India for West Delhi.

TV and Print Media

• Ambika Anand – Anchor, NDTV.
• Ankit Fadia – Host of MTV What the Hack! ^[28]
• Mini Mathur – VJ, MTV.
• Mayank Shekhar – Journalist and Film Critic, Hindustan Times.
• Vishnu Som – Journalist and Prime Time News Anchor, NDTV.
• Vineet Malhotra - TV Anchor and Sports Personality^[29]
• Paaras Zutshi – Reality TV star and winner of Superdude on UTV Bindass.

References

External links

• Official website