Country’s 1st Ruskin Bond International School to open in Vadodara today

The RBIS brand was launched in January this year in Mussoorie to mark the author’s 91st birthday year.

Ruskin Bond spent six growing up years of his life in Jamnagar in Gujarat, where his father ran a school for the
royal family.

He tells The Indian Express, “We only left Jamnagar when World War II broke out… I was sent to a boarding school. I have fond memories of my childhood in Kathiawar… I have not lived in Vadodara but I remember passing through the city several times. It is a city with a history, a culture of its own and a very vibrant part of Gujarat and of India. It is an ideal place… I am so happy that the school is starting in Gujarat and in Vadodara.” The pre-school will open in the Gotri area of Vadodara. The curriculum is being designed under the guidance of Shah, who has been into schooling and academics since 1986, the content for which will be approved by the Bonds.

While several of Bond’s characters and stories will become part of the curriculum that is being “painstakingly curated”, a popular Bond character, Rusty — from The Adventures of Rusty, based on Bond’s own childhood experiences growing up in Dehradun — will be brought to life in the pre-primary classrooms.

Colourful classrooms painted in the themes of mountains, inspired by many of Bond’s stories, as well as rainbows and a library designed on a “treasures from the ocean” theme, the school aims to be a trendsetter for storytelling and academics.
Vadodara-based Sharma says Siddharth Bond, in a meeting in Goa, expressed interest in starting schools based on stories written by his grandfather.

“It was also his way of wanting to preserve the legacy of Ruskin Bond. Since we (Sharma and Shah) are already associated with schools and students, we took the opportunity to partner for this venture,” says Sharma.

With plans to expand into a K-12 school model and multiple schools across the country, Sharma said RBIS will ensure outdoor learning.

Ruskin Bond says “This project was a vision of my grandson, Siddharth Bond. I hope there will be more schools… Over the years, human civilisation has put nature on the back foot. It has gone out of its way to trample on it, in a way. As a result, we are the ones who have suffered — climatically and in many other ways. Nature education is an essential part of our all-round education. I will be very happy if it is a part of the teaching that will take place in this school and
in others.”

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