The 2nd EW-BSAI Education Leadership Retreat 2024 convened between December 21-23 in Sunbeam School, Varuna, Varanasi, which attracted 108 school leaders from 21 cities and towns across the country, was a great success. Post-event feedback indicates this initiative made a substantial positive impact

The second EW (EducationWorld)- BSAI (Boarding Schools Association of India) Education Leadership Retreat 2024 held between December 21-23 in Varanasi, attracted 108 school leaders from 21 cities and towns across the country. This Education Leadership Retreat (conference) hosted by the Varanasi-based Sunbeam Group of Educational Institutions comprising 14 K-12 schools in Uttar Pradesh with an aggregate enrolment of 35,000 children, was convened by popular demand after the inaugural EW-BSAI Education Leadership Retreat hosted by the Pinegrove School, Dharampur (Himachal Pradesh) proved a great success. Over 70 school trustees, principals from 16 states countrywide attended the first three-day retreat.

The theme of the first Retreat at Dharampur was ‘Empowering Changemakers & Transformative Leaders’. In the recently concluded second Retreat, it was ‘Future Proofing Education: Navigating School Safety, Student Success and Brand Resilience’. The theme of the Varanasi Retreat was driven by media reports of a rising number of atrocities and crimes committed against children by employees and strangers, and consequent civil and criminal liability of institutional managements and school leaders. Against this backdrop, there is rising awareness among school leaders of the importance of education institutions becoming well-acquainted with the plethora of laws, rules and regulations on subjects relating to children’s safety.

 A distinguishing feature of the carefully conceptualised EW-BSAI Retreats is that the agenda is not restricted to classroom-style lectures and academic presentations. The role of the host in this tripartite partnership is to acquaint delegates with the geography, terrain and culture of the venue environment. Therefore during the first Retreat hosted by the top-ranked Pinegrove School, promoter-principal Capt. A.J. Singh in consultation with BSAI President Dr. Sumer Singh, and EW’s CEO Bhavin Shah devised a cultural programme for delegates to explore the scenic environs and ecosystem of Dharampur sited in the Himalayan foothills, and also a visit to the neighbouring Lawrence School, Sanawar.

This time round, Dr. Deepak Madhok and Dr. Bharti Madhok, promoter-directors of the Sunbeam Group of Educational Institutions, masterminded an excellent itinerary for delegates that included a ‘cultural immersion’ as an introduction to Varanasi, famously described as the world’s oldest city and a hub of Hindu civilisation and culture. Over three days, delegates were treated to early morning Ganges cruises, Ganga aartis and a visit to Sarnath where Gautam, the Buddha delivered his first sermon.

December 21. Day 1. Delegates were welcomed by BSAI office bearers and EW personnel at the Hotel HHI in Varanasi between 12 noon-2 pm. After lunch, they were taken on a tour of the Sarnath Temple and ruins, an excursion of two hours duration. After tea and refreshments at the Sunbeam School, Varuna, the Education Leadership Retreat II was formally inaugurated in the school’s spacious auditorium with a lamp-lighting ceremony and inaugural addresses by Dr. Sumer Singh, President of BSAI, and Dilip Thakore, Publisher-Editor of EducationWorld.

In his Presidential Address, Dr. Sumer Singh explained the genesis of the EW-BSAI partnership conceptualised to empower and enable India’s K-12 schools to raise education standards to global norms. This, said Dr. Singh, is a prerequisite of the country attaining developed nation status by 2047, a goal set by Prime Minister Modi for the centenary year of India’s independence from almost 200 years of debilitating British rule. This goal is likely to prove elusive unless K-12 teaching-learning standards are sharply improved on a mass scale countrywide, said Singh in his brief welcome address to delegates during which he thanked hosts Sunbeam Group for the “cultural immersion” education programme.

“Although BSAI is an association of India’s boarding schools, the national interest demands that leadership lectures, debates and conferences of BSAI members are opened up to all K-12 education leaders. The challenge before Indian education is to ensure that all our children are provided good quality primary-secondary education,  necessary for them to realise their full potential in higher and professional education. For this, school promoters and principals have to transform into great institution builders and leaders. Therefore, the carefully conceptualised and crafted EW-BSAI Leadership Retreats have been opened up to all schools, including day schools. I’m sure boarding school trustees and principals can also learn a lot from day school leaders who manage much larger schools,” said Dr. Singh.

