“Warm greetings to the Oxford family.”

It is indeed a great honour and responsibility to chair the Board of Governors of Shri Gyan Saraswati Education Society. I am grateful to all the former and current parents, students, teachers and staff members of OTGS for trusting me for 30 years to serve the best quality education in our town, Nanded.

The driving force to help in earnest cannot be based on guilt or pressure, but on a deep sense of inner gratitude and a sustained wish to do whatever we can, unconditionally. This gratitude emanates from a two-fold test: the ability to do, and the intention to deliver. Having the ability to help, co-existing with an inner desire to work and deliver, is where we find ourselves blessed.

Formal education taps latent abilities and opens up an altogether different world. Education has enormous transformative power in any crisis. Everyone deserves the best start in life, and that is not possible without quality education. If we want our future to be just and sustainable, we have to think collectively, and for this collective effort, education is the strongest tool. Education cannot be restricted to a single period of one’s life. Everyone, beginning with the most marginalised and disadvantaged members of our society, must be entitled to lifelong learning opportunities, for their careers as well as for their personal knowledge and development.

The School’s mission is to attract and develop exceptional students and teachers from all backgrounds to serve a meritocratic India. OTGS is an inclusive school that celebrates and embraces diversity: of geography, of socio-economic background and of skill sets. Differentiated learning and teaching strategies, along with an inclusive approach, are at the core of our curriculum.

Academics at OTGS is a distinguishing characteristic. It challenges the intellect and nurtures the potential of each student to acquire the knowledge, concepts and skills necessary to become thinking, productive and responsible citizens.

Sports has always been an integral part of an OTGS education. This belief stems from the philosophy that learning occurs both inside the classroom and outside it. Participation in sport keeps young minds and bodies positively engaged and helps develop sensorimotor faculties.

The co-curricular programme is perhaps the soul of OTGS. Its aim is to promote the spirit of exploration, curiosity, character development, team building, strategy, leadership, individuality and empathy for all. Resilience, integrity, communication and collaboration are just a few of the skills our activity programme sets out to instil.

Our priority, as it was for my predecessors, is to ensure a progressive, inspiring, stimulating and, above all, a happy environment in school. The Board, the Headmaster and the school management remain committed to this endeavour.