Kaleidoscope Announcement
Amit Mohindra ‘84 is endowing a prize to recognize a UWC-USA community member who demonstrates determination and positivity in honor of his parents’ association with the school and their dedication to the UWC movement. The Raj and Sudesh Mohindra Service and Compassion Award will be awarded annually to someone who demonstrates the qualities of his parents, both of whom were pivotal in the founding of the UWC in India 25 years ago.
Amit’s father, Raj, perhaps the last living UWC link to Lord Mountbatten, served as a midshipman in Mountbatten’s flagship after graduating from the Royal Naval Academy, Dartmouth in the U.K. Raj learned about Mountbatten’s association with the UWC from Amit’s UWC application form. When Amit was selected for UWC-USA, Raj resolved to fulfill Mountbatten’s dream of an Indian UWC.
The UWC asked Raj to take over the Indian selection process in 1983. He subsequently raised a new National Committee and made UWC scholarships available to a wider swathe of Indian society. Raj worked tirelessly for the next 14 years to establish the Indian UWC. Raj brought on board the Mahindra family as donors and built the UWC. Most importantly, he won over the Indian education ministry, which was against international education.
Two experiences influenced Raj’s UWC journey. Like UWC students, Raj experienced a life-altering rigorous selection process as a 15-year-old Indian Navy prospect. At the Academy, he trained with cadets from around the Commonwealth and beyond. Raj recognized that collaboration across cultures could provide powerful growth opportunities for young people.
Amit’s mother, Sudesh, never formally associated with the UWC beyond being a UWC parent, was instrumental in the founding of the Indian UWC. Sudesh comes from a family of teachers--her mother and four of her sisters were teachers. As a life-long educator, the UWC mission and IB curriculum struck a deep chord with her. Sudesh supported the family when Raj gave up his job to devote his full attention to the Indian UWC.
Raj resigned as CEO of MUWCI at the graduation of the pioneering class.
Certificate of Special Commendation
In recognition of his outstanding skill, courage, selflessness, and absolute determination in the accomplishment of this longstanding dream. His commitment is exemplary in the history of the United World Colleges.
Education World Citation
Mumbai-based Captain Raj Mohindra, Indian Navy (Retd), is widely acknowledged as the person who opened the doors to international education in India, overcoming obstacles in the heyday of the license-permit-quota regime of pre-liberalisation India. A distinguished officer of the Indian Navy (1950-1975), a former General Manager of the Shipping Corporation of India (1975-89) and former Chief Executive, Indian Express, Mumbai, Capt Mohindra was the founding Chief Executive of the Mahindra United World College of India (MUWCI), Pune. His forceful advocacy with the Government of India for over a decade culminated in approval by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs on 23rd March, 1992 for setting up a United World College on Indian soil. Today, MUWCI, funded by the House of Mahindras, is regarded as one of the most successful UWCs worldwide. In EWISR (Education World International School Rankings) it is ranked number 3 nationally in 2016. Her Majesty Queen Noor of Jordan, President of UWCs, commended Capt Mohindra for his “outstanding skill, courage, selflessness and absolute determination” in setting up a UWC in India.
In 1998, after successfully bringing the MUWCI on stream, Captain Mohindra promoted a consultancy in Mumbai, Raj Mohindra Consultants Pvt Ltd (RMC), with the twin aims of setting up high-quality international schools in metro cities and pan-India Board schools in Tier II and III cities. RMC has been a project consultant to 7 top-ranked internationally benchmarked schools, including the Dhirubhai Ambani International School, Mumbai; the Ecole Mondiale World School, Mumbai; the Pathways World School, Aravali, Gurugram; the Niraj International School, Hyderabad; and the Stonehill International School, Bengaluru, to name a few. Most of these schools have featured in EWISR between 2012 and 2015. RMC was a consultant to 10 high-quality CBSE and ICSE schools in India and Nepal. RMC also planned and conceived 3 schools in Bhuj, Anjar, and Gandhidam, with student bodies ranging from 1500 to 2000, in record time for the Gem and Jewellery National Relief Foundation, Mumbai, when these cities were ravaged by the Gujarat earthquake of 2001. Moreover, RMC was the project consultant for setting up the Indian Institute of Gems and Jewellery, Mumbai - one of the largest vocational institutes of its type in Asia - for the Gem and Jewellery Export Promotion Council.
The Consultancy’s research division has produced valuable manuals on rules and regulations governing the promotion and management of high-end, capital-intensive schools in India, as well as operating procedures and research papers on subjects such as school governance, inclusive education, and eco-friendly campuses.
For his extraordinary contribution to the growth and development of primary and secondary education, particularly for enabling the entry of globally benchmarked International Educational institutions in India and for his tireless advocacy of private entrepreneurs to establish and administer educational institutions of their choice, the Board of Directors and Editors of Education World are privileged to present Captain Raj Mohindra the EW Lifetime Achievement in Educational Leadership Award 2016 and induct him into the EW Hall of Fame of Indian Education.