Dedication, creativity, consistency, punctuality, and empathy- are the hallmarks of the leading educational influencers. They are facelifting the educational sector with expertise and innovative endeavours. These educational influencers ensure that every student grows holistically. They motivate young minds to evolve into their complete self and become the leaders of tomorrow.

These educational influencers are the beacons of academic growth, educational innovation, and career development. Prominent names such as Dr Snehal Pinto work tirelessly to ensure every child receives excellent educational and career development opportunities.

A lifelong learner and a passionate educator, Dr Snehal currently serves as Director at the Ryan International Group of Institutions – one of the largest privately owned chains of K-12 institutions in India. She started as a primary school teacher and moved up the career ladder to take on various leadership roles.

Today, Dr Snehal is blessed to have a rich experience in various capacities, including teaching and leadership. While serving the organization, she completed her Doctorate in Education from Nova Southeastern University, USA.

“It has been my privilege to be the President of the Association of Schools for the Indian Schools Certificate (ASISC),” shares Dr Snehal. She has also been a member of the Executive General Body of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE). Moreover, Dr Snehal has served as a member of the Advisory Committee in the South Asia International Baccalaureate Schools Association (SAIBSA).

Dr Snehal believes that teachers hold the key to shaping the nation’s most valued asset- Human Resources. Therefore, her focused areas have been professional development, assessments, and leadership. She possesses rich experience across various state and national boards such as the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE/ISC), and International Baccalaureate (I.B.) and International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) for the Ryan Global Schools. Dr Snehal has been instrumental in leveraging strengths across all of these for improved school performance at Ryan Group.

“I am grateful to Lord Jesus Christ for the wonderful team he has blessed us with. We have worked together with consistency, and today the schools under Ryan Group are among the Top International Schools in India for several years by various schools surveys such as the Times School, Brain feed and Education World,” mentions Dr Snehal.

To maximize the schools’ efficiency, she has been consistent in bringing strong process orientation by leveraging various methodologies, including those of I.B. (International Baccalaureate) and NABET (National Accreditation Board for Education and Training). “With a clear focus on nurturing 21st-century skills, the Ryan Group is driving capacity building and scaling innovations with various high-impact student-centric initiatives across the country,” she adds.

A Decorated Educator

Owing to her constant efforts and dedication towards education, Dr Snehal has been awarded many accolades. She won the ‘Prof. Indira Parikh 50 Women in Education Leaders Award 2022’, which was conferred to her by the World Education Congress.

Dr Snehal was conferred the ‘Most Admired Global Indians 2021’ title by Passion Vista.

Furthermore, she received the ATL Teachers of Change Award in the state of Maharashtra for her exemplary leadership in galvanizing innovation in education.

She says, “It is humbling to be acknowledged worldwide as a visionary thought leader today for our significant contribution in enhancing the teaching-learning process to develop effective student engagement and for our transformational leadership in education.”

A Lifelong Learner

Dr Snehal is a life-long learner because she possesses the willingness to learn. It drove her to complete her doctoral studies in Education. Secondly, her passion for learning and building people up continues to enable her to develop and lead her teams to carry out different endeavours and initiatives across all the schools’ pan India.

About Ryan Group of Institutions

Ryan Group of Institutions was established in 1976 by the visionary educationist Dr A. F. Pinto, Chairman, with the strategic vision to spread quality education across India. The Group is considered one of India’s largest privately owned groups of schools offering K-12 curriculum through state, national and international boards. We have flourishing schools across 18 states and 40 cities in the country. Today, Ryan Group is well recognized for its noteworthy contribution to education.

Enduring Adversities Industriously

Dr Snehal has been associated with the education sector for over the last four decades. She believes that just like all sectors of the economy, education also has its challenges. “The challenges we faced have only helped us as a group to align our efforts to our vision and stay grounded and rooted in values and our faith and have strengthened me to emerge as a confident leader in this segment,” shares Dr Snehal.

She also adds that in spite of various challenges, Ryan Group has successfully imparted quality education in towns such as Shajahanpur in U.P, Jalna in Maharashtra, Bolpur in Kolkata, and Durg-Dhamtari in Chattisgarh, yielding encouraging results.

A Motivated Educator

Dr Snehal states that it has been very helpful to engage with people across the capacities they serve the organization in and beyond. She feels that it is a blessing to be surrounded by a learning community seeking to contribute their best. This has always motivated her to keep learning in order to provide the best learning opportunities for the students and help them succeed in their life.

