A.K. & Sanjay Agarwal MDN Edify Education, Hyderabad Both commerce graduates of Osmania University, siblings Anjani Kumar (AKA) and Sanjay Agarwal (SA) are directors of the Hyderabad-based MDN Edify Education Pvt. Ltd. Since the company was incorporated in 2009, it has signed content and curriculum provision and management contracts with 164 preschools and 16 K-12 schools with an aggregate enrollment of over 64,000 students countrywide, run under the Edify brand. The Agarwal brothers ventured into education in 2003 with the state-of-the-art CBSE, IBO (Geneva) and CIE (UK)-affiliated DRS International School, Hyderabad. What’s the history of MDN Edify? AKA: My father Sri Dayanand Agarwal, the promoter of Agarwal Packers and Movers, had a vision of setting up a school which would offer high quality education. During his journey, he realised the importance of an educated workforce and desired to establish a school. Building on his aspirations, in 2003 under the guidance of former Doon School headmaster Gulab Ramchandani, we promoted the DRS International School (DRSIS), Hyderabad, which is running to full capacity today. After fulfilling my father’s vision of establishing DRSIS, we resolved to provide quality school education to children across the country. We chose the franchise route to attain our objective. Thus MDN Edify Education was born in 2009. We are happy to state that the Edify brand has gone international with the establishment of franchisees in Nepal and the Gulf region. What were the major challenges and how did you meet them? SA: Initially we faced problems in creating awareness among parents about our enquiry-based system of education. Secondly, we had a tough time finding quality teachers to adapt to our curriculum and deliver it to students in franchisee schools. By constantly meeting and educating groups of parents across the country, we succeeded in winning them over to our new concepts of teaching. Currently Edify Education is empanelled by CBSE to conduct training programmes for teachers and principals of CBSE-affiliated schools. What are your future growth and development plans? SA: By the year 2018, we expect to launch 250 preschools and 100 world-class K-12 schools across the country under the Edify Education brand. Unwind/de-stress. AKA: Spending time with children rejuvenates both body and mind. SA: Long drives. Ashish Rajpal XSEED Education, Gurgaon Ashish Rajpal is founder-managing director of XSEED Education (formerly iDiscoveri), which offers its XSEED programme to 1,000 schools with an aggregate enrollment of 400,000 children and 40,000 teachers. An alumnus of XLRI Jamshedpur, and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, in 2001 Rajpal forsook by-all-accounts a spectacular career as the worldwide marketing director of the Paris-based Groupe Danone, to return to India and promote XSEED. What prompted you to start XSEED? In my growing years, I spent a lot of time in the hill areas which may have sparked a desire to accomplish something with a wide social impact. The birth of my own children was also a huge turning point and aroused my interest in education and how best to realise a child’s potential. Hence returning to India and venturing…
