Sudhanshu Fadnis is the founder-director of Delhi-based KSR Sportseed (KSRS) Pvt. Ltd, a company he promoted in 2012 to offer sports education, training and assessment to schools. A mechanical engineering graduate of MS University, Vadodara and the National Institute of Industrial Engineering, Mumbai, Fadnis acquired plenty of work experience in blue-chip engineering corporates Larsen & Toubro, Atlas Copco and global consultancies KPMG and E&Y, before going solo and promoting KSRS three years ago.
Newspeg. Last November, KSR Sportseed inked an agreement with the Gun for Glory Academy of the Gagan Narang Sports Promotion Foundation, Pune — promoted in 2011 by Olympics 2012 shooting bronze medalist Gagan Narang — to provide training in rifle and pistol shooting in schools. Earlier in October, Sportseed was appointed a partner for sports talent identification by the Gujarat government under its scheme of promoting a dedicated sports school in each district of the state. Thus far, the company has placed 750 talented sportspersons in 16 sports schools in 12 districts statewide. Moreover, in 2013 KSRS signed a consultancy contract with the Rajasthan government for establishing what could be the first exclusive sports education university in India.
History. Established to promote the Olympic ideals in children and youth through sports education, Sportseed, which offers sports syllabuses/curriculums, consultancy, assessment and talent identification services, has signed contracts with 40 schools in ten states. Backed by a team of 60 professionally qualified coaches and trainers including top-ranked players, the company offers education in multiple sports and skills development programmes for children in classes III-VIII. Thereafter, it offers structured courseware for individual as well as team sports in addition to training sports teachers.
Direct talk. “The impact of sports education programmes in education institutions has been negligible and there are glaring performance gaps between school/college, state-level, national and international players. Our sports and fitness programmes are designed to close these gaps. Management of sports clubs, associations and tournaments is another area in which we believe we can make an important contribution,” says Fadnis, an accomplished badminton player who donned Gujarat state colours in the early noughties (1990-95).
Future plans. Buoyed by enthusiastic response to the company’s service offerings, Fadnis has set a target to sign up 500 schools within the next five years. “Currently we are designing new programmes based on the UK and Australian models of sports education and leadership development. This also means we will be using new digital technologies in our operations,” he says.
Keep trucking!
Autar Nehru (Delhi)
Campus solutions provider
Raj Mruthyunjayappa is the Bangalore-based managing director (Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East & Africa) of the Boca Raton (USA)-based Campus Management Corporation (CMC) which offers a complete ERP (enterprise resource planning) solution to over 2,000 higher education institutions in 26 countries. In this capacity, Mruthyunjayappa manages CMC’s business in all geographies except the American continents. An alum of Mysore University with a Masters in computer applications, Mruthyunjayappa acquired valuable professional experience with nGenera Corp, Austin (Texas), Aditi Technologies and Visual Commerce in Seattle, prior to signing up with CMC in 2007.
Newspeg. In April, a national survey conducted by the US-based Tambellini Group adjudged CMC the #1 student information systems vendor in the US. Almost simultaneously CMC acquired the Bangalore-based IDenizen Smartware Pvt. Ltd (IDenizen), a leading developer of ERP-based automation solutions for medium and small education institutions in India.
History. Promoted in Boca Raton, Florida in 1988, CMC provides its ERP and administrative software systems to post-secondary education institutions in 18 countries. Its comprehensive ERP solution includes the first fully online student advisory system and a two-way integration of commercial student administrative systems. In 2008, when CMC acquired the Bangalore-based Talisma Corp whose CRM (customer relationship management) software is used by banks, financial institutions and business organisations in 32 countries worldwide, Mruthyunjayappa relocated to Bangalore to assume additional responsibility as chief executive of the company.
Direct talk. “The higher education market in India is rapidly modernising and becoming customer-conscious, a development well-suited to our solutions portfolio. Institutional users of our end-to-end ERP solution in India aggregate 40 and include IIM-Udaipur, SRM University, Chennai, Educomp-Raffles and the FLAME Academy, Pune, among others,” he says.
Future plans: According to Mruthyunjayappa, a Campus Preparedness Survey covering 500 institutions of higher education conducted by CMC, indicates that India’s higher education sector needs to be urgently enabled by ICT (information communication technologies). “The survey identifies several pain points of higher education institutions with a critical infirmity being low faculty productivity. Our ERP solution which covers the entire gamut of institutional operations, is ideal in the circumstances. We believe there’s a huge latent demand for our ERP in deemed and private universities in particular. Helping them to upgrade their operations, and improving faculty efficiencies and learning outcomes are our prime objectives,” says Mruthyunjayappa.