Considering the present situation, Dr Snehal believes that the need of the hour is to provide the children with experiential learning opportunities. According to her, practical learning with the cultivation of 21st-century skills of critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, technology literacy, leadership, and social skills are essential aspects for the holistic growth of the students.

She believes the New Education Policy introduced last year outlines a comprehensive overhaul of the way institutions operate in the country. “As part of our holistic approach to learning and educational excellence, many of Ryan Group’s practices already align with the new policy,” Dr Snehal expresses.

Under her leadership, Ryan Group remains committed to fostering industry–academia partnerships to instil 21st-century skills and to provide new opportunities for students to ‘learn by doing’ and upskill, reskill, and reinvent themselves. This enables the students to keep up with an ever-changing world and emerge not only as industry-ready employable youth but also choose their vocations and calling to be entrepreneurs. This will be an ongoing process that will require both public and private sector collaboration.

Ensuring Maximum Student Engagement

Dr Snehal works with utmost dedication to ensure that Ryan Group of Schools is focused on building conceptual understanding among children. She makes sure that the teachers are continuously provided with professional training. She sees that the teachers are mentored to plan and deliver activity-based sessions for each concept.

“Teachers are encouraged to plan a week ahead for their sessions. This helps them to deliver an effective session that meets the learning objective for the session,” expresses Dr Snehal. “Collaborative learning activities like role play, debates and discussions, learning by doing/ experiential learning, field trips, project work, case studies etc., are planned by the teachers to create an active and involved set of students who enjoy the process of learning,” she further states.

Dr Snehal ensures that children are placed in a group for various activities so that they develop the teamwork and communication skills required to be leaders. Her team also identifies their leadership skills and interests and provides the right guidance and support to enhance them in the right direction. Dr Snehal shares that at Ryan, students can explore their abilities through various events pioneered at school, national, and international levels, such as Indian Model United Nations, World Scholar’s Cup, International Children’s Festival, and various International cultural exchange programs to various centres based in U.K., U.S., Australia, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy.

Emphasis on Choosing the Right Career

In Dr Snehal’s eyes, choosing the right career is one of the major aspects of a student’s life. There are students who do not have clarity about what they want to do in future and which career path they should take. She believes that while choosing a career, a student should primarily understand his/her area of interest. Self-awareness is very important as it helps in identifying one’s interests, skills, and talents. Dr Snehal further opines that seeking appropriate guidance from teachers and school career counsellors is beneficial when a child is confused about what to choose post-college and university studies.

With constant support from Dr Snehal, Ryan Group provides opportunities to the students to discover their talents, nurture them, and aspire to achieve their desired goals in life right from their early years. The institute provides a plethora of excellent opportunities through sports, academics, media studies, environmental awareness programmes, theatre, art, leadership and entrepreneurship programmes, and so on. It offers international exchange programmes with countries across the globe, collaboration with foreign universities, and entities such as PennHub and the College Board. Ryan Group provides the students with a platform that they can further use to build on and develop their interests and aspirations as they begin college and university life.

Words of Advice for the Leaders of Tomorrow

In the opinion of Dr Snehal, students are the core of the entire teaching–learning process. She believes that they are the ambassadors and motivators for their parents and teachers to make every effort to provide them with the best learning environment.

She urges students, “Remember that st you are living in the 21 -century world, where rapid changes are taking place in every field due to the emergence of technology.”

“There are several emerging career options, and at the same time, the nature of the ‘future jobs’ remains unknown. Therefore, make the best of every opportunity provided to you,” she adds.

Dr Snehal encourages students to equip themselves with life skills in order to deal with challenges and create opportunities. She believes that there is tremendous scope for students to learn independently, explore their abilities for time management, develop 21st-century skills, and take ownership of their learning journey. Dr Snehal suggests that students should anchor themselves to values and be responsible citizens and lifelong learners. This will help contribute to the betterment of society at large.

Taking Steady Steps Towards the Future

Dr Snehal states that Ryan Group believes in excellence in education. As a nationwide group, the institute’s focus is on innovation, leveraging technological tools, and implementing various strategies to integrate the apps to ensure that children are engaged in an immersive learning experience.

According to Dr Snehal, Ryan Group has many good practices that are in line with the NEP, which is something the institute will continue to build on further in the coming years. “We will continue with our efforts to make quality education available and accessible to all,” states Dr Snehal.

Under her guidance, the institute has collaborated with different entities to ensure that even post K-12, the children get an opportunity to transition smoothly into higher education to pursue their interests, develop their talents, and have a vocation. She believes that the efforts of Ryan Group are focused on providing vocational opportunities in education and skill-based education.