First time in 82 yrs, girls walk into Campion School

Mumbai : The Campion all-boys school, which welcomed little girls into its hallowed halls for the first time after adopting the co-education (co-ed) format of schooling, saw children enter dressed as their favourite animals on their first day of school, on Monday.Little boys and girls sat together on tiny desks and chairs for the first time in the school’s 82-year history. They sat twiddling and fidgeting on their new desks and chairs as the class teacher tried to get them to sing along to a song.The school conducted a ceremonial walk with the kindergarten children walking hand in hand with Prashant Narnaware, secretary to the Governor of Maharashtra, and Deputy Commissioner of Police Ragasudha R.

The school has newly built a wing that will cater to the newly gender-mixed classes for nursery and junior kindergarten grades, even as the senior kindergarten continues to be a boys-only class.

The change has been years in the making, and this old and famous institution of the city is taking things slowly. Principal Sarah Thomas said, “As the current batch of nursery and junior kg moves to higher classes, those will be upgraded to the co-ed format.”

The nursery and junior kindergarten classes will also have a new board affiliation and curriculum, with the school adopting the Cambridge Early Years Curriculum.TOI had earlier reported about the institution’s intention to move to co-education classes. “We believe that starting co-education from the early years fosters empathy, collaboration, and mutual respect — values that are essential in today’s world,” said the principal on the shift.

“It has been three years of consultations and deliberations with our board, teachers, alumni network, and the Jesuit community before we reached this day.

” When asked why the school decided to take in girls now after so many years, she said, “It really required concentrated and cohesive effort.”Shah Rukh Contractor, former chairman of the school’s governing council, said, “When we were deciding to start co-education, we had a choice between the Cambridge Board and the International Board. We decided to join the Cambridge board as we wanted to serve a larger section of society with more value-for-money education.”As Campion School embraces co-education, it decides to change with the times, blending tradition with inclusivity, preparing students to thrive in a diverse and evolving world.