CEO Insights Magazine

Despite the booming education sector in India bagging notable achievements today, why are school students still feeling overburdened? Why do most of them consider learning as a mammoth task? Well, the primordial reason is definitely stressful curricula at schools. On the bright side, there are schools endeavouring to rewrite these scenarios through their long-standing experience in the education space. VIBGYOR Group of Schools is one such fastest growing chain of 39 schools revolutionizing the K-12 education space in India since 2004. Giving no room for franchise models, VIBGYOR self-owns all these schools with complete control on its policies, systems and processes.

In fact, what differentiates this Group is that all its schools impart uniformity and standardization in each aspect of education, while ensuring that students enjoy learning and don’t consider it as a burden. VIBGYOR doesn’t believe in rote learning. Hence, it has created a happy, feasible, child-friendly and integrated curriculum to simplify complex methods of learning and thus, make it enjoyable. This has always been the educational philosophy of all schools of VIBGYOR Group!

The Founder Chairman of VIBGYOR Group of Schools Rustom Kerawalla, is the master mind behind this gospel. He ensures that all his schools maintain a uniform quality right from the staff, the pedagogy, the teaching methodology to each and every aspect of day-to-day school operations. To know more about the excellence of this Group, delve into the following excerpts of an exclusive colloquy between Kavita Sahay Kerawalla,(Vice-chairperson, VIBGYOR Group of Schools) and CEO Insights.

How has the Group’s journey been so far?
Since inception, it has been quite an enriching journey! We have been taking equal care of both horizontal and vertical requirements, and expanding at a faster pace. The biggest challenge we ever faced

was acquiring good quality human resource. Thanks to our Learning and Development team, this is no more a challenge.Be it teachers, ancillary staff or transport staff, we train them to be in tune with the education industry trends through our internal indoctrination & training processes. No wonder, we currently have a team of passionate people who are taking VIBGYOR to newer heights through their unparalleled efforts, and stringently managing projects and operations.

What roles & responsibilities do you uphold at VIBGYOR?
Wearing various hats as a secondary school teacher, supervisor, chief coordinator and others across the education industry, I plunged into the corporate sector of VIBGYOR as a curriculum coordinator for all our schools. In the last 15 years, I have learnt a great deal about the diverse education systems and processes at this Group. I am currently in charge of academic operations of the Group(VIBGYOR and ECS) and academic content development (K12 and Teacher Training).

Brief us on the excellence of VIBGYOR Group of Schools.
We have three brands- VIBGYOR High and
Kids (Premium), VIBGYOR Roots and Rise
(Mid-range) and Springbok, besides boards – CISCE, CBSE and Cambridge International. Well, the differentiator is the way we approach the subject and train our students. We develop our curriculum not just based on what is best for our students, but also in tune with the requirements of diverse State Governments in India and other countries. Believing in the might of technology, we adhere to an effective LMS wherein teachers can have access to lesson plans and assessments, and parents can monitor their child’s progress. Recently, we have unveiled enrichment programs for Pre Primary children, and are planning to introduce learning through video games and classroom learning on topics like fixing tap, minimal cooking, changing tyre, drawing money and others. Besides, we offer teacher & vocational training to potential candidates.

Speaking of extracurricular, we have Sports & Performing Arts(SPA) compulsory during school hours and Post School Activities(PSA). Under SPA, we provide a range of sports for students to choose from and let them master any two after Grade five. We don’t restrict them to play only during PET or game periods. We also have clubs like VIBGYOR Career Counselling Club(exhibitions & workshops through foreign university tie-ups), EUMIND (teacher & student exchange programs at France & Netherlands), VIBGYOR Greader’s Club (reading sessions & renowned authors’ orations)and many others, that help encourage our students to explore, experiment, express and enhance their innate skills to be future ready.

Walk us through your admission process.
We strive to make our admission process as simple and transparent as possible for all the prospective parents to ensure that they have a stress-free experience. Parents/Guardians visit school campus wherein they get a first-hand experience of how we prepare our students for the future with our holistic approach to learning, teaching methodologies, ethos, culture, classrooms, and other aspects. Informal interaction is arranged with the councellor to understand the prospective students' interests and grade readiness. Today, we have a teacher student ratio of 1:10 at VIBGYOR High and Kids and 1:15 at VIBGYOR Roots and Rise.

What are VIBGYOR’s future plans?
Our plan is to reach 500 schools across India including Tier-II & III cities in the next 10 years! Our main goal is to bring education to every child, and also train teachers in handling digitized curricula across the interiors of India through associations with women & child welfare and tribal departments.

KEY MANAGEMENT:
Kavita Sahay Kerawalla, Vice-chairperson
Holding a Master’s degree in Economics, Kavita currently outclasses as a trailblazer in educational innovation with deep-rooted expertise in education management and professional development.

Brands: VIBGYOR High and
Kids, VIBGYOR Roots and Rise and
Springbok (Upcoming)

Locations: 39 Schools in 14 Cities (Mumbai, Pune, Surat, Vadodara,
Kolhapur, Bengaluru, Gurugram,
Coimbatore, Indore, Nashik & many
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