Dr. Grace Pinto, MD, Ryan Group
Dr. Grace Pinto
“Education is my passion and being an educator and teacher gives meaning to my life”
Dr. Grace Pinto is a leader who believes in ‘EMPOWERING’ others. Even as she credits all her success to God and acknowledges his guidance throughout her life, Dr. Grace Pinto believes life experiences teach one to stay rooted while soaring to the sky. Through the combination of experiences, good counsel, and the constant support of her family and all stakeholders, she continues to make a meaningful difference in the lives of thousands of students and teachers.
Children have such a zest for life; their energy and eagerness to learn drives Dr. Grace Pinto to become an educationist so that she can contribute to their journey of knowledge-sharing and guide them to discover and realize their full potential.
The Winning Chronicle
Dr. Grace Pinto's career as a teacher started with her passion for teaching and a keen interest in children's development. Together with her husband, Dr. A. F. Pinto, they dedicated themselves to making education accessible and affordable for as many children as possible. They opened up learning centers and empowered the young generation as they traveled across India, even to the remotest areas. They received overwhelming support from the stakeholders: the parents, teachers, and community who trusted them to educate their children. Looking back, they see the blessings of Lord Jesus Christ and His divine direction, along with inspiration and hard work, which has made this journey both promising and inspiring.
Motivation Pedal
“I am grateful for this calling to serve the needs of the nation”
Together with their dedicated team, Ryan Group is committed to achieving the vision and mission of Ryan Group, which is to provide “Excellence in Education and All Round Development” to nurture global citizens.
Being passionate about nurturing young lives, Dr. Grace Pinto spends quality time with school children during her school visits around India, listening to their stories and experiences. These young children who are so dynamic, energetic, and eager to learn motivate her to continue enhancing their educational services to ensure they will have the best opportunities to shine in life and beyond.
The Brainchild
In 1976, the visionary educationist Dr. A. F. Pinto founded the Ryan Group of Institutions with the mission of spreading quality education in India. Privately owned, it is one of India's largest educational groups offering K-12 curriculum through the state, national, and international boards of education. It has 18,000 faculty members spread across 18 states and 40 cities. Every year, more than 20,000 children pass through Ryan Group of Schools.
In keeping with their motto, 'Excellence in Education and All Round Development,' they aim to provide a holistic education through the integration of academics and co-curricular activities as well as learning opportunities outside of the classroom. Holistic development and growth are embedded in the Ryan Group learning process. For students to be prepared and be able to adapt to the changing world, they are encouraged to develop 21st-century skills with a global perspective. For years, they have followed technology-integrated pedagogy, realizing that technology is here to stay and revolutionizing education. It is their focus to make the learning experience even better and more immersive for their children.
Sui-Generis Facets
As educators, they are committed to nurturing lifelong learners and believe that education should extend within and beyond classrooms and textbooks into art, culture, and international relations. To develop different life skills among students, they have worked with their team to pioneer several national and international events.
International Theatre Festival (ITF):
The Ryan Group was the first in India to organize the ITF, which has become the largest theatre event in India for school children over the past two decades. Over 12,000 people from over 30 countries gather every year on one platform to learn about different cultures from around the world, develop friendships beyond boundaries and foster international-mindedness.
Indian Model United Nations (INMUN):
INMUN is a student-run simulation of the United Nations initiated by the Ryan Group of Institutions that started in 2001. It is also India’s longest-running Model United Nations Conference hosted by the Ryan Group. INMUN allows students to play the role of diplomats who represent various UN member nations, addressing specific issues of current interest through debate and negotiation-and attempting to resolve regional and international problems. Every year 1000+ participants from over 90 schools across Asia-Pacific over the past two decades embraced the spirit of the UN charter and learned the art of diplomacy, public speaking, lobbying, and crisis response.
The World Scholar’s Cup (WSC):
Spread across 34 countries, this prestigious event was first brought to India by the Ryan Group. This international event strives to raise the bar in group debate, collaborative writing, and general knowledge on topics ranging from literature, science, biotechnology, art, music, and history. WSC hosted its largest-ever Regional Round in Mumbai, 2013, with more than 1,400 delegates in attendance.
The International Cultural Exchange (ICE):
This program fosters a greater understanding of arts, culture, and global perspective among institutions in the United States, Italy, Switzerland, Australia, Germany, Eastern Europe, and the United Kingdom. Over the past four decades, Ryanites have participated in various educational and cultural exchange programs in over 60 countries. Furthermore, their students are given the opportunity to take part in a special workshop at NASA (USA) each year as part of the educational program.
Ryan TV – A Media Initiative:
Ryan Group is the first to introduce students to Media Studies and Film Making through the concept of Education through Lens. They have a full-fledged team of media and social broadcasters who mentor media-savvy students. A series of short ad films are screened at the annual IAFA (Iceplex Ad Film Awards) by Ryan TV, which gives students an opportunity to demonstrate their talents. Through its "Young Jourknows" & "BBN - Beyond Breaking News" programs, Ryan TV has grown to be a tremendous success. Being the only school in India with an in-house media studio gives the Ryan Group immense pride.
