School Education and Management Services (SEAMS), can assist schools to increase their capacity in all respects, in a completely participative manner. This will improve and enhance the school to contribute significantly better. We will understand the “state of the school” through our carefully developed research methodology, leading to design of a comprehensive, strategic, school development and improvement plan. Professionals from the school will be involved in every step of the design and implementation of the process. The entire process shall be planned such that the involvement of SEAMS will reduce in a gradual and smooth manner, over a predefined period of time.

Dr. Sundar Kumar Gandikota, initiator of SEAMS, received an opportunity to be in Rishi Valley School – Krishnamurti Foundation India (RVS–KFI) for eight years. While being a full–time faculty member, he was allowed, nurtured and enabled to study the school from a management and decision–making perspective as well. As part of the study, he also explored and examined if some aspects of the way Rishi Valley School is “managed” could be attempted in non–KFI schools as well. For the last more than ten years, he has been exploring, adapting and developing some of the interesting ideas learnt at RVS–KFI to non–KFI schools. The outcome is very encouraging and illustrates that a fair and earnest attempt to try out some of the ideas will benefit schools for sure. Although, attempting these practices may not lead to a paradigm shift per se, it surely may lead to a learning environment for students and teachers.

Prior to joining Rishi Valley School, Sundar worked in Engineering industry involved in functions like design, engineering, project management, plant and general management for sixteen years. This provided him a certain background to study and understand aspects of school management. While he continues to teach subjects like Mathematics, Physics and General Culture in the middle and high schools, he is deeply interested to understand and improve schools from the educational, leadership and management perspectives.

After relocating from Rishi Valley School, Sundar worked for two years as the Deputy Headmaster of Development at Chinmaya International Residential School, Coimbatore, which is a co–educational, CBSE/IB based, residential school. In close association with the then Principal, and due to him, he took up adventurous, innovative, interesting and promising initiatives to improve the school. He had a brief, one year stint as the Head of Anubhuti School at Jalgaon before joining Orchid International School, Nasik.

It was at Orchid International School, Nasik, that he explored, experimented, and initiated many steps to improve the leadership and management of the school so that better educational practices become a part of the school culture. Apart from earning a kind of respectability among schools, it's ranking in C–Fore and Education World surveys improved significantly and it was within the top ten co–educational, residential schools of the country in 2014. Many of the articles appearing in this website reflect the paradigm shift brought about in the school.

For a little more than two years Sundar served a fairly large CISCE affiliated, co–educational day–school, in Kanpur. His association with this school re–affirms that children are eager to learn everywhere and it is for a teacher to reach out. It is the responsibility of school leadership to provide the platform in which teachers and educators can function, learn and grow. The staff members of the school received the development in an amazingly positive manner. The school improved all its fundamentals significantly during this amazing association.

For a little more than two years Sundar served a fairly large CISCE affiliated, co–educational day–school, in Kanpur. His association with this school re–affirms that children are eager to learn everywhere and it is for a teacher to reach out. It is the responsibility of school leadership to provide the platform in which teachers and educators can function, learn and grow. The staff members of the school received the development in an amazingly positive manner. The school improved all its fundamentals significantly during this amazing association.

In the meanwhile, Orchid International School, Nasik, went through uncertain times and required the presence of Sundar to continue the journey with renewed vigour. He joined back the school in May 2017.

To some of the essential questions, challenges and problems of institutions there do not seem to be easy solutions. SEAMS would be able to suggest only sensitive, customized and carefully designed approaches and plans, which require tenacious commitment. We are not equipped to suggest quick fix solutions to the challenges. Some of the questions we could examine and suggest suitable responses are given below.

• How to understand the present state and culture of a school?
• How do we review and examine our educational practices to enhance the outcome?
• Are we in a position and do we recognize the “default” management practices which impair growth and development of a school?
• How do quantitative aspirations of management and qualitative requirements of school interplay with each other?
• To what extent can school leadership attempt to improve its quality for a given size of school?
• How to assess the collective capacity of a school and how to develop a school development plan with a strategic focus?
• What is a “good” school and how to “start” it?
• How to evolve an “appropriate” vision for a school, keeping its capacities and potential in mind?
• How to design the school for viability and sustainability while aiming for high quality educational practices?
• How to design appropriate management and educational processes for continuous improvement of a school?
• Why should a school embark upon development of curriculum in–house? How to do this?
• What is the level of technology to be adopted for “good” education and on what basis does one decide this?
• What is teacher and staff development? Is it possible to plan this in–house when experts are not easily available or we do not wish to have them?
• How to assess the capacity and culture of the student community and how to improve it?
• How to bring about a learning organization for excellence?
• What does all round development mean and how to plan for this, within limited resources?
• How to determine and decide the ratio of various components in design of a school?

Sundar wishes to share his experiences in different schools, with interested teachers, heads, leaders and promoters to improve schools from within. We plan to do this through email, telephone or by personal visits.