-Paromita Sengupta (Bengaluru)

Provost of the reputed Bengaluru-based multidisciplinary CMR University (CMRU), an institution awarded private university status by special legislation of the Karnataka state government in 2013, Dr. Tristha Ramamurthy is also founder-director of the Bengaluru-based Ekya Schools — a chain of five K-12 progressive schools. CMRU with its constituent technology, business management, law and life schools, has an aggregate enrolment of 20,000 students from 40 countries around the world.

Newspeg. Last November, Ekya Schools — a division of the CMR Group — launched a new concept school named Ekya Nava (new) which is billed Asia’s first Maker School of Innovation, Creativity & Design. The co-ed Ekya Nava is designed to initiate a novel ‘maker movement’ in India to school a young generation of creators, tinkerers, innovators, product leaders, change agents, and techpreneurs. Ekya Nava will admit its first batch in the academic year 2024-25.

History. A highly qualified business management and education postgrad of the Singapore Management and Stanford (USA) universities with a Ph D in education from King’s College, London, Dr. Ramamurthy ventured into school education in 2010 with the promotion of Ekya School in Bengaluru. Since then over the past 14 years, the number of Ekya schools has multiplied to five with an aggregate enrolment of (“confidential”) boys and girls. The ambitious Ekya Nava sited on an 1.5-acre campus in Whitefield, Bengaluru’s IT hub, is the latest addition.

Direct talk. “Ekya Nava has been designed to transcend traditional learning by memorisation to stimulate the inherent design thinking, creativity, innovation, and love for learning within children. The distinguishing feature of Ekya Nava is its comprehensive integration of these principles across all levels of K-12 education. We intend to nurture, encourage, and empower young learners through a cross-disciplinary approach. Our curriculum integrates best practices from national and international educational frameworks with the core learning focus on design, making and breaking, entrepreneurship and innovation. The school’s pedagogies and infrastructure have been purposefully designed to support its innovative curriculum,” says Dr. Ramamurthy.

Future plans. Over the next five years, Ramamurthy’s plan is to multiply the number of Ekya schools and several other purpose-based schools. “Our focus is on enhancing learning experiences by ensuring every child is supported and valued. Simultaneously, we intend to intensify our teacher development programs to empower educators to experiment with innovative teaching practices, and expand our collaborative networks with industry leaders, career advisors, and higher education experts,” she says.

Wind in your sails!

Also read: Karnataka: Students to work on bee-hotels, record observations at Ekya School