In his inaugural address to delegates of the Second EW-BSAI Education Leadership Retreat, Dilip Thakore, Publisher-Editor of EducationWorld welcomed BSAI’s decision to broad-base the deliberations and debates to include day and day-cum-boarding schools. Lamenting that the learning outcomes gap between children in developed OECD and fast-track South-east Asian countries and India is widening, as evidenced by PISA 2009 results and subsequent unwillingness of the Union education ministry to select a cohort of 15-year-olds to write the bi-annual PISA, Thakore opined that an unprecedented nationwide effort needs to be urgently made by experienced and knowledgeable leaders in K-12 education to improve the learning  attainments of India’s children and youth if the goals of Viksit Bharat and $30 trillion GDP economy set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the year 2047 are “not to prove a pipe-dream”.

“Leaders of India’s 1.40 million primary-secondaries need to evolve from individuals focused on enabling children to do well in board exams, to leaders capable of transforming our children to become deep-thinkers and problem-solving adults on a par with politicians, professionals and managers in developed countries. The purpose of the EW-BSAI leadership conferences is to enable school leaders to start thinking big, beyond board exam results,” said Thakore.

After the inaugural addresses of the Second Education Leadership Retreat, children of the Sunbeam School presented classical Indian music and dance performances of exceptionally high calibre for 45 minutes before the evening ended with an excellent dinner hosted by the Sunbeam School, Varuna, Varanasi (estb.1972), ranked Varanasi’s #2 day-cum-boarding school in the EW India School Rankings 2024-25.

December 22. Day 2. The day began early on a chilly morning for delegates who volunteered for a 5.30 a.m Kashi Vishwanath Temple darshan (prayer homage) at a cluster of the oldest prayer sites of Hinduism. Knowledgeable and well-trained guides of Sunbeam Group escorted the devout for Sugam and Annapurna darshans (5.30-7.30 am). Following a traditional Varanasi breakfast at HHI, delegates were bussed to the Sunbeam School, Varuna.

The subject of the first Masterclass of was on ‘Ensuring a Secure Learning Environment: Comprehensive School Safety Frameworks and Practices’. It was conducted by Siddharth Singh, Principal-Director of the CBSE and Cambridge (UK)-affiliated Emerald Heights International School, Indore, ranked India’s #1+ day-cum-boarding school in EWISR 2024-25. In his 45-minute Masterclass, Singh, an alumnus of Stony Brook University, New York, advised assembled school leaders to extensively utilise modern technology, particularly CCTV and other modcon devices to maintain campus security and serve as deterrents to wrong-doers.

“A combination of factors — rise of online bullying and cyber-crimes, unmonitored access of children to digital devices and money, rise in physical and sexual abuse crimes in society, vaping and substance abuse and over-protective parents — have made education provision a hazardous enterprise. Simultaneously, there is very little societal sympathy for school managements, especially of private schools. Perhaps because of a socialist hangover, private school managements are guilty of anything that goes wrong, until proven not guilty, which given the sloth of India’s judicial system is a long-drawn out process. Therefore, school managements should give top priority to children’s safety and security. Installation and maintenance of high-tech safety devices, background checks of teachers and employees should not be regarded as expenses, but as insurance against liability suits and media exposure,” said Singh in his interactive and widely appreciated Masterclass.

Siddharth Singh’s brilliant on-campus physical safety of children and teachers presentation was followed by another absorbing Masterclass titled ‘Ensuring a Secure Learning Environment: Legal Compliance and Child Safety’ conducted by Seema Jhingan, Senior Partner and Co-founder of LexCounsel Law Offices, Delhi which provides representative and advisory services on education laws, franchising, software/information technology and corporate and commercial law.

In her 45-minute Masterclass, Jhingan stressed the importance of all schools establishing SMCs (School Management Committees) as stipulated by s.21 of the RTE Act, 2009 and outlined the contours of the doctrine of vicarious liability, i.e, the extent to which school trustees, governors and principals can be held liable in criminal and civil law for acts of omission and commission of teachers and other employees.

