VIBGYOR Group of Schools is a chain of schools, the first of which was established in 2004 in Goregaon, Mumbai, India. Under the leadership of Rustom Kerawalla, Founder Chairman of the Institution, the VIBGYOR Group has opened 39 schools in fourteen major cities. VIBGYOR Group's educational institutions include pre-schools under the name of VIBGYOR Kids and primary and secondary schools under the name of VIBGYOR High. VIBGYOR High offers a choice between the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education, Central Board of Secondary Education, International General Certification of Secondary Education and A-level, depending on the school chosen. These schools have a 1:10 teacher-student ratio on average.
Schools
The first VIBGYOR High school was established in 2004, at Goregoan West, Mumbai, India. As of July 2018, the institution owns 39 schools across India.
* This school has two separate buildings- one for grades 3-12 which is Vibgyor High and one for grades Nursery- 2 which is Vibgyor Kids. They are located in close proximity to each other.
Vibgyor High achieved 100% results in 2015, across schools in Mumbai, Pune, Vadodara and Bangalore ICSEClass 10 examinations. In 2015, the number of students who took the Class ten boards from several schools across India was around 1.59 lakh with a pass percentage of 98.49%. Of the 253 students, who appeared for the examinations this year from Vibygor High, 40% from across centres scored more than 90% marks, while 93% achieved distinction. VIBGYOR High Group of Schools has been awarded in two categories – ‘Best Operational Excellence in K12 Educational Institutes’ and ‘Award for Quality in Education’ at the World Education Congress 2016, held at Taj Lands End, Mumbai. Ashish Tibdewal, CEO & CFO, VIBGYOR High Group of Schools received the award on behalf of the institution from Lytou Bouapao, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Education and Sports, Lao PDR. VIBGYOR Group of schools was awarded with the “K-12 School Chain of the year” in the west zone and “Best Sport Empowerment” awards at the 5th Annual Indian Education Congress 2015, held in New Delhi. Vibygor High School, Goregaon and Vibygor High School, Malad were ranked at No. 1 and No. 2 in the Zone D region of Mumbai, respectively. Both the schools have also been ranked at No. 8 and No. 10 respectively amongst the Top 19 Schools in the Mumbai region. Vibygor High was selected from over 500 schools, which were shortlisted. The survey was conducted by Times Group, in partnership with i3 Research Consultants to determine the top schools in each zone in Mumbai. The team conducted an exhaustive sample survey of 910 across seven zones of Mumbai.
Student achievements
Arjun Badshah of Vibgyor High reached to pre-quarters with 21-10 in the Boys' U-12 Round of the CCI-MSSA inter-school badminton tournament. Rajvarshan S B of Vibgyor High won the state chess competition in the year of 2017 and had reached to National tournament in the same year.
Controversies
Student's expulsion and MNS protests
In 2010, Maharashtra Navnirman Sena activists allegedly ransacked Vibgyor High School in Mumbai, protesting against the expulsion of a female student at the Goregaon school, reportedly because her mother had led morchas against the fee hike effected by the school.
Principal of Pune school held for land scam
In 2013, the principal of Vibgyor High Pune and her spouse were arrested in Hyderabad for allegedly trying to sell defence land to a Hyderabad-based education trust for Rs 18.5 crore, claiming to be the owners.
Pune School directed to refund fees on cancellation of admission
A consumer forum in Pune ordered Pune-based Vibgyor High School to refund the entire fees upon cancellation of admission to the father of two children besides paying a compensation of Rs 10,000.
Bangalore rape incident
On 2 July 2014, a six-year-old female student was allegedly raped by two staff members of Vibgyor High School, Marathahalli, Bangalore. A medical examination confirmed the girl was sexually abused. The incident triggered large-scale protests in Bangalore and across India. Eight staff members were detained by police in connection with the incident. The Bangalore Police initially arrested a skating instructor at the school, although he was later released as innocent. Two gym teachers at the school were then arrested for the crime a couple of weeks later. Charges of gang rape were filed against the two in October. Following the rape incident, Karnataka government transferred Bangalore City Police Commissioner Raghavendra Auradkar. The chairman of the chain of schools, Rustom Kerawala, was arrested on 23 July 2014 on charges of intentionally suppressing information about the rape. He was later released on bail, and charges were filed in October 2014 under The Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act.
Refusal to refund fees
Several parents moved their children to other schools due to the lack of accountability shown by Vibgyor management. The Department of Public Instruction has directed the controversy-hit Vibgyor High School in Marathahalli to refund the full amount to the parents who opt to take their children out of the school. Several parents complained that even after the DPI order, the school was denying refund of the amount.
Vibgyor high school bus takes alone girl student 15 kms away from home
On October 7, 2019, a school bus of Vibgyor high NIBM Road failed to drop a girl student at her home. Instead, thebus took the girl 15 km away from home with only her, the bus attendant and the bus driver in it. When the girl didn't reach home on scheduled time, panicked parents of the girl tried to contact the school and the concerned authorities in order to find out the location of the bus. However, they were not able to locate the bus. Neither were they able to contact the bus driver or the bus attendant. Meanwhile, the girl realised that the bus had missed her drop and brought this to the notice of the bus attendant and the driver. But the duo didn't pay a heed and continued on their pre-decided route instead of turning back. They didn't even bother to inform the school or tried getting back to the girl's drop location. The girl was petrified as she didn't know where she had reached, where the bus was heading with these two unknown people, why they didn't pay any heed or why were they not taking any action. This incident caused the girl to freak out and traumatised her. Finally, when the attendant managed to receive the call from the girl's mother, they disclosed that the bus had missed the drop due the lapse in management which was later found out to be untrue. The real reason was total carelessness on part of the bus driver, attendant and coordinator who didn't do their duty well. As soon as the contact between the bus attendant and the girl's mother happened, the parents asked the driver and the attendant to not move the bus any further. Later, the parents reached the spot as disclosed by the attendant and picked the girl from there.
Viva
VIVA is the annual cultural festival of VIBGYOR Group of Schools. The latest VIVA was named -Viva La Vida. Usually, VIVA has carnivals, sports and performing arts competitions. Students of different branches meet to celebrate the inter-school festival.
Sport and performing arts: SPA
The school has a separate department of faculty and teachers, for its co-curricular program- SPA. Students can avail a range of sports, athletics and performing arts like cricket, football, drama, music, skating, swimming, etc.
