With more than two decades of experience in teaching and leadership roles, Dr. Snehal Pinto is a highly regarded educator in the K–12 sector in India. She began her career as a primary school teacher and quickly climbed the ranks to assume various leadership positions within and outside of the group.
Dr. Pinto’s expertise has made her a respected figure in the field, and she has played a crucial role in improving the teaching and learning process to enhance student engagement. Her experience spans multiple state and national boards, including the CBSE, ICSE/ISC, IB, and IGCSE. She leverages the strengths of each board to improve school performance and maximize efficiency.
The approach of Dr. Snehal Pinto is characterized by a strong process orientation, utilizing methodologies such as IB and NABET to bring consistency and rigor to the educational process. She has also demonstrated an ability to develop and strengthen management teams, working to improve the quality of education in schools throughout the country.
Early Valuable Experience in Teaching and Leadership
Dr. Snehal Pinto expresses gratitude towards Dr. A. F. Pinto, Chairman, and Dr. Grace Pinto, Managing Director, of the Ryan Group, for their vision of providing quality education to all children across India. Starting as teachers themselves, they worked tirelessly to establish one of the largest privately owned K–12 chains of schools—the Ryan International Group of Institutions in India. Growing up, She witnessed their unwavering commitment to making education relevant and engaging for students. Their influence and encouragement inspired her to pursue a career in education, and with their guidance, she completed a degree in teaching. Initially, Dr. Pinto joined the setup team of the Bangalore school and gradually progressed to various leadership roles in the Ryan Group. Through this journey, she gained valuable experience in teaching and leadership.
Ryan International 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. It has flourishing schools across 18 states and 40 cities in the country. Today, Ryan Group is well recognized for its noteworthy contribution to education.
The institute’s motto is ‘Excellence in Education and All-Round Development’ and the team is focused on delivering holistic education through the integration of academics and co-curricular activities, as well as offering learning opportunities in a range of contexts that go beyond the classroom in order to develop lifelong learners and responsible citizen leaders.
Holistic development and growth are embedded in the Ryan Group’s learning process. Knowing well that technology is here to stay and revolutionize, the Ryan Group of Institutions has been following technology integrated pedagogy over the last several years. Its focus is to enhance it further and continue to provide an immersive learning experience for the institute’s children.
Multi-skill Development Approaches
The Ryan Group has been at the forefront of introducing various national and international events aimed at fostering leadership qualities among students and providing them with practical knowledge and skills that will be useful for their future endeavors.
- International Theatre Festival (ITF): is the longest flagship event of the Ryan Group, with over 12000 participants from over 30 countries gathering to participate in this mega event and experience different cultures, develop friendships, and foster international mindedness.
- Indian Model United Nations (INMUN)is hosted by the Ryan Group and draws the participation of over 1500 delegates annually from countries on the South Asian Continent. At this event, students not only develop leadership skills but also improve their knowledge on geopolitical issues and learn about the actual functioning of the United Nations.
- The World Scholar’s Cup (WSC)is a prestigious event that aims to raise the bar in group debate, collaborative writing, and general knowledge on a variety of subjects, including literature, science, biotechnology, art, music, and history. In 2013, the Ryan Group hosted the largest-ever regional round in Mumbai, with over 1,400 delegates in attendance.
- International Cultural Exchange (ICE): Ryan Group provides a wide global exposure to their students through various educational exchange programs to UK, Switzerland, Germany, and Australia, which helps them gain a better understanding of arts, culture, and global perspectives.
- NASA: As part of the educational program, students are given the opportunity to participate in a special workshop at NASA (USA) each year.
- Ryan TV – Education Through Lens: Through this endeavor, children are provided the opportunity to undertake media studies, TV journalism, filmmaking, and camera handling. The Group has state-of-the-art full-fledged in house studios located in Mumbai and Bangalore.
- Excellence in Sports: In the field of sports, the group has collaborated with the best in the industry to bring world-class coaching to children. Ryanites are consistently achieving several accolades at State, National, and International levels. Many include Arjuna Awardee, Chirag Shetty, International tennis player, Karman Thandi, National Level Badminton player, SimranSinghi, 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: Ryan Group facilitates higher education opportunities for students through their strategic partnership with PennHub, the State of Pennsylvania.