Moreover, Jhingan clearly explained the major provisions of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act, 2012 and the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, drawing attention to several judgements of the Supreme Court; recommended policies that school leaders should implement in their institutions to prevent crimes against children and women, and uphold institutional reputation. Advising school principals and leaders that in legal cases of negligence “courts tend to award higher compensation against private schools,” Jhingan presented delegates with safety and security recommendations detailing the roles and responsibilities of principals, heads of departments, advising empowerment of administrators with budgetary authority and establishment of a compliance officer reporting to the SMC.

Following a brief tea-break, the 100 delegates at the Second EW-BSAI retreat were treated to an informative presentation by Koustav Dey, an alum of IIT-Kanpur and IIM-Bangalore who together with two IIT-IIM colleagues promoted Bharosepe Technology Services Pvt. Ltd (estb.2020) which has ideated and designed Jodo, an ICT (information communication technology) platform featuring a suite of IT-driven software and products that sharply reduce the pain of payment and collection of school fees. As Dey explained, the platform’s flagship product named Flex enables schools to automate fee payment-collection during the entire tenure of a student as she progresses from K-12 by safely connecting her parent’s bank account to the school’s accounts section. “Bilateral fees payment arrangements made by parents and schools can be factored into Flex to the satisfaction of both parties,” explained Dey. Little wonder that since the company was promoted four years ago, it has acquired a clientele of 2,500 education institutions and has processed fees over Rs.5,000 crore for 1.5 million parents countrywide. It’s also important to acknowledge that Bharosepe/Jodo stepped forward to part-sponsor the Second EW-BSAI Education Leadership Retreat at Varanasi, for which many thanks.

The enlightening Jodo presentation, an excellent example of latest digital technologies being implemented in K-12 education, was followed by the first high-powered panel discussion of the Leadership Retreat which debated ‘Building a Stronger Workforce: Bridging the Gap between Teacher Training and Classroom Reality’. The stellar panel of educationists who focused on the burning issue of poor quality teacher training institutes countrywide, and the necessity of schools and education leaders according high importance to teacher welfare and development, included Prodipta Hore, Program Director at the Aditya Birla Education Academy, Mumbai; Dr. Sheela Mallya, Principal of Children’s Academy, Mumbai; Dr. Amrita Burman, Director of the Sunbeam Group, Varanasi; Vibha Kapoor, Principal of Welhams Girls School, Dehradun and Ahishek Bagchi, Principal of Presidency School, Banashankari, Bengaluru. The deliberations of the panel were moderated by Summiya Yasmeen, Co-founder and Managing Editor of EducationWorld.

The consensus of opinion of the highly experienced and knowledgeable panelists was that India’s 10,000 teacher training colleges — most of them privately promoted and managed — are in bad shape. This is confirmed by the low percentage (14-20 percent) of teachers certified by these institutes managing to clear the Central/state government’s Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) introduced in 2011.

“The panelists were unanimous that teaching-learning standards in existing teacher training colleges are very poor. Panelists agreed that they should be phased out and that the recommendation of NEP 2020 to the effect that four-year teacher training degree programmes should be introduced in multi-disciplinary universities, should be actioned immediately. Meanwhile school leaders should ensure provision of rigorous continuous in-house teacher development programmes, perhaps with external experts, to train teachers in contemporary pedagogies to develop children’s critical thinking and problem-solving skills,” said Summiya Yasmeen, who chaired the panel discussion which aroused spirited comments from delegates. (For complete deliberations of this panel visit www.educationworld.in)

In the post-lunch session of Day 2 of the recently concluded Leadership Retreat, delegates were presented an excellent Keynote Address on ‘Strategies to Build Future-Ready, Resilient Global Education Brands’ by Saurav Sinha, the recently appointed (2024) principal of Mayo College, Ajmer (estb.1875) ranked India’s #2 boys boarding school in EWISR 2024-25. In his 30-minute address, Sinha, an alum of London Business School, with several years in healthcare and digital marketing in London, Europe and Singapore who quit the corporate world ten years ago to serve in Indian education (Pathways World School, Gurgaon and Harrow International, Bangalore) and was appointed Principal of Mayo College eight months ago, highlighted the importance of transforming education institutions into respected and trusted brands.

“A brand is not just a name or logo, it is a comprehensive representation of identity and values, cultivated through various elements that influence perception and behaviour. Effective branding is crucial for building recognition, loyalty, and trust,” he said. He also presented strategies and value propositions to transform generic schools into respected, trusted and resilient brands capable of surviving temporary accidents and setbacks.

