Founding Principal

RP Goenka International School (RPGIS) aims to be world-class in all that it does. Its aspiration is to become the school of choice in Kolkata, to quickly become known as one of the best international schools in India, and, in time, to develop a global reputation for its blend of innovation, high academic standards, holistic education and a culture of kindness.

The school will draw on the 200 years of experience of the present-day RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group (RPSG). RPSG is one of the most respected major business groups in India, with interests across multiple sectors. In the last four decades, the Group’s Education Division has also become a major name in postgraduate education, with its highly regarded International Management Institutes. It is this same commitment to education that has inspired the decision to establish a prestigious international school in Kolkata.

The plans for RPGIS have been carefully considered and meticulously put together, with experienced consultants engaged to develop a concept based on the strongest educational foundations.

RPGIS will meet the demand for high-quality education in the heart of Kolkata (earlier known as Calcutta), a vibrant city often described as India’s cultural and intellectual capital.

RPSG has commissioned a world-class campus in the Alipore residential district of Kolkata. At capacity, RPGIS will serve 750 students in an extraordinary building of 200,000 sq. ft. – architecturally bold, aligned with contemporary educational thinking and with the flexibility to adapt to new approaches and technologies as curricula and pedagogy continue to evolve.

RPGIS will be a K–12 day school and will offer the International Baccalaureate PYP and Diploma Programme and, between these, the Cambridge Assessment International Education Lower Secondary and IGCSE programmes. Applications for IB and Cambridge authorisation have been initiated. As an IB World School, RPGIS will align itself with the IB Learner Profile and the twin concepts of international-mindedness and intercultural understanding with critical thinking and service-learning embedded from the youngest students upwards.

The school will be founded on four principles: nurture, excel, lead, empower. Happiness and a love of learning will define the school. It is intended that the school will represent the most current, peer-researched thinking about how students learn and think most effectively; how teachers can be trained and encouraged to impart knowledge through nurturing and enabling; how schools should be led by moral example; how resources and technologies can be harnessed to support the curriculum; and how schools and their communities can mutually support each other.

The school will be avowedly holistic in its approach, with a strong pastoral programme and a culture of kindness as a framework for relations throughout the school. RPSG envisages a school in which all activities contribute to and reflect an ethos that combines compassion, optimism and a belief in human progress with the pursuit of excellence, the liberation of talent and the maximisation of potential. RPGIS will be a school where students and teachers jointly strive for the best possible academic outcomes but also collaborate to maintain and promote community links and an enrichment programme that is inclusive as well as exciting, fun and stimulating. There will be a culture of intellectual and cultural challenge in which students are encouraged to be lifelong learners and to become committed to shaping a better world for those around them. Students will be encouraged to reflect on their learning, to learn from their mistakes and not to be afraid to fail.

Underpinning the student experience will be the assurance of safety. This will be reflected in the attention given by teachers, the kindness of the leadership and school rules, the sophistication of the physical environment and the role of tutors. A close relationship between school and home will be at the heart of helping students to value their education and to recognise the example of their mentors.