A dedicated teacher, trainer, education consultant and edupreneur, Chennai-based KR Maalathi is a woman of numerous accomplishments. Though she discharges her multiple roles with equal zest, her prime focus area is helping edupreneurs promote schools, and hand-hold them through the entire institution development process. For this purpose, she promoted KRM Training and Consultancy Services Pvt. Ltd (annual revenue: Rs.45 lakh), an education and business consultancy firm, in 2004. Since then she has helped establish several schools across Tamil Nadu, and serves as chief executive officer of the Coimbatore-based Monarch International School (estb: June 2008) and Lords International School, Chennai (estb: 2006); advisor to the Achariya World School, Pondicherry; Akshara Vidyashram, Cuddalore; and the Vijay Group of Schools in Dharmapuri. She is also centre-director/master franchisee (Tamil Nadu) of Kip McGrath World Wide Education Centre (KMWEC).

Establishing greenfield schools in India is a challenging task which requires procedural knowhow and an eye for detail. I guide school managements with drafting their vision and mission statements, framing school policy, designing campuses, drafting curriculums, meeting staffing and training needs, completing board affiliation procedures and drawing up institutional promotion strategies. Schools should offer vibrant child-centric envir-onments and provide holistic, globally benchmarked education. These are the vital attributes I have helped get off the drawing board, says Maalathi, an economics and education postgraduate of Madras University with a Masters in education management from the University of Cincinnati, USA.

Currently Maalathi leads a busy life conducting workshops for teachers —she has trained over 3,200 teachers in 45 schools across the state; conducting parent education programmes on child rearing; authoring workbooks for primary students; advising the seven schools she is associated with and organising student exchange programmes between schools in India and Singapore, Malaysia and UK. In 2007 she signed up as the master franchisee (Tamil Nadu) of the Kip McGrath World Wide Education Centre, headed by Singapore-based edupreneur R. Sinnakaruppan, and set up a centre in Chennai. Today, the centre boasts 70 students. Another project close to Maalathis heart is the KRM Educational and Charitable Trust which she promoted in 2004, to offer free school and college education to children of single mothers. The trust, entirely funded by Maalathi and her well wishers, has awarded 65 scholarships to date.

With her experience and expertise, she is extending her services to primary education in rural Tamil Nadu. In remote districts of Tamil Nadu, schools desperately need new pedagogies and contemporary education practices. I’m confident my work with rural schools will have a ripple effect in schools throughout the state, and raise teaching-learning standards. My dream is to attract committed teachers into the profession, abolish separate school boards and enable quality education to all children, says Maalathi.

Wind beneath your wings!

Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)