“SelaQui education is about excellence and leadership. It is about promoting universal human values and about having a happy school where students participate in all major decision making,” says Rashid Sharfuddin, Headmaster of SelaQui International School, Dehradun and alumnus of St. Stephens College and University of Bath. At SelaQui, learning is about the whole person. Our education prepares students for life: developing mind, body and spirit based on educational rigour and academic excellence. The school motto “Strive To Lead” encapsulates this school philosophy very beautifully.
Modelled on English boarding schools and founded in 2000, it has one of the finest boarding facilities and sports infrastructure, including all weather air-conditioned boarding houses, golf course and well-equipped equestrian centre besides all major sports. The school is open to boys and girls from classes 5 to 12 and is a fully residential CBSE school. “The biggest strength of the school is its small student community and a very spacious campus, which allows us to focus on every child and nurture them,” informs Om Pathak, Chairman of the board as well as of DPSG society. With a student and teacher ratio of 6:1, the school can pay attention to the needs of a growing child 24*7. “We believe in creating and nurturing an environment where a child is free to explore, experiment and learn”, he further adds.
Sports Facilities:
To promote skills at games, each student is motivated to develop individual proficiency in at least one sport - athletics, table-tennis, lawn tennis, swimming, shooting, badminton, golf, horse riding - and be a part of one team sport like football, volleyball, basketball or cricket.
Facilities for Psychological/ Mental Development:
The school has a resident counselor, and a special educator to work with students on appropriate socio-affective development and other adolescence issues. The school library is also well stocked with over 10,000 books and journals as well as access to e-learning.
Facilities for Scholastic and Co-scholastic Developments:
The labs, library, workshops, resource centre and classrooms are well equipped. Adult literacy, fire-fighting, tree-planting, selling crafts for charity and a concern for the environment are some of the social initiatives that every student is a part of.
Hostel Facilities:
The students live in six boarding houses divided into four ‘House’ systems. All boarding houses are equipped with all-weather ACs and 24*7 hot water.
Safety and Health Measures:
Safe and secure campus with 24*7 camera surveillance. All students’ health records are maintained in a 15-bed infirmary, manned by a resident doctor and two nurses.
Some of the best academic practices followed in the school are:
Goal Setting: At the beginning of an academic year, each child sits with his/her tutor and set goals for the coming year.
Harkness Table Method: It is a method involving students seated around an oval table to discuss ideas and encourage open-minded environment with minimum intervention of teacher. The onus is on students to take charge of their learning.
Remedial Classes: Remedial classes are provided to the students in the subject areas where the child is not able to perform according to the expected standard of the class.
Academic Support Classes: Apart from remedial classes for the low academic achievers, academic support classes are conducted in the evening to provide an extended academic support to those who fail in two or more subjects or score an aggregate of less than 50 per cent in the tests.
Awards and Scholarships: To motivate and encourage the young minds to excel in academics, they are awarded with scholarships and are honoured with academic achievement awards every year.
Scholar Blazer: To promote learning and to support academic growth, ‘Scholar Blazer’ is awarded to the students who demonstrates keenness for learning and excel at various academic fronts.
Reading Awards: To inculcate reading habits among students, the students are awarded with reading awards upon qualifying the criteria laid down for the receipt of the award followed by an interview with the academic head and the headmaster.
Use of Technology: Our classes are equipped with smart boards and our teachers make optimal use of this facility as a part of classroom transaction to make teaching-learning process more engaging and enjoyable.
Faculty Development Programme: SelaQui has taken advantage of much of global research and has attempted to adapt it to the Indian requirements. Apart from various workshops and seminars conducted throughout the year, SelaQui has the best professional development program mes for the teachers.
Headmaster’s Quote:
As the motto of the school “Strive to Lead” suggests, our priority is to inculcate leadership qualities in students. Mere focus on career goals, where the self is put before everything else, can only be a very limiting goal. We need people who will rise above narrow mindedness and expand the ambits of their personalities to become effective leaders.