Citation: Schooled in the UK and an education alumna of Victoria College, Melbourne, Lina Ashar began her career as a secondary school teacher in Australia in 1987. Four years later, while on a year-long sabbatical in India to re-connect with her roots, she accepted an offer to teach in a primary school in suburban Mumbai, an experience which changed her career and life trajectory.

Unhappy with the quality of early childhood education being only minimally different from primary education provided to young children, in 1993 she promoted her first Kangaroo Kids preschool in Bandra, Mumbai with a first batch of 13 children.

Since then, the Kangaroo Kids Education Ltd (KKEL)-owned and franchised chain of Kangaroo Kids & Billabong High International schools, has grown to over 100 in 28 cities across India, and Dubai, Qatar and Maldives.

Moreover with its dedicated focus on New Age curriculums, KKEL has recruited, trained and nurtured a team of over 80 skilled and experienced educationists who design, develop and deliver curricula based on contemporary pedagogies to 15,000 students, apart from dispensing continuous in-service training to 1,200 teachers in India and abroad.

In recognition of her pioneering and outstanding contribution to the development of early childhood institutions, systems and pedagogies, the Board of Directors and Editors of EducationWorld are pleased and privileged to confer the Lifetime Achievement in Education Leadership  Award 2014 upon Lina Ashar.

Also read: Lina Ashar – Secrets of successful franchised preschools management