Role of Leading India’s Largest Privately Owned Chain of K-12 Institutions
Dr. Snehal Pinto currently serves as the director of the Ryan International Group of Institutions. She strongly believes that teachers play a crucial role in shaping the nation’s most valuable asset – human resources. Therefore, her areas of focus include professional development, assessments, and leadership.
Dr. Pinto is grateful for the wonderful team that God has blessed the Ryan Group with. Through consistent efforts, the schools under the Ryan Group have consistently ranked among the top international schools in India for several years, according to various school surveys such as the Times School, Brainfeed, and Education World. The Ryan Group has a clear focus on nurturing 21st-century skills and is driving capacity-building and scaling innovations with various high-impact student-centric initiatives across the country.
“It has been my privilege to be the president of the Association of Schools for the Indian School Certificate (ASISC),” says Dr. Snehal Pinto. She has also been a member of the Executive General Body of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (CISCE). Dr. Pinto has served as a member of the advisory committee for the South Asia International Baccalaureate Schools Association (SAIBSA).
At Ryan Group, the KASSM approach lays the context for all practices; meaning the pursuit of knowledge, attitude, skills, and social and moral values. Along with constructing knowledge and fostering relevant attitudes and life skills, we also seek to develop social and spiritual values.” Being aware that a focus on mere material abundance has led to the erosion of values today, integrity, responsibility, compassion, respect, hard work, and discipline are interwoven in the pedagogy, ethos, and culture of schools. Value Education an integral part of the learning and development. Dr. Pinto asserts, “To be socially responsible, we train our children to develop skills that are required to bring about community transformation and to be global citizens.”
Dr. Snehal Pinto expresses gratitude to Jesus Christ for empowering and enabling her to serve the nation throughout her growth journey. She also acknowledges her parents for their support. As a leader, she and her group are fortunate to have the overwhelming support of all stakeholders, which motivates them to persevere.
Serving the Society
The Ryan Group is committed to empowering the community in various aspects. Through its Community Action Projects, it has undertaken several remarkable initiatives to support society, including the adoption of orphanages, blind homes, and homes for the elderly; community outreach programs; village adoption; hygiene programs and health camps; environmental awareness drives, and the provision of relief and rehabilitation measures for disaster-affected communities. The Ryan Group believes that as a leader, it is important to get involved in various corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives like these. CSR activities add value to the organization and encourage it to take an interest in diverse social issues involving not only its immediate stakeholders but also the larger community.
Malcolm X once said, “Education is the passport to the future.” The quality of education that students receive plays a significant role in enhancing society and their lives. Providing children with experiential learning opportunities and cultivating 21st-century skills such as critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication, technology literacy, leadership, and social skills are essential for their holistic growth. At Ryan, the focus is on fostering industry-academia partnerships to instill these skills and provide students with new opportunities to learn by doing, upskill, reskill, and reinvent themselves to keep up with the ever-changing world. The goal is for students to become not only industry-ready and employable but also to follow their entrepreneurial aspirations. Dr. Snehal Pinto asserts, “Our efforts therefore are gearing to provide vocational opportunities in education and skill-based education.” Quality education will improve the lives of students and enable them to contribute to society’s betterment.
The Ryan Group is also keen to leverage technology to offer quality education to inaccessible parts of India while consolidating our growth in tier I cities and strengthening our operations in tier II and III cities.
True Leader Changes Vision into Reality
The Bible says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish”
According to Dr. Pinto, a true leader is someone who can turn their vision into reality. This holds especially true for emerging business leaders, especially those seeking to enter the education segment. To achieve their goals, leaders must have a strong vision and work with commitment and diligence. As an educational leader, you hold a significant responsibility, and you must be creative in your approach to maximize the potential of the subjects you serve. While there is no rule book to follow, it is crucial to work with faith and dedication for the betterment of society, which can bring you joy, happiness, and a sense of fulfillment.
Dr. Snehal Pinto concludes by quoting John Quincy Adams, “If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader.”
Written by Steve Sanchez.
