Lucknow school sets world record for highest student enrolment in year
Baku, September 18 (AZERTAC). The City Montessori School in Lucknow, India, has been included in the latest edition of Guinness Book of World Records for the highest number of students being enrolled in a year.
It made a record enrolment of 39,437 pupils for the 2010-2011 academic years, the Daily Mail reported.
City Montessori School (CMS), Lucknow is a private school that offers education up to the level of under-graduation, in Lucknow, India. The school was founded in 1959 by Bharti Gandhi and Jagdish Gandhi. In 2012 its enrollment has reached over 45,000 pupils, a world record. CMS is affiliated to the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations. The school has been ranked 6th in the "most respected secondary schools" in India list compiled by IMRB in 2007.
The husband and wife team of Jagdish Gandhi (b. 10 November 1936) and Bharti Gandhi founded the City Montessori School. Born in a poor family in the Barsauli Village in district Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India. Influenced greatly by Mahatma Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave and others, a young and idealistic Jagdish Gandhi ventured in 1959 to create a new mindset through education. With five children on roll, no personal wealth, and the equivalent of Rupees 300/- (US $10) in borrowed capital, Gandhi began his own personal experiment in Lucknow, India, some fifty one years ago in the name of City Montessori School.
In 1959 Bharti Gandhi along with Jagdish Gandhi laid the foundation of Sarvodaya Seva Sansthan, which is a registered body and under the aegis of which all their activities - social, educational and cultural are carried on. Mrs. Gandhi worked as a Psychologist in the U.P. Government Psychology Centre at Lucknow in the years 1957-59. She worked as a lecturer in the Khun Khun Ji Girls Degree College, Lucknow in 1960-61, and was the Principal of Adarsh Shiksha Kendra Inter College, Lucknow in 1961-62.
In 1962 Mrs. Gandhi convened an All India Anti Dowry Conference. She also led a band of selfless women workers to picket liquor shops and explained to alcoholics the evils of drinking. She convened the U.P. Stage Prohibition Conference, the first of its kind in September 1965, which was inaugurated by Shri Morarji Desai. Her devotion to the cause of women's welfare is truly great. In 1965 Mrs. Gandhi organized a Women Workers Conference at Anand Bhawan in Allahabad. This Conference was addressed by Saint Vinoba Bhave. Other issues which are of great interest to Mrs. Gandhi are adult education and national integration. She convened Children and Youth Festivals and Conferences to promote national integration.
CMS was awarded the UNESCO Prize for Peace Education in 2002, the first school in the world to be so honored, in recognition of its efforts "to promote the universal values of education for peace and tolerance at a time when these values are increasingly being challenged". The UNESCO Prize for Peace Education 2002 was awarded to CMS in recognition of its efforts to promote universal values of education for peace and tolerance. The Director-General of UNESCO handed the 2002 UNESCO Prize for Peace Education to Jagdish and Bharti Gandhi, founders of CMS at the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France. In congratulating CMS, Mr Matsuura said, “A school must act as a lighthouse of society, providing direction and guidance, for each child is potentially the light of the world... as a future conscious and proactive member of society.”
CMS students help their local and national communities. They have founded Eco Clubs, hosted environmental seminars, organized tree plantings and clean up projects, and lobbied state legislature for water pollution control.
In recognition of their service and environmental activities, the Commissioner Lucknow division appointed CMS students for monitoring and enforcement of the local air pollution guidelines for vehicle emissions.
DEVI Sansthan - standing for Dignity, Education, Vision, International - is a non profit NGO dedicated to empowering rural/ urban poor and women, CMS students have participated in village literacy programmes and worked side by side with village residents to build roads.
The school is the largest school in the world in terms of pupils. It had a record enrolment of 32,114 pupils on 5 February 2008 for the 2007-2008 academic years. CMS received an updated certificate in October 2010 from the Guinness World Records that stated: "The largest school in terms of pupils is the City Montessori School in Lucknow, India, which had a record enrolment of 39,437 pupils on 9 August 2010 for the 2010-2011 academic years."
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