Lifetime Achievement in Education Leadership Award 2016
Dr. P.C. Thomas

Citation

Dr. P.C. Thomas is founder-principal of the Good Shepherd International School (GSIS), Ootacamund (aka Ooty), Tamil Nadu, ranked the country’s #1 wholly residential school in the EducationWorld India School Rankings 2016. Over the past 39 years since this globally comparable, K-12 co-ed boarding school affiliated with CISCE (Delhi), CIE (UK) and IBO (Geneva) admitted its first batch of 54 children in 1977, GSIS has increased its enrolment to 850 — including 250 girl children — from over 40 countries, mentored by 217 teachers.

A science, English literature and education postgraduate of Kerala University awarded a Ph D in education management by the Pacific Columbia University, California, Dr. Thomas began his professional career as an English teacher in the Loyola School, Trivandrum in 1969. In 1977 after his marriage with Elsamma, a science and business postgrad of Kerala University, the duo promoted GSIS on a modest scale. Since then, this K-12 school has incorporated the Fernhill Palace of the former Maharajah of Baroda which serves as the campus of the Junior School (K-VI) and hosts 200 children. Moreover, Dr. P.C. and Elsamma Thomas also acquired and developed the 140-acre Palada campus to host the superbly-equipped middle and senior campus of GSIS.

Over the past almost four decades, the schools eco-friendly, Doric-style Palada campus designed by IIT-Kharagpur and University of Illinois-trained celebrity architect Sunil Kumar has been transformed into a self-contained holistic education haven with 60 fully-wired, IT-enabled classrooms, six computer labs and a library with 50,000 volumes and 110 journal subscriptions. For the holistic development of students, facilities for 20 sports and field games have been provided. Moreover, to encourage co-curricular music, dance, and performing arts learning 35 practice rooms are available to students. According to data of India’s excise and customs department, GSIS is one of the country’s largest institutional importers of musical instruments.

Dr. and Mrs Thomas continuous and uninterrupted effort to develop and nurture GSIS into an international primary-secondary education institution comparable to the worlds best private schools has received acclaim in India and abroad. Dr. Thomas is a former president of the Nilgiris Education Society and vice president of the Association of Principals of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations. Moreover GSIS is an accredited member of the Netherlands-based Council of International Schools, the US-based New England Association of Schools and Colleges and has been conferred the British Council International School Award for the period 2014-17.

In acknowledgement of his extraordinary contribution to global benchmarking and internationalisation of K-12 education in India and for developing and nurturing the Good Shepherd International School to provide uniquely balanced academic, co-curricular and sports education to India’s children, the Board of Directors and Editors are pleased to confer the EW Lifetime Achievement in Education Leadership Award 2016 upon Dr. P.C. Thomas and induct him into the EducationWorld Hall of Fame of Indian Education.