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NATIONAL ROLLOUT OF INDIA’S
Sri Chaitanya School students: great leapforward into 21st century digital technologies enabled education
remain anonymous. primary-secondary education.
Among the first major private education groups off the Thus far despite SCGI having steadily grown into “Asia’s
blocks to transform the threat posed to K-12 education into largest school chain” with 750 K-12 schools and junior col-
a rejuvenation opportunity is the Hyderabad/Vijayawada- leges including 322 state boards-affiliated K-10 Sri Chait-
based Sri Chaitanya Group of Institutions (SCGI), a well- anya Techno Schools, 107 K-12 Sri Chaitanya Schools af-
known name in K-10 and junior college (classes XI-XII)) filiated with the Delhi-based Central Board of Secondary
education. Over the past three decades SCGI has acquired Education (CBSE) and 321 state boards affiliated junior
an excellent reputation for preparing students for highly colleges with an aggregate enrolment of 650,000 students
competitive entrance exams of the country’s top-ranked mentored by 29,360 teachers, its brief post-entrance exams
engineering and medical undergrad colleges. print media advertising salvoes aside, it has maintained a
Every spring after school examination boards announce low public profile restricted to Andhra Pradesh, Telangana
their results, daily newspapers in peninsular India harvest and perhaps Deccan plateau states. But in the past few post-
an advertising revenue windfall as test-prep (aka coaching) pandemic months, its highly qualified second generation
schools such as Akash, FIT-JEE, Allen, Narayana Group management team has launched several initiatives signal-
among others, purchase full-page ads to proclaim their ling unambiguous intent to establish SCGI as a significant
students who top IIT-JEE/Advanced, NEET and AIIMS force in India’s K-12 education sector.
entrance exams. To this list add SCGI which claims that a In early 2021, when the country’s entire education sys-
steady 20-25 percent of school-leavers who enter the coun- tem was in lockdown, SCGI promoted its first major edtech
try’s 22 globally renowned IITs, 31 NITs (National Insti- subsidiary (Rankguru Technology Solutions Pvt. Ltd) which
tutes of Technology) and premier medical colleges which has launched Infinity Learn, the group’s first hi-tech on-
administer stiff entrance exams, are its alumni. SCGI is in line education platform. In quick time on June 24, Infinity
the vanguard of major test-prep oriented institutions to Learn launched its Sri Chaitanya Outstanding Achievers
transform the pandemic national lockdown into a great Reward Examination (SCORE) with a high-voltage promo-
leap forward into new-technologies enabled 21st century tional programme on NDTV 24x7, the well-reputed English
JANUARY 2022 EDUCATIONWORLD 53