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Born in Udyavar, a small village of Karnataka’s Udupi district into an eight-member family of a farmer, and a graduate of St. Philomena’s College, Mysore and Bangalore University, Paul Machado has been serving the South Mumbai community as principal of the all-boys Campion School (estb.1943) since 2003. Under his dedicated leadership, Campion has evolved into Mumbai’s and India’s most-respected boys day school. In the annual EducationWorld India School Rankings (EWISR), Campion has been ranked India’s #1 all-boys day school for the past seven years (2013-2019). Currently, this K-10 all-boys school affiliated with the CISCE (Delhi) exam board has 840 children mentored by 52 teachers on its muster roll.
After graduating with a degree in political science from Bangalore University in 1981, Machado migrated to Mumbai and began his professional career in the hospitality industry as a hotel front office manager. However, a year later he realised that his real interest was in education and he signed up as a part-time teacher with St. Anthony’s High School, Vakola, Mumbai and also acquired a B. Ed qualification from Karnatak University. In 1984, after qualifying as a teacher, Machado signed up with the K.K. Rapopat School in suburban Juhu where he acquired valuable classroom management and teaching experience (1984-88). In 1988, he accepted a posting at St. Mary’s School, Mt. Abu (Rajasthan) to teach history to senior school students. Forced to return to Mumbai for health reasons after two years in Mt. Abu, in 1990 Machado signed up with the highly-reputed CISCE-affiliated all-boys St. Mary’s School, Mazagaon, where he was promoted to vice principal four years later. After serving with St. Mary’s as vice principal for nine years, in 2003, Machado was appointed principal of the Campion School.
During his long career in primary-secondary education, Machado has received numerous laurels and encomiums. A member of the management committee of the Association of Heads of Anglo Indian Schools, inspector and assessor of CISCE schools; joint-secretary of EUMIND (European Union Meets India), Machado was conferred CISCE’s prestigious Derozio Award for Education & Human Enrichment (2017) and ranked #1 under the parameter of leadership in EWISR 2016-19.
Looking back over his 30-year career in school education, Machado has no regrets about switching tracks to enter the teaching profession. “Over the past 16 years, together with my team of able and committed teachers, we have transformed Campion School from a conservative Jesuit institution into a contemporary, new technologies-enabled, child-centric school providing an exemplary environment for students to showcase their skills in academic and extra-curricular activities and develop their multiple intelligences. This is cause for great satisfaction,” says Machado.
For his commitment to setting new standards in day school education and particularly for nurturing the Campion School, Mumbai into India’s #1 boys day school for seven consecutive years, the Editors and Board of Directors of EducationWorld are pleased to confer the EW Extraordinary Achievement in Education Leadership Award 2019 upon Paul Machado and induct him into the EducationWorld Hall of Fame of Indian Education.
