Kanakia International School

In Brief

Kanakia is the standout IB option for families in the Chembur-Ghatkopar corridor who do not want to commute to BKC or the western suburbs. The results - a 45/45 IBDP in 2023 and two IGCSE World Toppers - are real, and a class size of 20 at these fees is a genuine differentiator in Mumbai.

Chembur gets overlooked in most Mumbai international school searches because the conversation centres on BKC and the western suburbs. Kanakia fills that gap for families based east of the Sion-Panvel corridor. Times Survey has ranked it 2nd among IB schools in Mumbai, and the results bear that out: in 2023, Arsh Thakur scored a perfect 45/45 in the IB Diploma - one of 179 students globally out of nearly 180,000 candidates. Two IGCSE Mathematics World Toppers (Aadhya Shetty and Pratham Mehta) add to a pattern that is not luck. The IB continuum runs from Early Years through Diploma, with Cambridge IGCSE embedded at Grades 9-10.

Class sizes cap at 20 across all year groups, with a 1:6 student-teacher ratio for IB. At those numbers, teachers know individual students - their pace, their patterns, their weak subjects - and the school's inquiry-driven model has space to function as intended. The NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge 2024 Rookie of the Year award is unusual for an Indian school and reflects a serious STEM culture. The music programme has performed at Mahindra Blues Festival and Mahindra Independence Rock, which is a level of external engagement you do not see at most Mumbai schools. Transport covers Chembur, Ghatkopar, Sion, Vikhroli, and Wadala.

Fees are not listed on the school website. Third-party data puts annual fees in the INR 2.15-4.3 lakh range, with a one-time admission fee of INR 95,000. At that level it is among the more affordable full IB schools in Mumbai, but confirm current rates directly. The Chembur location is a practical constraint for families in South Mumbai, BKC, or the western suburbs - the commute eastward from those areas on the Sion-Panvel route is real, particularly at drop-off times.