bangalore switzerland is antiquated dehra dun passe the new breed of youngsters studying at international schools are flocking to bangalore home to more than five international schools bangalore with its it and knowledge capital tag and salubrious climate is turning a favourite destination for education trusts to set up multicultural international schools with the indian culture intactthe international school bangalore tisb jain international residential school jirs indus international school iis bgs international residential school mallya aditi international school mais and the canadian school of india have been attracting students from all over the country and as far as germany africa iran japan thailand korea malaysia the middle east and neighbouring bangladesh they make up nearly 40 per cent of the student population at such schools nri students form a large chunk too with indianborn parents wanting their children to keep in touch with their culture we are an international salad bowl with students representing 31 nationalities in our school we now attract students from europe who are moving away from the rough culture that has grown into schools in switzerland and uk dr bindu hari director of tisb told the sunday times of india bangalores it industry employees also favour such schools for their kids celebrities and sports personas from all over the country are not far behindthough bangalore is a melting pot of various cultures the indian culture is the focus point of many international schools in the city modernination with cultural ethos and a focus on tradionality is our philosophy says ranjeev raghavan principal of jirs many of their students hail from business families who study management courses before they take over the family empire the food we serve is pure vegetarian and aarthi bhajans and rig vedic chanting is part of the daily routine parents from other countries who have been influenced by the indian experience send their kids to our school so that they learn indian culture adds raghavaninternational schooling becomes crucial for students who use it as a stepping stone to international university education it gives a grounding in the researchbased and analytical system of education required in college a reason why many bangalorebased partents too send their children to such international schools the international baccalaureate ib system is much sought after it is a gold card for those who want to study in universities abroad it is a stringent system and researchbased says dr bindu hari many of their students have gone on to carnegie mellon university london school of economics and other prestigious instiutions abroadindus international school has building leadership as its usp faculty act as facilitators in the process the 15 teacherstudent ratio ensures close interaction and attention many parents of our students come from the upper middle class some are salaried employees many of the parents have been exposed to an international education themselves or have been impressed with such a system abroad says capt unnikrishnan managing trustee of iisfashion guru prasad bidappa whose wife is one of the