Ashish Emanuel is the young and dynamic Director of AE Group. He is a product of St. Andrews School and a graduate of management studies from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. He has a post-graduate degree in finance and management from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland. A scion of the Emanuel Family, now responsible for spearheading the growth and expansion of Winmore Academy. We sat down with Ashish to learn more about Winmore, his approach, and vision of the future.
Tell us about Winmore Academy.
What are its antecedents? Winmore Academy is the national brand of St. Andrews School, which is based in Hyderabad. My father started the school 34 years ago, at a time when his father (my grandfather) was dying of cancer). Back then, my father was a businessman but his father’s wish was that he gives back to the community in some way. My father initially thought that it meant he should start a hospital. But my grandfather wanted that he start a school because educating children would be of more value. St. Andrews School started off with just 200 children in a rented building. Over 34 years we have been able to grow that school into three campuses, of 10, 8 and 2 acres. And from 200 kids we now have 7500 kids. That is where we come from.
When we decided to move out of Hyderabad, we felt that the name St. Andrews would get us categorized as one of those old-fashioned, predominantly Christian schools, which may not be progressive in nature or inclusive of all religions and communities. That was not the sort of image we wanted because we’re not that type of a school. We do not discriminate between any religion, caste or community. It was felt that Winmore Academy is a name that is secular in nature and more in keeping with a national brand.
Why the name Winmore Academy?
We started the school in the 1980s and I’m not really sure why we picked the name St.Andrews. Since we’re a Christian family, there may have been some attachment to the name. Also, as I mentioned earlier, we started off in a rented house and the owners insisted on that particular name.
But we are not pro- Christianity of even pro-Catholicism. Our staff and students come from diverse backgrounds and cultures. We are completely secular in nature and people in Hyderabad are aware of this. We are not like St. Ann’s, or St. Patrick’s, which are proper convents, run by priests and nuns. Everyone knows that although St. Andrews is run by a Christian family, it has nothing to do with the Church.
But once we step out of Hyderabad and go to new cities, there are likely to be a St. Ann’s or a St. Joseph’s there and we don’t want to get slotted alongside them. We are a secular, all-inclusive organization and that is how we would like to project ourselves. The name Winmore was chosen to reflect this, to ensure that people wouldn’t come to us with any pre-conceived notions.
What is the vision and mission of the school?
With respect to the vision and mission of the school, we want to be a school that is:-
Progressive in nature. We should be able to adapt ourselves to the changing times and keep moving ahead. Technology is changing fast and we need to keep up with it. A school can’t be using outdated methodologies or techniques. We have to keep ourselves updated at all times so that we can give our best to the children.
– As I mentioned earlier, we started this school with the aim of giving back to society and that is our mission. We want to ensure that each child that comes out of Winmore Academy is an asset to the community. The child has to be better than the average and a valuable member of society. And to achieve this, we follow an all-inclusive method of education. For us, it is the all-round development of the child that matters, not just academics. When they go out into the world, they need to well-equipped for whatever challenges come their way.
What is the philosophy behind affordable education?
In developed countries, education, like healthcare, is a basic right that you’re born with. It is assumed that the government will provide quality health care and schooling for its citizens. Unfortunately, this is not the case in India. Most government schools are unable to bring good quality education that is also affordable. What we are trying to do is bridge this gap between what parents want for their child and what the government should provide.
Our fee structure appeals to the families from the middle-income group. This was not the case 10-15 years ago when our students used to come from different strata of society. We had students from well-off families as well as from the middle and lower-income group all studying in a St. Andrews school. But now, the more affluent families prefer to send their children to international schools.
Our fees are set at a figure that we think is fair and reasonable for good quality education. We do not get any help from the government in terms of land, infrastructure, and resources. In spite of that, our schools are comparable to an international school, barring the fact that we do not have air-conditioned classrooms. Our 10-acre campus in Bengaluru is on par with any international school, maybe even better. Even in our other school where the campus may not be as large, the facilities and space that we offer our students are what international schools also claim to provide.
And more importantly, we do this for an amount that middle-class families can afford. International schools charge fees that range from Rs 4-5 lakhs annually and can go up to even 10-15 lakhs. In comparison, our fees are a modest Rs 70,000 a year, a figure that middle-income families find affordable. We don’t take and never have taken donations, capitation fees or building funds. All these factors add up to what we feel is affordable education.
You have been responsible for building this brand, what has the journey been like so far?
I’ve been part of this organization for close to 10 years now, so I’ve learned the ropes from the start, from doing small things to being in charge of the majority of the work. The main thing is that we have a very good team. We have structured the organization in such a way that there are heads for each department. That makes it easier to get work done.
