As featured in ‘Times Thought Leaders’ on Tuesday, 26th August 2025

“It is nothing short of terrifying that we imprison students for 13 years in a world of pen, paper, and soul-crushing rigor, and then expect them to thrive in a digital world which prizes well-rounded independent thinkers.”

Rohan Parikh has had a simple, bold mission: to deliver Indian schooling that is “second to none.” For 15 years, he has championed the belief that privately delivered, digitally enabled, cost-conscious, globally benchmarked Indian education can rival the world’s best systems. While this vision aligns closely with the National Education Policy’s goal of creating an education system that is second to none, it is important to note that this ambitious objective is a cornerstone of the NEP itself, reflecting a broader national commitment rather than solely Rohan’s personal agenda.

The Problem: A Divided, Outdated Schooling System

His education mission was born from a deeply personal realisation that the education system has several unique advantages that has led to Indians succeeding across the globe, but it also has some key weaknesses that held us back and that could be fixed. He felt that India’s current obsession with “international” schools was unjust and made the mistake of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. He thus had a singular mission: to create schools that deliver internationally benchmarked learning at an Indian price point, with an Indian ‘soul’ and; accessible to the many, not the few.

Growing up in Mumbai, Rohan attended the Cathedral School (ICSE) before studying at The Wharton School (B.Sc. Econ) and INSEAD (MBA). His career began in international management consulting, before returning as promised to his grandmother (a freedom fighter) to India to make a difference. His education mission was born from a deeply personal realisation. Families had to choose between rote-driven traditional schools or overpriced, foreign-oriented ‘international’ schools. All of which are stuck in outdated analog teaching methods that did not prepare students for the real world. Rohan believed this was the real world. Rohan believed this was not only unjust, but also solvable.

The Solution: Founding The Green Acres Academy

To address this gap, Rohan partnered with Siamack Zahedi (PhD, Johns Hopkins) to found The Green Acres Academy (TGAA) in Chembur.
Their vision was revolutionary:

• Research-Based Schools: TGAA became a think-tank atop a network of high-performing schools, taking the best global education research and contextualizing it to India to create a truly world class Indian school.
• No Copy-Paste: International best practices were not blindly imported as one sees too often in India. They were contextualized, and every innovation was tested rigorously within TGAA before being rolled out across its schools.
• Global Scholarly Contribution: TGAA then gives back to the world by publishing papers (nine as of 2025) in leading international journals, working alongside academic luminaries from Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and other top institutions—a rarity not just in India, but globally.

At TGAA, we validate every idea in our own schools, ensuring what we call ‘research-based’ is genuinely effective for Indian learners. And then use our learnings to add to scholarly knowledge globally, and showcase Indian academia.

Impact: One of India’s Most Innovative Schools

The result – the award winning Green Acres Academies that are being recognised amongst the most innovative and high performing schools in India due to their unique attributes

• Readiness for the Future: Using a combination of digital and physical learning to ensure children are equipped with the 21st century skills necessary to flourish in tomorrow’s world.
• Technology Integration: One of the first ICSE schools to introduce laptops on every desk. Through this, the school is able to offer a powerful pedagogical program that ensures that students are deeply engaged in their work, teachers have the latest tools at their disposal, and both have access to the best learning resources.
• Foundational Strength: A rigorous focus on early literacy and numeracy using leading digital platforms like Zearn, ensures that our students score at international levels in their literacy and numeracy. They then build on this with rich learning content around all core academic subjects balancing digital content with rigorous pen and paper work.
• Holistic Programs: Learning is rounded off by TGAA’s proprietary ‘personal leadership program’ called LEAPED which teaches students independence and self-confidence, and its ground breaking Citizenship Program which teaches students to be well-rounded citizens of the world they will soon occupy.
• International Standards, Indian Price Point: Benchmarking its students using international standards to prove that its methods achieve global outcomes at Indian prices, without compromising on its Indian soul.

Scaling the Solution Across India: Acres Future Curriculum (AFC)

“Our mission is not just to build the best schools, but to build the platform that enables all schools across India to achieve excellence. For us IMPACT is everything.”
After TGAA’s success, Rohan sought to amplify these innovations nationwide. Thus began the Acres Future Curriculum (AFC):

• Full Digital Transformation: AFC is one of India’s first digital ICSE curriculum, directly supporting the NEP’s vision of digitally empowered schools.
• Blended Learning Model: Every student has a device on their desk and works with rigorous physical workbooks—the best of digital and traditional education.
• Constant Innovation: Digital content is ever-evolving, personalized, and reflects the real world. At the same time, core writing and reasoning skills are cultivated through physical activities.
• Selective Rollout: Initially launched at schools sharing Rohan’s vision for Indian excellence, AFC will expand to more institutions annually on invitation or request.

Rohan Parikh’s journey exemplifies problem-solving leadership in education: identifying not just what’s broken, but fundamentally changing the system with research, innovation, and partnership. His unwavering mission—quality education for all, rooted in Indian values and aspirations, but global in quality and ambition.