DLRC School
A small, experiential learning farm in Baner that channels its students toward Cambridge exams, suited to families who want progressive primary years over a conventional board.
In brief
A small, experiential learning farm in Baner that channels its students toward Cambridge exams, suited to families who want progressive primary years over a conventional board.
DLRC, the Drive Change Learning and Resource Centre, opened in 2015 when Mona and Ajay Dalmia and Pavan Iyengar began coaching their own daughter for Cambridge IGCSE in a rented bungalow. It has since grown to roughly 300 students on a mango-farm campus in the Sus-Baner hills, with mixed-age classrooms, a low facilitator ratio, and a head-heart-hand philosophy built around gardens, design labs, and social-impact projects. Children learn through an in-house experiential and inquiry programme up to Grade 8, then move onto Cambridge IGCSE in Grades 9-10 and Cambridge AS and A Level in Grades 11-12. The model fits parents who prize creativity, nature, and self-direction over textbook drilling, and who are comfortable with a school that runs unlike a mainstream CBSE or ICSE institution. Composite fees run from about INR 178,500 in the early years to INR 285,000 in the senior grades, before transport, trips, and exam costs.
Fees
Annual fees
| Year level | Age | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| Nursery composite fee | 4 | ₹178,500 |
| LKG composite fee | 5 | ₹198,000 |
| UKG composite fee | 6 | ₹198,000 |
| Classes 1-8 composite fee | 10 | ₹260,000 |
| Classes 9-12 composite fee | 15 | ₹285,000 |
Reviews
Families drawn to DLRC tend to love the unconventional, outdoors-first texture of the place: children growing food, running projects, learning across age groups rather than rows of desks. The friction shows up around structure and management rather than the experience itself, and the shift from an in-house early-years programme to formal Cambridge exams in the senior years is the part parents most often weigh.
Positives
- Experiential, nature-based learning. Parents describe children visibly enjoying hands-on work like Farm-to-Table cooking and garden projects on the farm campus, with mixed-age classrooms and a head-heart-hand approach.
- Senior-grade academics. Some parents report positive feedback on the A Level teaching once children reach the Cambridge years.
Considerations
- Management and transparency. A recurring strand of complaint frames the school as run too much like a business, with parents alleging poor communication and a wave of withdrawals in one earlier year; treat as historic but persistent enough to ask about.
- Workload and the curriculum jump. The transition from a relaxed experiential primary into a demanding Cambridge secondary is flagged by some as a sharp jump, with daily study and homework hours described as heavy in the upper grades.
Leadership
Meenakshi Dalmia
Meenakshi Dalmia cofounded DLRC in 2015 and has been at the heart of its educational vision and philosophy. She shapes DLRC’s pedagogy and curriculum, leads professional development, and creates the systems and processes that ensure a dynamic, holistic learning environment for the community. She facilitates classes in Environment Management and career dialogue. Meenakshi holds a Masters in Education from Boston University and an MSc in Ecology and Sustainability from Pune University. She also has a Diploma in Waldorf Education, a Diploma in Child Brain Development, and is a certified Cambridge teacher development leader. She draws inspiration from travelling, trekking, writing, dancing and films. Her curiosity for ideas and the world continues to fuel her commitment to transformative education.