Following a tea-break, the next item on the packed agenda of the three-day EW-BSAI Leadership Retreat, Varanasi 2024 was a stimulating panel discussion on the subject ‘Scaling Education: Benefits & Challenges of Chain Schools vs. Single Owned Schools’. This discussion panel also featured a stellar cast of highly experienced K-12 educationists — Neera Singh, Principal of the EW top-ranked Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls Public School, Jodhpur; Dr. Deepak Madhok, Chairman of the Varanasi-based Sunbeam Group of Educational Institutions; Sachin Vats, founder The Gurukul School, Ghaziabad; Neera Raina, Director of Millennium Schools; Rakesh Gupta, Managing Partner of the Hyderabad-based LoEstro Advisors; and Subramanyan Kantheti, CEO of Veranda K-12. This high-powered panel was moderated by Bhavin Shah, CEO of EducationWorld.

The panelists were evenly divided between dedicated and committed leaders of single, standalone and multi-institution chain schools. The latter advanced spirited arguments in favour of unique standalone schools which provide highly personalised education to small numbers of children,  and chain schools which reach standardised good quality education to a large number of students. Proponents of high-quality top-ranked standalone schools highlighted their sharp inward focus which enables them to continuously improve their institutions to attain global standards. On the other hand, leaders of chain schools argued in favour of consolidating excellence in parent schools followed by replication — bearing India’s huge population of children and youth in mind — to respond to pressing demand for high-quality K-12 education across the country.

“Leaders of top-ranked, high-quality schools made a strong case for standalone schools with favourable teacher-pupil ratios that provide continuously improving, personalised education to their small groups of children. However they were persuaded to consider replication of their well-developed pedagogies through promotion of new schools in light of the huge, unfulfilled demand for quality primary-secondary education, a proposition favoured by eminent education consultant Rakesh Gupta. Chain schools providing high quality education to large numbers of children, even at risk of some sacrifice of quality, received strong endorsement from delegates,” says Bhavin Shah, who moderated the lively panel debate. (To view full panel discussion visit www.educationworld.in)

This panel discussion was followed by a presentation by Sonali Ghosh, Head of Business Development at Axis Finance Ltd, a subsidiary of the high-profile private sector Axis Bank Ltd, which also partnered with BSAI-and EducationWorld to co-sponsor this unique Leadership Retreat. In her address titled ‘Tailored Lending Solutions for the Education Sector’, Ms. Ghosh informed school leaders that Axis Finance offers school promoters and education institutions loans against property, business and personal loans to enable them to promote, expand and rejuvenate schools, and also provides education loans to students. BSAI and EducationWorld acknowledge and appreciate the support of Ms. Ghosh and Axis Finance to EW-BSAI Education Leadership Retreat convened to enable school leaders to provide globally benchmarked K-12 education.

After Ms. Ghosh’s presentation, delegates departed to a Ganga Aarti ceremony, described by a delegate as a “spiritual experience unique to Varanasi”. This excursion was followed by a Musical evening-cum-dinner hosted by the Sunbeam School, Suncity at its sprawling campus during which several delegates volunteered to entertain guests with retro songs.

December 23. Day 3. The day began early at 5.30 a.m for religiously and/or culturally committed delegates with a ferry ride by bajda (two-tier houseboat) along the Ganges to Varanasi’s famous Namo and Assi Ghats. After breakfast at the HHI hotel, the third day’s first Masterclass was conducted by Swati Ganetti, an alumna of IIT-Delhi and the blue-chip Wharton School of Business, Philadelphia and currently Head of the Undergraduate Program at Masters’ Union, Gurugram (MU), a new-genre B-school established in 2020 by Harvard, Stanford and Wharton alumni.

In her engaging address titled ‘Driving Student Success: Looking Beyond Academics in a Fast-changing World’, Ganetti described the unique business management pedagogy of Masters’ Union — which has quickly established a national reputation and is ranked among India’s Top 5 private B-schools by EducationWorld (May 2024) — as “learning business by doing business”.