Fair winds!
Dilip Thakore (Bangalore)
MARG educationist
GRK Reddy is the Chennai-based chairman and managing director of MARG Group (estb. 1994), a thriving infrastructure conglomerate comprising six separate businesses including the 1,000-acre MARG Swarnabhoomi — a unique complex which integrates education, research and industry into a model people, energy and resource-efficient ecosystem. The Swarnabhoomi Academic Institutions (SAI) trust (estb. 2011) comprise the Marg Institute of Design and Architecture Swarnabhoomi (MIDAS); Swarnabhoomi Academy of Music (SAM) and Marg Navjyothi Vidyalaya, a CBSE-affiliated K-12 school.
Newspeg. In February, the SAI trust formally inaugurated the MIDAS Institute of Smart City Planning and Management which offers a one-year postgraduate diploma programme in urban planning and management. The institute is set to admit its first batch this month.
Direct talk. “The existing system of education doesn’t encourage creativity and has little relevance in the 21st century. The objective of the MIDAS Institute is to introduce innovative programmes in civic planning and management by promoting industry-institute collaboration. In SAM, we follow the gurukula system of training which encourages teacher-student interaction inside and outside classroom,” says Reddy.
History. A commerce postgraduate of Nagarjuna University, Guntur, and alumnus of the renowned Kellogg School of Management, USA, Reddy started his career with CIFCO Finance in 1990 before promoting the MARG Group in 1994. Since then, he has developed MARG into a highly diversified infrastructure corporation engaged in logistics, marine, urban and industrial construction and real estate (residential and commercial) development. In 2011, he promoted the Swarnabhoomi education institutions and currently, MIDAS, SAM and Marg Navjyothi Vidyalaya together host over 1,000 students and 80 permanent and 20 visiting faculty. “We are working on developing a model of innovative urbanisation by purposively integrating commercial and residential spaces, schools and colleges,” says Reddy.
Future plans. Next on SAI trust’s agenda are job-oriented vocational education and training programmes. “Right now, we are designing diploma courses in fashion and interior design, music and dance and a postgrad degree in architecture. Our aim is to develop a globally benchmarked, cross-disciplinary education complex which will also include an arts and science college and research institutions,” says Reddy.
Wind in your sails!
Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)
Storytelling missionary
Simi Srivastava is the founder of Noida (Delhi NCR)-based Kathashala, an education institute which promotes storytelling as a tool for parenting, learning, teaching and communicating for educators, students, therapists and counsellors. A commerce graduate of Jesus & Mary College, Delhi, Srivastava worked for Taj Palace, Delhi and Godrej Industries before “following her heart” and signing up for a teachers training programme with the Manav Bharati Nursery Teacher Training Institute. After teaching in several reputed institutions — the American Embassy School, Heritage School, Delhi Public School — she launched Kathashala in 2011. 
Newspeg. This summer (May 11-June 12), Kathashala conducted a storytelling camp for a group of wide-eyed children between two and 12 years in Noida. Coming up are several activities for self-expression with parents and students.
History. “During my training as a teacher at Manav Bharati, I was introduced to an array of performing arts — music, theatre, visual arts, puppet design. That’s when storytelling as a learning tool aroused my interest. After successfully experimenting with this technique, I began using it as a pedagogic tool,” recalls Srivastava.
During the past four years, Kathashala has conducted storytelling workshops for teachers in 400 schools countrywide and has trained 15,000 teachers in this pedagogy. With rising interest in this genre, the institute offers programmes to children and adults with fees ranging from Rs.4,000-30,000 per course.
Direct talk. “Stories stimulate all the nine intelligences — verbal, logical, visual, musical, existential, interpersonal, intrapersonal and naturalist — of children. Storytelling appeals to three types of learners — auditory (careful listeners), kinesthetic (who learn by doing) and visual learners. Hence, it can be effectively used to teach any subject to children. Stories help children connect with their subjects and improve learning outcomes,” says Srivastava.
