Kumar Bahukhandi
The Association for Reinventing School Education (ARISE) convened its Members’ Meeting at Varanasi, bringing together founders and leaders of progressive schools from across India for two days of strategic dialogue, sectoral deliberations, and institutional transition. The meeting marked two years of ARISE as an independent institution and nearly a decade of its collective journey since inception within FICCI, reflecting the organization’s growing credibility as a unified national platform for school leaders.
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ARISE members from across India at the ARISE Members’ Meeting, representing a unified community of progressive school leaders
Day One commenced with a Special Address by Dr. Joseph Emmanuel, Chief Executive and Secretary, CISCE, who highlighted the transformative potential of collective leadership in education. ‘’When progressive schools come together with shared purpose and collective strength, they can transform the school education landscape in phenomenal ways. Platforms like ARISE enable collaboration and systemic progress that individual institutions cannot achieve in isolation,” said Dr. Emmanuel.
The engagement was also graced by Dr. Praggya M Singh, Professor & Director (Academics), CBSE. “Strengthening school education requires a sustained focus on academic quality, capacity building, and effective implementation at the institutional level. Interactions with school leaders provide valuable ground-level insights into classroom realities and emerging needs, which are essential for shaping responsive academic initiatives,” said Ms. Singh.
There was also representation from international boards including Mr. Mahesh Balakrishnan, Manager, South Asia, International Baccalaureate (IB) and Mr. Vinay Sharma, Senior Vice President and Regional Director, South Asia, Cambridge International Education reflecting the broad spectrum of institutional engagement across national and global school education frameworks.
The meeting featured expert inputs and structured discussions on leadership effectiveness, institutional governance, and emerging priorities for the sector.
Day Two focused on ARISE’s forward roadmap, including key initiatives to strengthen member engagement and knowledge exchange. Members participated in focused deliberations on Learning & Development and Liberalising the K-12 sector, addressing leadership capacity building, professional development, regulatory challenges, and policy priorities to identify actionable advocacy areas for 2026–27. An expert session on the Decoding of New Labour Codes provided practical guidance on interpretation, compliance requirements, and operational implications for educational institutions.
A key highlight of the meeting was the Presidential Baton Passing Ceremony, during which the new Company Board, Governing Body and State Councils for FY 2026–27 were announced. The newly constituted State Councils for the year FY 2026-27 are as follows:
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Andhra Pradesh: Chair — M. Padma Subrahmanyam; Co-Chair — Mahadev Vasireddy
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Assam: Chair — Nellie Ahmed
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Bihar: Chair — Mrigya Singh
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Gujarat: Chair — Kavish Gadia; Co-Chair — Kush Dinesh Sakaria
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Haryana: Chair — Aditi Misra; Co-Chair — Yash Prakash
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Jammu & Kashmir: Chair — Nandan Kuthiala
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Karnataka: Chair — Srinivas Kumar Chalasani
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Madhya Pradesh: Chair — Siddharth Singh Girnar
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Maharashtra: Chair — Irshad Patel; Co-Chair — Shailesh Dalmia
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New Delhi: Chair — Rahul Aggarwal; Co-Chair — Jyoti Arora
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Odisha: Chair — Dr. Silpi Sahoo
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Punjab: Chair — Manjot Dhillon; Co-Chair — Robin Aggarwal
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Chandigarh: Chair — Gurpreet Bakshi
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Rajasthan: Chair — Ragini Kachhwaha; Co-Chair — Deepak Sharma
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Uttar Pradesh: Chair — Shalini Singh; Co-Chair — Khwaja Saifi Yunus
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Uttarakhand: Chair — Bharat Goyal; Co-Chair — Manoj Kumar Khera
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Telangana: Chair — Meghana Jupally; Co-Chair — Satya Datla
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Tamil Nadu: Chair — Vikram Ramakrishnan; Co-Chair — R. J. Thayumanaswamy
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West Bengal: Chair — Pradip Kumar Agarwal
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Kerala: Chair — Rajesh George Kulangara
These councils will play a critical role in strengthening ARISE’s state-level engagement, regional initiatives, and policy dialogue across the country.
Outgoing President Mr. Praveen Raju, Founder, Suchitra Academy and Sagebrook International School, Hyderabad, reflected on ARISE’s institutional growth. “Over the past two years as an independent institution, ARISE has grown significantly — institutionally, structurally, and in membership — emerging as a credible and unified national platform for progressive school leaders. The trust and spirit of collaboration among members remain the foundation of this journey,” he said.
President-Elect Dr. Arunabh Singh, Director, Nehru World School & Co-founder, Heathy Planet TGA emphasized continuity and forward momentum. ‘’ARISE represents the collective voice of progressive schools across the country. Going forward, our focus will be on strengthening collaboration, advancing policy engagement, and building future-ready institutions that place students at the centre,” he stated.
The ceremony also recognized members for their contributions to ARISE initiatives, underscoring the organization’s participatory ethos.
The Members’ Meeting concluded with a shared commitment to strengthening collaboration, advancing reform-oriented dialogue, and shaping the future of school education in India.
About ARISE
ARISE (The Association for Reinventing School Education) is an autonomous body that brings together some of the country’s most progressive and intellectual minds including School Promoters, Edupreneurs & Leaders who remain committed and focused on serving as a beacon for change within the diverse and dynamic landscape of India’s school education system. Living up to the motto ‘Student First’, ARISE recognises the complexity and the unique challenges faced by both independent private schools and public / government schools and will continue to play an important role to be a collaborative platform to bring together forward-thinking school founders, educators, policy makers, think tanks, educationists, civil society experts and technical experts. As a collegium, ARISE represents over 1800+ Schools, 95,000 Teachers, and 1.5 Million Students.
