Revolutionizing Preschool Learning

In order to revolutionize the education system in India, GD Rungta Educational Society was established by Santosh Rungta in 1997, with a vision to empower and create employment, to bridge the gap between the demand and supply of skilled professionals in the industry. It started with an ITI and from then the voyage began to become an educational behemoth with becoming one of India’s top rankings institution with 20000-plus students. Having a legacy of transforming lives via education, the brand after achieving success in imparting education in the graduate, post- graduate and K-12 mediums has now made a foray into early learning education.

In order to drive the kids’ ideology and to make the pre-school like their second home, The American School (TAS) took its inception in 2016. With expertise in the education sector, it has since then continuously innovated in the pre-schooling domain by introducing several landmark initiatives.

The American School is the latest entrant in the group with a view to enter the hitherto unregulated preschool market and introduce standards and practices that are internationally accepted. The American School holds an exclusive American Accreditation from the prestigious International Accrediting Authority (IAA) with a track record of excellent learn-by-play curriculum and standards of safety for children and stringent norms for ensuring quality of delivery at an affordable price. For metros , TAS has also introduced the Any Time School (ATS), a flexi timing to suit the working parents. The American School also possesses an exclusive American Accreditation from the prestigious International Accrediting Authority (IAA).

Of Legacy & learning in Education

The group straddles a wide spectrum of diverse faculties in higher education, including engineering, technology, pharmacy, science, biotechnology, management, commerce, computer applications, and education, apart from the school education and its yet-to-introduce Rungta International University. It is being controlled by the visionary Founder and Chairman Santosh Rungta, along with his two dynamic and inspiring sons -- Sourabh Rungta and Sonal Rungta (Directors) -- and Group Director Dr Jawahar Surisetti have taken on the mantle to carry forth founder’s exemplary work ahead with their unmatched enthusiasm and resourcefulness, complimented extremely well by their diverse background of expertise. The Santosh Rungta Group has entered into a pan-India cyber security partnerships with the largest service provider in cyber security- EC Council from the US and Cambridge English Assessment.

Empowering Professionals via Franchising

The recent research report says that the market size of the preschool segment was $750 million in India in 2011, and has risen four-fold to $3.24 billion in 2017. The potential is huge because of the fact that in 2016 the organized sector was 33 per cent of the total market share and most of it still limited to the tier I cities. So there is a huge gap of affordable, good quality branded preschools in tier II and III cities in India.

When asked about the reason to foray into franchising, Santosh Rungta, says: “Till date the preschool market is in a state of confusion with no governing body, no standards and no norms to guide. So there are end number of approaches which everybody calls the best and end number of schools following these approaches. In the absence of such standards, parents stand confused and dissatisfied with what’s going on. Our aim is to provide this unregulated market pan-India with standards and practices that will set the ball rolling in unifying the Indian preschool market to the international quality standards.”

He also added, “In a country like India with a vast expanse, it is difficult to run own centre. It was, therefore, decided to run franchise centres, but with a rider that the franchisee should have an ability and eligibility to run a franchise centre.”

Since its launch, TAS has followed a careful procedure of selection of franchisees and they currently have a network of 31 franchisees pan-India and a few international franchisees are also in the anvil.

Best Support to Partners

According to a research by Dun & Bradstreet, almost 90 per cent of the business failures can be traced to poor management resulting from lack of knowledge. Holding up to the same, TAS not only shares the brand image, but also their knowledge, experience, and technical expertise. So, the franchise partner can rely on the tested methods.

In early education, there are many layers –the cultural context, the child, the teacher with her experience, the parent expectation and it varies from one child to another. Partnering with TAS will provide access to a finer curriculum, training programmes and operational systems, and also help the franchisees in their reach and attract more parents towards the schools.

Post-association with TAS, the franchise partner will receive 360 degree support in terms of planning of infrastructure, marketing collaterals, training to teachers and support to staff, selection of teachers and social media marketing throughout the year. The Rungta Group believes that training and support are the major asset of TAS.

Eligibility to become TAS partner

The American School’s process for getting partners on board starts with an interview and assessment by survey-based approach in choosing the partners. The brand believes the franchisees are their business partners –they want to work together and win together. For TAS, young entrepreneurs with relevant education will top the priority list.

Quality is of concern for the brand as they are looking at steady and gradual growth for expanding the franchise network for TAS. The Group is seeking quality partners and is not concerned regarding the number game. The brand plans to have 200 centres across India in the next five years. International expansion is also on the cards as they are already in talks with partners in SAARC countries and the Middle East.

Interview

Invest in Education

Dr. Jawahar Surisetti, Director, SRGI, on the intricacies and growth of the education system in India

What are SRGI’s achievements?

We take pride not only in being the best educational organization, but also a contributor of social, economical, national and crossing boundaries to be a global development as a partner. Since our inception, various institutes and development centers of the group are on forefront in achieving outstanding outcome of students in trainings, placements, and overall development. Our students are trained to develop knowledge skills, performance skills, as well as personality skills, to get the edge in the industry. The society has undertaken commendable welfare activities in the field of education, social and rural development. We are stepping ahead and becoming a skill development organization globally.

What were the factors that helped in the growth of the Santosh Rungta Group?

The group under the aegis of Santosh Rungta Group of Institutions (SRGI) has become synonymous with academic excellence. The hallmarks of its success are its tremendous hard work, commitment, sincerity, team spirit, open-mindedness, innovative ideas a visionary approach and spirit of confronting challenges to consistently outperform itself to grow at an electrifying pace. Its gilt-edged reputation is borne out by its engineering college being ranked amongst the top 50 institutes of the country continuously for the past five years. The USP has been all round development of the students and a fantastic placement record consequently being ranked in the Top 30 of all national rankings.

RIS (Rungta International School), Raipur, is the result of this unwavering thirst of excellence, being set up by the Santosh Rungta Group as Chhattisgarh's very first genuine effort at offering global education at school level, and the first IB World School of the state and 21st in India to be authorized by IBO for all three programmes of the most-highly rated and regarded International Baccalaureate (IB) programme, having its Head Quarter in Geneva and Asia Pacific Regional Head Office at Singapore.

What major challenges the pre-school brands are facing in India?

Lack of uniform academic standards, lack of infrastructural standards, lack of safety norms and lack of monitoring are the four major factors and challenges in India in the preschool segment.

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