A big challenge has been making the transition from St. Andrews to Winmore, because starting a new brand is not easy. We’ve had to underline the fact that we come from St. Andrews and that we have an experience of 34 years. That is something we have to communicate to the parents when we market our brand in Bangalore. It is my responsibility to look into the marketing of the school and the setting up of the new schools. Of course, we have a director in charge of construction and good architects to work with. But the inputs come from here.
Then there’s finance, which involves assigning budgets, understanding where we should and shouldn’t be spending money. For example, even if something is very expensive, one needs to have the conviction to invest in it, knowing it will bear results later. Such decisions have to be taken then and there. Of course, where schools are concerned, one doesn’t get to see the results immediately, it takes seven to eight years for the effects to show.
Being an avid sportsperson yourself, what does Winmore Academy offer in terms of sports?
I’m more of a sports buff than a sportsperson. In my opinion, one of the best things that a child can do is to play a sport. It helps the child learn more about herself and how she reacts in a particular situation. The child also becomes more disciplined, both physically and mentally. Sports facilities must be part of a school. Children may not take up a sport as a profession but we have to give them the opportunity.
I’ve seen schools abroad that have the best facilities where sports are concerned: The grounds, fields, and equipment. It doesn’t matter to them that there are few people playing on those fields. I wanted to make sure that our schools also provide the best that we can offer, in terms of space and facilities. We source a lot of our equipment is sourced from abroad.
Our football grounds have been upgraded with artificial turf which is easier to play on. They are also floodlit, so children can play at night. Our basketball courts have surfaces that meet international standards. Our Whitfield school has a full-fledged cricket ground. We have skating rinks as well. We don’t provide facilities for individual sports as international schools do, but that’s because we want to make sure that our facilities cater to the maximum number of students.
What makes Winmore Academy stand out from the rest?
For that, we need to go back 34 years and see why the school started. We started school as a service and that is built into our DNA, our ethos. Our schools in Whitfield and Jakkur may be new, but they come from this very same DNA. We’re not thinking about profitability or commerce. For us, it’s all about giving the best to our students and their parents.
There are so many schools that have started as a business. Which means that every child that takes admission there comes with a price tag. But we don’t think of education as a business. Although our organization is a part of a different business, for us, education is not one of them. It is a service, but one that is backed up by 34-35 years of experience.
Bengaluru is a city that’s expanding and developing at a rapid pace. It does have its old and well-established schools like St. Josephs, Sophias, and Bishop Cottons. But not everyone can afford to go to those schools. Also, in the newer parts of the city, every school is a new school and parents there have many options. But none of those schools come with the kind of history that we have. The oldest school there would probably be 10 years old. But Winmore Academy, which may be a new brand, still has a history that goes back 35 years.
What are the expansion plans?
As of now, we have two Winmore schools: one in Whitefield and the other in Jakkur. The school in Jakkur will become functional in 2019. The third school in Bengaluru will be ready in 2021.
We also have plans to enter tier 2 cities like Vijayawada but as of now our focus is only on Bengaluru and the next two schools will be here. We do plan to go national, but as of now, our target is the south of India.
How do you run your schools so efficiently? With three schools in Hyderabad and two in Bengaluru, what is the secret?
The secret is that we have a central office. Now we have seven schools but even earlier, our schools have had many sections in each class, going up to 10. We can’t have teachers teaching different things in all these sections. It’s important that we offer standardized lessons to all the students. This is where the central office comes in. We have subject heads for each department, who prepare the curriculum and the lesson plans. Every day, the same topic is taught in each class, in every school.
Next, around 15 years ago, we demarcated what is academic and what is non-academic when it comes to the functioning of a school. So, the principal, vice-principal, and faculty need to concern themselves with only the academic side of things. On the non-academic side of it, we have a vice-president and a manager of operations who deal with the administrative issues like transport, security, fire safety measures, cleanliness, etc. This makes the entire system function more efficiently and effectively.
The central office also deals with several other matters. Like for computer education, we create our own content, and we do the same is for digital learning as well. For every lesson in the textbook, we have an audio-visual add-on. That is also standardized and the central office takes care of it.
The third is procurement. We purchase whatever the school needs at a central level. Whether it is stationary, uniforms, equipment, we get a better price because we purchase it centrally, in bulk, for all our schools.
The head office also plans the construction requirements of the schools. This ensures that we provide a standardized service across all our schools, be it academic or non-academic. It is a challenge of course, but it is what works best for us. And we do have 34-35 years of experience to support us.