Page 53 - SAI International School Brochure 2023

Vision of the Founder – Chairman

Dr Bijaya Kumar Sahoo (01.06.1963- 03.06.2021)

Happiness is the foundation on which great lives are built and a happy learning environment creates a lifelong impact on students. Late. Dr Bijaya Kumar Sahoo’s
endeavour has always been to ensure that all the stakeholders of SAI International are happy. When he had conceived the idea to start SAI International School, his
sole focus was to create a globally-benchmarked School where each and every child is happy and where learning takes place in a joyful environment. Education is
the foundation on which the progress of a nation depends. It is a human right that creates profound implications on social, economic and personal development. He
understood that knowledge acquisition is very important, but it is also equally vital to build character and personality. This is what SAI International follows – Holistic
Parenting. The word parenting signifies that the teachers, staff and the students are a part of one big family. He believed that strong relationships are the key to a happy
life.

Dr Sahoo’s approach towards teaching-learning at SAI International was completely student-centric which is radically different from the teacher-centric approach. He
made sure that we teach the importance of mindfulness to students, by helping them to inculcate the habit of paying close attention to the present moment or putting the
complete focus on whatever they are doing, through closely-monitored hands-on activities.

Late Dr. Bijaya Kumar Sahoo, Founder-Chairman of the SAI International Educational Group, was a visionary and a man of action. His brainchild, SAI International
Education Group, comprises four institutions namely, SAI International School, SAI Angan, and SAI International Residential School. In 2019, he was elevated to the
status of Minister of State, an appointment by the State Government as the Advisor-cum-Working President to Odisha Adarsha Vidyalaya Sangathan, Department of
School and Mass Education, Government of Odisha, with the sole mission to establish 314 CBSE English Medium Government Schools, 1 in each block of Odisha. Dr
Sahoo was conferred with the prestigious honorary degree of Doctor of Literature (Honoris Causa) by the prestigious Utkal University from the Vice President of India in
2021. Late Dr. Sahoo was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award by EducationWorld posthumously for his invaluable contribution in the field of Education.

In his pursuit of building a happy nation, his work ‘SAI International’, got recognised by the Indian Institute of Management Calcutta (IIMC). IIMC published a case study
on the life of our Founder-Chairman and the journey of SAI International. The case, namely, “SAI International School: In Pursuit of Academic Happiness”, will be taught
to all management students who attend the MBA program at the prestigious institution. One of Asia’s finest management institutions, IIM Calcutta, has included this case
within their core curriculum of management to teach the country’s finest leaders the concept of SAI, the art of entrepreneurship, and education management