The Association for Reinventing School Education (ARISE) convened its Members’ Meeting in Varanasi, bringing together founders and school leaders from across India for two days of discussions, policy deliberations and institutional transition. The meeting marked two years of ARISE as an independent body and nearly a decade since its inception within FICCI.

A Presidential Baton Passing Ceremony saw Dr Arunabh Singh named President-Elect of ARISE for FY 2026–27. Dr Singh is Director of Nehru World School and Co-founder of Healthy Planet TGA. Outlining priorities for the year ahead, he said ARISE will focus on collaboration among schools, policy engagement and building student-centred institutions.

Outgoing President Praveen Raju, Founder of Suchitra Academy and Sagebrook International School, handed over the baton at the closing ceremony. He said ARISE had expanded institutionally and in membership over the past two years, emerging as a national platform for school leaders.

Senior representatives from national and international education bodies addressed the meeting. Joseph Emmanuel, Chief Executive and Secretary of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE), said collaboration among progressive schools can enable sector-wide progress beyond individual institutions.

Praggya M Singh, Professor and Director (Academics) at the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), said engagement with school leaders provides insight into classroom realities and emerging needs, informing academic initiatives.

International boards were represented by Mahesh Balakrishnan of the International Baccalaureate and Vinay Sharma of Cambridge International Education.

Deliberations covered leadership effectiveness, institutional governance, learning and development priorities, and liberalisation of the K–12 sector. Members discussed leadership capacity building, professional development, regulatory issues and policy priorities for 2026–27. An expert session on India’s new labour codes addressed interpretation, compliance requirements and operational implications for educational institutions.

A key outcome of the meeting was the announcement of ARISE’s State Councils for FY 2026–27 across twenty states and union territories to strengthen regional engagement and policy dialogue.

The councils are as follows:
Andhra Pradesh — Chair M Padma Subrahmanyam; Co-Chair Mahadev Vasireddy.
Assam — Chair Nellie Ahmed.
Bihar — Chair Mrigya Singh.
Gujarat — Chair Kavish Gadia; Co-Chair Kush Dinesh Sakaria.
Haryana — Chair Aditi Misra; Co-Chair Yash Prakash.
Jammu and Kashmir — Chair Nandan Kuthiala.
Karnataka — Chair Srinivas Kumar Chalasani.
Madhya Pradesh — Chair Siddharth Singh Girnar.
Maharashtra — Chair Irshad Patel; Co-Chair Shailesh Dalmia.
New Delhi — Chair Rahul Aggarwal; Co-Chair Jyoti Arora.
Odisha — Chair Dr Silpi Sahoo.
Punjab — Chair Manjot Dhillon; Co-Chair Robin Aggarwal.
Chandigarh — Chair Gurpreet Bakshi.
Rajasthan — Chair Ragini Kachhwaha; Co-Chair Deepak Sharma.
Uttar Pradesh — Chair Shalini Singh; Co-Chair Saifi Khwaja Yunus.
Uttarakhand — Chair Bharat Goyal; Co-Chair Manoj Kumar Khera.
Telangana — Chair Meghana Jupally; Co-Chair Satya Datla.
Tamil Nadu — Chair Vikram Ramakrishnan; Co-Chair RJ Thayumanaswamy.
West Bengal — Chair Pradip Kumar Agarwal.
Kerala — Chair Rajesh George Kulangara.

Members were also recognised for contributions to ARISE initiatives. The meeting concluded with a commitment to collaboration, reform-oriented dialogue and sectoral progress in school education across India.

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