Sloka opened its doors as the first Waldorf School in India in 1997. Ever since, the initiative has been constantly growing, currently providing Steiner Education for 376 children from nursery to grade 10. The school is located in Hyderabad, a city right at the heart of the country and has just moved into its new school building designed by German architects Tietz & Tietz. Furthermore the school has been listed among the top 15 Indian day schools.

The Education Renaissance Trust – a group of teachers and concerned parents, who shared a dream about their children, founded Sloka. Their aim was to start a school that had a deeper understanding of the child. As the Trust searched for a well-proven educational philosophy, the Steiner Waldorf School seemed to be the right answer.

In Indian state schools, formal education usually begins for children at the age of 3. In Waldorf Education this is the time when children still playfully discover the world. Convinced by this principle it was clear to the parent group that formal education should only begin at the age of 6-7 years. Furthermore it was very important to the group that the curriculum incorporates the Indian culture and tradition.

As a first step the trust began with lectures and teacher training under the guidance of Tina Bruinsma and two years later, the Sloka Waldorf School became a reality. In the following years the school added a new grade per year. Despite the fact that Sloka never received any state funds, the initiative received an official state recognition in 2002. In 2010 the school also obtained state permission to carry out the official 10th grade exams. With the new grades 11 and 12 the school is soon to complete the implementation of the full 12-year Waldorf curriculum.

In the Indian Education World survey, Sloka has scored high marks in all twelve educational parameters, which were taken into account. In the fields of parental involvement, co-curricular education and competence of faculty the school has even made the Top 10. 



Suresh Kuppu and Nirmala Diaz founders of Sloka Waldorf School explain why being ranked as number 15 is such an extraordinary success: “First of all it is a breakthrough for Waldorf Education in India, as we are the first school with a Steiner curriculum to be featured in this league table. Another reason is that we are quite a young school, whilst the school ranked as number one already has a history of over 150 years. And finally we were able to establish a successful school with limited financial means in comparison for example to the number two ranked Mallya Aditi School, which is supported by an Indian billionaire.”