NWAC Board Affiliation - Making Your School Global

What is the school leadership thinking when they choose to apply for affiliation with a School Board? Do they take into account the academic capability of students, paying capacity of parents, ease of enrolling more students, ease of hiring teachers and many more such factors? Do they deploy first hand research & time to figure out which Board is best for realizing their school’s vision and purpose?

As a survey conducted by NWAC’s Regional Office team with leadership and board members of 23 schools across India suggests, the decision to apply for affiliation from a particular board is based on qualitative factors and perception of the leadership and not on any quantitative research & data-analysis.

Leaders of most schools tend to go with the flow and end up choosing CBSE or State Boards in most cases. As a part of the same survey, respondents also mentioned that they would have been open to explore the possibilities of affiliation from other school boards, if there was someone to provide them a detailed data-driven analysis of all valid school boards. Additionally, they also remarked that they are still eager to explore other affiliations, provided they find a fitment of the school with the prospective affiliation and are clear about the advantages of an additional affiliation.

Acceptance here is primarily based on the willingness to add more to the bouquet of programs and affiliations, without disturbing the existing components at the school. This is where NWAC differentiates itself from most other valid School Boards. NWAC believes that they should build upon what the school currently has, and indeed provide the school with additional methods to enhance its prestige and reach, without really making the school compromise on what it has actually built and achieved. Some of the keys to why school leadership feel motivated to apply for NWAC High School Program affiliation for their existing school are based upon:

1. Minimal disturbance in existing scenario and programs

2. Addition of quality standards as part of school operations and ethos

3. Ease of transition between various school programs

4. Clear and well-documented process of affiliation with early permissions for enrolment

5. Regular support, guidance & training from NWAC through its Regional Office

6. Minimal requirements for additional teachers & academic infrastructure

NWAC American High School Program is the primary driver of NWAC’s growth in India. This program has a unique design and structure which is beneficial for schools and students. Schools find great value in the fact that NWAC affiliation procedure is based on evaluating the current ‘shape & form’ of the school, rather than on prescribing how a school should be. Hence, NWAC affiliation for a school is always a ‘plus-plus’ scenario because schools don’t really have to think from scratch. Moreover, NWAC American High School Program curriculum has similarities with CBSE curriculum, and can be delivered by primarily the same set of teachers with some additional training & guidance which the NWAC Board officials provide.

The benefits of NWAC affiliation aren’t just limited to the above. There is a long list which one has to take time to study and analyze. The conclusion of the analysis is more likely to resonate with what a principal of NWAC affiliated school in Punjab remarks, “NWAC affiliation made complete sense for my school. It is probably the best affiliation for all kinds of schools who want to create a sustainable growth path for their school as well as for the students. I would strongly recommend every school leader to give it a serious thought.”

At NWAC Regional Office in Delhi, applications and enquiries for new affiliations are coming in scores since they first announced such opportunity 2 months ago. For schools, this could be a huge game-changer.