Curiosity before answers
Before a child is asked for the answer, they are asked what makes them think so. Thinking routines are used in every subject, including the ones that are hard to make interesting.
Educationist, ChennaiIn education since 1991
R.J. Bhuvanesh. Schools that teach children how to think.
R.J. Thayumanaswamy, known as R.J. BhuvaneshChief Executive Officer, KRM Group of Schools
He leads the Kaligi Ranganathan Montford (KRM) schools in north Chennai. For thirty five years he has held on to one belief: a classroom in India can be as good as any classroom in the world.
Award2026Latest honourBritish CouncilInternational School AwardHeld by every KRM school for the 2023-26 cycleWho he is
A teacher who never stopped being one.
He spent ten years teaching in a classroom before he was asked to run a school.
He joined the Kaligi Ranganathan Montford (KRM) schools in 1991 as a post graduate assistant, and taught mathematics and computer science there until 2001. Those years still shape how he works.
He remembers what it is like to face a class late in the afternoon, with half an hour to go and the children no longer listening. He keeps that picture in mind when he makes decisions for the schools he leads today.
Harvard, Doha, Helsinki, ARISE and the policy meetings have all taught him something. He brings each idea back to the same question: will it work for one teacher and fifty children?
- Trained as
- An engineer
- B.E., Coimbatore Institute of Technology, 1990
- Taught
- 1991 to 2001
- Mathematics and computer science
- Leading since
- 2001
- KRM Group of Schools, Chennai
- Diploma
- PZC (Harvard)
- Project Zero Classroom, Harvard University, 2012
Read his full biographyR.J. BhuvaneshIn education since 1991
What he stands on
Five things he will not trade
Every school has a list of values. These are the five that shape a normal school day at KRM.
Values only count when you can see them in the school day.
R.J. Bhuvanesh
Chief Executive Officer, KRM Group of Schools
Character counts too
Marks are not the only measure. How a child treats the person sitting next to them matters as much as the answer sheet.
Teachers come first
Change does not last unless teachers are brought along. In thirty five years, he has never made teacher training the first thing to cut.
Learning by doing
Hands-on activities, projects and soft skills keep children involved and make them responsible for their own learning. Tinkering, robotics and maker labs give them room to build what they read about.
Parents are partners
A child learns at home as much as at school. His Joyous Parenting series asks parents to notice a child's strengths, encourage curiosity and treat every exam as feedback.
What he is responsible for
Thirty five years in numbers
The size of the group he leads today. Its former students now work across the world as doctors, lawyers, engineers and more.
See every institutionFootprint
10
Institutions across Chennai
Six schools on two boards, and four more
Reach
10,000+
Students every year
Kindergarten to grade twelve
People
850
Staff members
Teaching and non-teaching
Tenure
35yrs
In education
The first ten as a teacher
Under his leadership
Recognised far beyond Perambur.
A Forbes listing, a Guinness World Record and a long list of awards. Each one was given by an organisation outside the group.
Listed in
Forbes Magazine
The Great Indian Schools 2018
The KRM Group of Schools was named among the great schools of India.
October 2018 issue
Records created
Guinness World Records
3,997
people, under one roof
Most people solving a Rubik's Cube
The group is also in the Asia Book of Records and the India Book of Records, for the most participants solving a Rubik's Cube within two minutes.
His perspectives
Ideas, written down for teachers and parents.
Essays, Teachers' Day letters and the seven part Joyous Parenting series.
Upgrading the intellect to intelligence, and dispelling ignorance.
Policy2020
An overview of NEP 2020
3 min read
Small steps are progress. Asking for help is strength.
Teaching
Failure is also success
2 min read
We all have two lives. The second begins when we realise we have only one.
Joyous Parenting, part 1
Upgrading intellect to intelligence
1 min read
Work with him
Speaking, advisory and school partnerships.
Write to him directly. He reads every message himself and usually replies within a week.
rjbhuvanesh@gmail.comPeople write to him about
- Speaking invitation
- Advisory or board request
- Media and interviews
- Institutional partnership
Still... miles to go.