Sports:
Dr. A. F. Pinto says, “To raise sports persons at the national and international level, we need to start right from the early age. Integrating sports culture in school not only develops physically fit youth but also ensures the emotional wellbeing of every child”. The Ryan Sports Club prides itself on providing its students with a world-class platform for practicing and taking part in multiple sports at many different levels and has teamed up with the best in the industry to provide them with top-notch instruction. They have had students reach District, State, National, and International levels, notching up some impressive achievements. Many include Arjuna Awardee, Chirag Shetty, International tennis player, Karman Thandi, National Level Badminton player, Simran Singhi, Mountaineer, Arjun Vajpai, Professional Alpine Ski Racer, Jiah Aryan, and Professional Footballers Rahul Beke and Nikhil Prabhu, as well as a Table Tennis Player, Arnav Karnavar.
Global Collaboration:
The Ryan Group has collaborated with globally renowned organizations to enable thousands of students from state, national, international boards to gain access to higher education and get scholarship opportunities in reputed universities in India and around the globe. The Group has successfully partnered with PennHub (The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania) and associated with the College Board and Cialfo to serve students and facilitate them to pursue and further their learning journey without many challenges.
Nurturing Socially Responsible Citizens:
To generate awareness among the students and help them develop a selfless attitude, the Ryan Group of Schools strongly emphasize activities aimed at advancing the welfare of society as a whole. Activities such as cleanliness drives, rehabilitation and relief work, health awareness, and elderly care are regular events in the school calendar.
Challenges, Risks & Vanquish
“Being in leadership has been a ‘learning from and for life’ experience”
Establishing India’s premier K-12 educational institute and achieving a global benchmarking was no easy task. For a leader to be successful there are no checklists, rather being resilient, committed, willingness to learn and take risks, disciplined, courageous and rooted in values is what enabled them to remain focused on the cause of education and realize their dream of making a worthwhile contribution to the lives of children. Dr. Grace Pinto discovered that innovation and progressive approach were necessary to understand the changing trends in global education and leadership. Despite trials and tribulations on multiple fronts, Ryan Group of Institutions has succeeded in bringing quality education not only in cities but also in various towns across India, yielding encouraging results.
Quality Education- A Leading Buzzword
With the largest young population in the world, India has a growing demand for more educational institutions that can meet the country’s changing demographics. As the education industry undergoes rapid change, it is becoming imperative to innovate and be creative and progressive in how they approach education. The National Education Policy introduced last year outlines a comprehensive overhaul of the way institutions operate in the country. Under the policy, providing access to education for children with disabilities and socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds, encouraging a shift away from rote learning, and boosting research in higher education, and increasing university enrollment are among its objectives. As part of its holistic approach to learning and educational excellence, many of Ryan Group's practices already align with the new policy. At Ryan, they remain committed to fostering industry-academia partnerships to instill 21st-century skills and provide new opportunities for students to 'learn by doing' and upskill, reskill, and reinvent themselves to keep up with an ever-changing world, and emerge not only as industry-ready employable youth but also choose their vocations as academics and entrepreneurs. This will be an ongoing process that will require both public and private sector collaboration.
Present Scenario
Making quality education available and accessible to all will be their core focus. Globally, the Covid-19 pandemic has exceedingly affected the learning and development of children. The organization plans on leveraging technology and its tools to ensure that children are immersed in an interactive learning experience to bridge this gap. A hybrid blended learning approach, including face-to-face classrooms and virtual lessons, is the future of education, and they aim to make it even better. Further, Ryan Group has a lot of effective practices that align with NEP, something they will continue to build on in the years to come. They have collaborated with different entities to ensure that even post K-12, their children have a smooth transition into higher education to pursue their interests and develop their talents, and have a vocation as well. Thus, they have geared their educational efforts toward vocational and skill-based education.
Achievements
For their noteworthy contribution to education, the Ryan Group has received innumerable awards and recognition from various private and government bodies over the past four decades. Having received such accolades leaves them humbled and filled with pride. Throughout Dr. Grace Pinto’s illustrious career, she has received several awards and recognitions, and she continues to receive them for her significant contributions to education and social service:
§ “Albert Einstein Award” by Asia Africa Consortium for her outstanding and unparalleled contribution and efforts in Education, October 2021
§ Shiksha Bhushan Sanman 2021 by Shri Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Hon’ble Governor of Maharashtra at Raj Bhavan, Mumbai on 18th August 2021
§ Life Time Achievement Award by Hon’ble Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, Shri Ramdas Athawale during the Education Conclave (NEP) and School Excellency Awards 2021 March 2021
§ The Most Promising Women Leader 2021, awarded by the Economic Times March 30, 2021
§ “Visionary Leadership in Education Sector Award” at the Mid-day Excellence in Education Award Ceremony, May 2019, Mumbai.
§ ‘Global Leaders Award’ at the 2nd edition of India UAE Partnership Summit, 2018 (IUPS), Dubai October 2018
§ AsiaOne Person of the Year 2016-17 presented by His Excellency Mils Perisic, Charge D’Affairs of Embassy of Republic of Serbia at Dubai, May 2017
§ “Education Evangelist of the Year” Award was conferred upon by Baroness Verma, a Conservative member of the House of Lords (UK) at London, February 2017
§ Guinness Book of World Records for the highest charity donations.
Future Grails
Ryan Group of Institutions aspires to enhance student learning by utilizing technology and making every effort to transform "traditional" schools into dynamic, engaging learning environments that benefit not only students, teachers, and stakeholders but also cities, states, and countries. Offering quality education in inaccessible areas of India will continue to be a priority. Additionally, they plan to consolidate their growth in tier-I cities and expand in tier-II and III. They are working to become the prime choice for parents. They will continue to pursue their vision as they shape lives and develop global citizens while providing education to prepare their youth for life's realities and challenges while continuing to be lifelong learners to reach one's rightful place in the modern world.