Future plans. Encouraged by the response of teachers and students to this supplementary pedagogy, Srivastava believes it’s even more appropriate for early childhood education. “We have already designed a curriculum for pre-primary children that solely revolves around folk tales and stories, and will hopefully promote a play school. My wish list also includes a public library for children in Noida. With schools, Kathashala plans to launch a new programme for class I-V students on teaching of English language through stories,” says Srivastava.
Carry on, Sister!
Swati Roy (Noida)
Ace institution designer
Venu Narayan is director of the School of Liberal Studies of Azim Premji University (APU), an unprecedented higher education philanthropic initiative towards which Azim Premji, the reclusive Bangalore-based IT tycoon, irrevocably committed Rs.8,546 crore in 2010.
Newspeg. Azim Premji University, which admitted its first batch of 100 postgrad students into its inaugural education and development programmes in 2011, is ready to receive the first batch of 120 undergraduate students on July 13 into new three-year fully residential, bachelor’s degree programmes in the sciences, social sciences and humanities.
History. An engineering and management alumnus of Madras University and IIM-Calcutta, Narayan quit a corporate career in 1988 to co-promote Centre For Learning (CFL), an alternative school on the outskirts of Bangalore, inspired by J. Krishnamurti’s transformative philosophy of education. After serving CFL as a teacher, administrator and trustee for two decades, in 2009 Narayan signed up with the Azim Premji Foundation (estb. 2001) as member of the core group which designed APU.
Unique Selling Proposition. According to Narayan, APU’s newly-designed undergrad programmes require all students to study a common curriculum which includes courses on foundational critical thinking, reasoning and effective communication skills, understanding India and creative expressions, in the first two semesters. Around the same time, they begin to study disciplinary subjects such as physics, biology, economics and combined humanities as majors followed by minors in second year. In this way, students opting for the sciences are exposed to the social sciences and humanities and vice versa. This is a studied departure from the current undergrad education system in which students solely focus on their specialisations.
Direct talk. “Narrow specialisation is the bane of Indian higher education. Which is why we have redesigned the curriculum because we believe it is well-balanced to support our objective of nurturing committed, sensitive and socially responsible global citizens,” says Narayan.
Tuition fees (annual). Rs.1 lakh. For students from socio-economically disadvantaged households, liberal scholarships are available.
Future plans. Teacher education is the prime objective of APU. “Our undergraduate programmes are designed to serve as the platform for launching teacher education postgrad programmes. We believe good teachers must have a comprehensive undergraduate education,” he says.
Wind beneath your wings!
Paromita Sengupta (Bangalore)
Siliguri savant
Sandeep Ghosal is the founder-director, chief mentor and principal of Bright Academy, (estb. 2004), a K-V school in Siliguri, (pop. 4.7 million) sited on the foothills of Darjeeling, West Bengal. Since inception, this new genre school has introduced activity-based learning, a revolutionary concept in the small town. Today, the school has four branches in Siliguri with an aggregate enrolment of 900 students mentored by 85 teachers.
Newspeg. In February, Bright Academy organised Siliguri’s first Kids Marathon to create awareness of child abuse. Earlier in December last, the school produced and screened a six-minute documentary Parinati (The Inevitable), paying homage to children killed in terrorist attacks, especially the 32 who were brutally gunned down by terrorists in an Army School in Peshawar (Pakistan) on December 16, 2014.
History. A graduate of the Siliguri College of Commerce and self-made entrepreneur, in 1988, Ghosal decided against joining a lucrative family business in automobile components to transform into an educator, and promoted the Bright Coaching Centre for K-X school students. Encouraged by the response, in 2004, Ghosal promoted Bright Academy with seven students and money borrowed from his father. Today, this K-V school has four campuses and its students have been hitting media headlines in West Bengal for being invited to celebrate raksha bandhan with former prime minister Manmohan Singh. Earlier in 2012, several Bright Academy students were invited to Rashtrapati Bhavan by President Pranab Mukherjee to celebrate Children’s Day (November 14).
Direct talk. “Bright Academy is committed to imparting early childhood education through the play-way method, which is new to schools in this region. We believe this pedagogy enables children to learn, experiment through play and become independent from infancy,” he says.
Future plans. Ghosal intends to transform the academy into a high school (class X) by 2017. “There’s pressing demand and opportunity for quality education in tier-I and tier-II cities which have been educationally neglected so far. They are the focus of my attention,” says Ghosal.
Way to go!
Baishali Mukerjee (Kolkata)