Above: Brampton. Below: Malton.
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Toronto Area's Two Sikh Schools Ranked Province of Ontario's Top Schools
JENNY YUEN (TORONTO SUN) & BRAMPTON GUARDIAN
Two Sikh Private schools in the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada -- located in Brampton and Mississauga, respectively -- have scored top rankings in the annual Fraser Institute report card.
The Khalsa Community School in Brampton and Khalsa School Malton were ranked with the highest listed for the Province of Ontario in the Fraser Institute’s annual Report Card on Ontario’s Elementary Schools.
The report, released on Monday, February 3 2014, ranks more than 3,000 public and Catholic schools as well as a small number of private schools in the province.
Rankings are based on results from Ontario’s annual Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) tests.
In ranking schools this year, the Fraser Institute noted students in some schools are able to succeed despite economic and personal challenges.
The independent research organization said the report shows that despite similar student characteristics, some schools thrive while others struggle.
Mississauga’s St. Timothy Catholic School was the Dufferin-Peel Catholic Board’s highest placed school with a rank of 39th.
Mississauga’s Miller’s Grove Public School, which ranked 118th, was the Peel District School Board’s highest-ranking school.
Holy Spirit Catholic School, which ranked 185th, was the Catholic board’s highest ranking Brampton school.
The Peel board’s highest ranking school in Brampton was Mount Royal Public School, which ranked 931st.
Plowman’s Park Public School was the Peel board’s lowest ranking school in Mississauga, at 2,465th. St. Clare Catholic School, ranked 2,385th, was the lowest ranked Catholic school in Mississauga.
Bishop Francis Allen, at 2,580th, was the lowest ranking Brampton school for the Catholic board. Robert J. Lee Public School, ranked 2,329, was the lowest ranked Peel board school in Brampton.
The Fraser Institute insists presenting the data in this form allows parents and school boards to compare academic performance and address questions about why one school is doing better than another.
“By pinpointing the subject areas where individual schools improve or decline, and by demonstrating how a school’s academic performance compares to other Ontario schools, our report helps educators help kids be more successful in the classroom,” said Peter Cowley, co-author of the report card.
The annual ranking report includes information about each school’s make-up -- including the average parental income, the percentage of ESL students and the percentage of special needs students.
Local school boards and the EQAO have expressed opposition to the comparative ranking done by the institute. Board administrators have said there are other factors, beyond the test results used in the report, that should be considered when looking at school success rates.
School boards have argued ranking local schools solely on provincial test scores creates just a partial picture of academic performance levels.
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Before they go to class, they go to the gurdwara (the Sikh place of worship).
The 360 students at Khalsa School Malton sit in neatly-formed rows at 8:30 a.m. in the gurdwara adjoined to their school, and for 20 minutes, one of their administrators recites a prayer in Punjabi.
“The values are so strong,” said Surinder Kaur, director of human resources at the school. “Our students are very alert. It’s honest living, praying to God and modern values -- these are the values I try to instil in them.”
Khalsa School Malton ranked a perfect 10 in this year’s Fraser Institute Elementary School Report Card.
According to 2012-2013 EQAO scores, Grade 6 students scored 100% in all three categories of reading, writing and math, while Grade 3 students were 100% in writing and math and 96% in reading.
“We really focus on reading comprehension and seeing if they actually understand the different strategies for reading, writing and different math concepts,” said Grade 3 teacher Sandeep Kaur. “We really focus on the groundwork to being able to understand newer concepts.”
When this private Sikh religious school opened its doors in 2011, it only had an enrolment of 42 students from junior kindergarten to Grade 12, with tuition of $4,000 per student.
Now, interest is beginning to pick up, not only from the Brampton area, but also India and the United States.
“We have a reasonable number of students in a classroom -- no more than 25,” said Dr. Sarvjit Singh, who works alongside his wife Surinder. “They learn Sikh values, so that’s why we don’t have any discipline problems. We do involve the parents a lot. The students do extra practice.”
Khalsa School Malton is also the first International Baccalaureate Sikh school in North America.
Besides small class sizes, Sarvjit said, having a tight community also helps student success thrive. Older siblings of elementary school students may also attend the school. And, because there is an emphasis on Sikh culture in many classes, it builds the feeling of being in a family.
In Dr. Amandeep Singh’s Grade 6 music class, 10 students sit barefoot in a circle playing musical instruments. Some practice the harmonium, while others play Tabla drums, keyboards and sitars while chanting “shabad” religious hymns. All students in the school will get a chance to perform during the morning prayer, which is broadcast on public access TV.
For an earlier story on The Khalsa Community School in Brampton, please CLICK here.
February 3, 2014
Conversation about this article
1: Harinder (Punjab), February 03, 2014, 2:00 PM.
Congratulations to the two school committees and administrations. Hope some of these school kids grow up to win Nobel Prizes. Thank you, dear Canada. God bless Canada.