Sprawling campus, quality education

Sprawling campus, quality education
These localities have large areas for institutions to set up a campus that offers the luxury of space
The Times of India

Call the road from Yelahanka to Whitefield the schooling district of the Silicon Valley or by any other name. But with dozens of schools and colleges setting up in these areas, Bangalore east, is definitely the belt many educational institutions are preferring. With three Kendriya Vidyalayas, Vidyaniketan, Vidyashilpa, Ryan International, Mallya Aditi International School, Air Force School, Seshadripuram PU College, MEC Composite PU College, Shrishti school of design and technology, a host of polytechnics and shifting soon, the Canadian School - there is no doubt that the huge expanse available to schools is pulling them to this stretch.

What is also definite is that while these areas were considered rural, not any more with the Devanahalli airport coming up and the kind of infrastructure planned for the neighbourhood areas. Most institutes housed here boast of large football fields, swimming pools, amphitheatre, golf course, skating rink and more. And why not? With the large area that the schools and colleges occupy, providing these facilities come part and parcel of being away from the city center.

As principal of Ryan International, Gauthmi Ramesh puts it, "the action is going to shift to Yelahanka soon, with the international airport coming up. Before we chose this site to set up our school, the management conducted a survey about the future scenario of this locality. Yelahanka will soon have a lot to offer".

This school, spread over six acres, has a swimming pool and other spaces for recreational facilities. "In a school like ours, we have students from places like Doddaballapur. We have students coming from elite families. With most other schools on the entire stretch till Whitefield being 'white elite' institutions our school has a mix of students", Gauthmi added.

Similarly, in case of the Canadian School that is at present in Sahakaranagar, the decision to move arose from the need for a larger campus. "We have been in Sahakaranagar since 1996, but the decision to shift to a new campus in Yelahanka was taken by the management because of the huge acreage available there", says the school's Director (Development) Penny Ebraham.

The other obvious reason being that the stretch is a lowpollution zone and relatively free of traffic jams. The nouveau Canadian school will occupy 14 acres in Yelahanka and will offer its students large spaces for non-academic activities. "With the area being low in pollution, we believe that the atmosphere will be conducive for children to study. Of course moving out from one acre to 14 acres will allow us to provide a lot of space for various activities", added Ebraham.

Bangalore East boasts of some of the well-known educational institutions that are less than 20 years old. As most schools reason, "initially, the idea was to set up in a locality where large areas of land was available. But with the pace Bangalore is growing, we will soon also become the hub, not a suburb".