In her 50-minute Masterclass, she highlighted that the MU way of providing undergrad business management education is to teach the Top 10 business management skills — communication, customer service, leadership, project management, analytics, teamwork, sales, problem-solving and research — “through practice”. Therefore, this innovative new-genre B-school focuses on developing students digital marketing skills, providing global immersion programmes by interning students with the world’s most respected corporates, running creativity contests and organising “industry treks”. “Real learning happens outside the classroom. We pride ourselves for designing out-of-class curriculums,” Ganetti informed the Leadership Retreat delegates.

After a tea-break, the last Masterclass of the EW-BSAI Leadership Retreat, Varanasi 2024 was conducted by child rights advocate Shikha Agnihotri, an alumna of Delhi and Gujarat National Law universities and founder of Right Side Story (estb.2019), a Delhi-based for-profit committed to “partnering with educational institutions to create safe, nurturing and inclusive environments”. Right Side Story provides education institutions with the training and advice on ways and means to protect students from the rising number of online and offline dangers that they are heir to. Since the firm was promoted five years ago, it has provided policy development advice, holistic training and workshops to 2,000 schools and 350,000 students in 40 cities countrywide.

“For a variety of reasons including the instant global connectivity of the Internet, crimes against children and women are rising exponentially in society and in education institutions. Therefore, it is very important for school leaders and teachers to be well aware of laws and protocols to be instituted to insure against criminal prosecution and loss of institutional reputation as also long-lasting damage to children’s mental well-being and psyche,” said Agnihotri. Therefore, she advised delegates to ensure that legally mandated policies are scrupulously followed and committees are established to protect teachers and students.

Following a brief valedictory ceremony in which all delegates were presented participation certificates after lunch, the assembly dispersed.

Post-event feedback received from school leaders many of whom traversed long distances to attend the three-day Leadership Retreat at Varanasi indicates this initiative has made positive impact. “The wealth of knowledge exchanged at the Leadership Retreat has given me many takeaways for application in my school,” said Mridula Shrivastav of Little Angels Junior School, Gwalior.

“Everything from the manner in which the Leadership Retreat programme was curated, to the relevance of the subjects debated, was wonderful,” says Anuradha Sharma, Regional Coordinator (North India), Ryan International Group of Schools (see box p.74).

Some delegate responses

The Second EW-BSAI Education Leadership Retreat 2024 convened at the Sunbeam School, Varuna, Varnasi, attracted 108 school promoters, principals and leaders from 21 cities countrywide. Some reactions.

“This Leadership Retreat staged in Varanasi has been an amazing experience. Everything from the way the programme was curated to the relevance of the education Masterclasses and panel discussions was wonderful. The hospitality provided was commendable. Jai Hind as a common greeting is what I learnt from Sunbeam schools” — Anuradha Sharma, regional coordinator (North India), Ryan International Group of Schools

“The three-day retreat in Varanasi allowed us time to deliberate on important issues and learn a lot. I was very satisfied that school leaders and principals could share and learn from each other’s experiences during the Retreat” — Santosh Sethuraman, founder-president, Neuron Labs School, Pune

“This is my first Leadership Retreat. There are two features I would like to highlight. The first, the relevance of subjects chosen for discussion and the opportunity provided for sharing knowledge. More such retreats should be planned where we discuss issues that go beyond academics and confront school leaders, principals and owners on a day-to-day basis. The second part is the cultural education provided by the Sunbeam Group about the holy city of Varanasi. It was a great opportunity for new collaborations, friendships and alliances” — Nishchint Chawala, President & Director, Vedanya Schools, Gurugram

“It was a fantastic opportunity to meet education leaders from across the country and share views on important issues confronting K-12 education. Everything I learned here will be implemented after I head back to Aditya Birla Education Academy and Aditya Birla World Academy. The Retreat wasn’t rushed; it provided room to think and ponder over talking points and how to implement them in our schools” — Prodipta Hore, program director, Aditya Birla Education Academy, Mumbai

“The retreat was an engaging, interesting and immersive experience. The issues discussed were of great relevance and every minute of the Retreat was worthwhile. I would like to thank EW and BSAI for putting this event together — Dr. Sheela Mallya, Principal, Children’s Academy, Ashok Nagar, Mumbai

“The educational landscape now is very dynamic. Securing the future for children, child safety, POCSO, and POSH legislation was discussed in depth. One of the most pressing issues — child safety, which is of great relevance at the moment — was discussed in detail. Listening to experts talk on these subjects was an enriching experience” — Sanjay Pandey, vice principal, KC Public School, Jammu