From Bricks to Books
- dnyaneshchaudhari0
- Oct 16
- 4 min read
Prakashchandra Shetty
Chairman & Managing Trustee,
G M Education Trust & G M Global Educational Trust
Prakashchandra Shetty is an alumnus of M.G.M. College, Udupi. He was a civil contractor and is now an educator. He is the correspondent of Vidyamandira Higher Primary School, founded by his father in 1950, where he imparts free education to nearly 200 children in a rural area.
Prakashchandra founded the G M Vidyaniketan Public School in 2005, which is the recipient of the IMPACT Award, British Council School Award, Swachh Vidyalaya Award and many such firsts in the field of quality education. He started G M Global School in the year 2022-23 with an intention of imparting quality education with global standards.
Prakashchandra is a recipient of many prestigious awards. ‘Ujwala Udyami Prashasthi’ by
Suvarna News & Kannada Prabha, Aryabhata International Award, Krishnanugraha Award and Vijaya Karnataka Education Excellence Award for his excellent service in the field of education are some of them.
What inspired you to get into education?
Following an illustrious career as Civil Contractor, I was involved more with non-living things like bricks and cement mortar for a long time. Building educational institutions and hospitals was my specialisation. During this period, I was involved in providing and putting all the facilities in place required for a good institution. This inspired me to shift from ‘Bricks to Books’.
You and your family have built a legacy in education. Can you tell us how it all began?
Having realised the need of education in building modern India, my father started his own free school in 1950 in a remote village of Udupi District. Being a teacher himself, he was the real Guru in my life. After his retirement, I was chosen to manage his school from amongst my brothers and sisters. While I was continuing with my profession of building institutions for others in Bengaluru, I thought it fit to go back to my village and start my own institution and set up a CBSE School with modern amenities coupled with academic excellence which would help in shaping young minds and make them globally relevant.
You have set new benchmarks as a school in your region. What defines excellence for a school?
At G M Vidyaniketan and G M Global, excellence is not treated as a singular accomplishment…but rather it is perceived as a way of life. Often, schools and parents make the mistake of equating brilliance with good grades or success in board examinations. Undoubtedly, academic achievement is significant and is the need of the hour… However, I personally feel that a child’s holistic development is what can be equated to excellence.
Excellence at our institute means creating an environment where every child feels important, safe and has the ways and means to keep alive his or her creative flame. Classrooms are areas where curiosity takes centre stage and our curriculum balances knowledge with skills, values and creativity.
Excellence can also mean teaching students resilience, problem solving skills and most importantly confidence that they are ready to compete in the real world. A happy child is a better learner.
So, to round it all up, I would say that excellence is not about comparison, but about progress. If the students who graduate from the portals of our institution leave being more confident, compassionate and future ready than when they joined us, then I say that we have truly achieved excellence.
You are a school that patronises teachers. You annually host a teachers quiz too. How do you see the importance of teachers growing?
Teachers are the cornerstone of any school or institution. The latest gadgets, infrastructure, technology, etc. may lay the foundation for the school to grow, but it is the truly the teacher who shapes the child’s journey. I firmly believe that when we treat teachers as our assets and invest in their development, we are indirectly investing in generations of students.
Hosting the Teachers Quiz is our way of paying tribute to the creativity, spirit of learning and intellect of the teachers. It also showcases to the students that just like them, teachers too are learning and that they are lifelong learners. When teachers grow and develop, their growth trickles down to the students in the classroom.
We live in an age wherein students have information available to them at their fingertips. In such instances, the role of the teacher goes from being instructors to becoming guides and mentors. But the role of the teacher is only going to become more significant in the future. Teachers must be the ones to spark curiosity in the growing child.
Contrary to popular belief, the importance of teachers is not reducing in todays digital age…in fact it is growing… No technology can replace the warmth, the values and the inspiration a teacher imparts to the students.
What does the future hold for G M Institutions?
The future for G M Vidyaniketan and G M Global is bright…!!!
It holds promise of growth and innovation. Having completed two decades of our journey, our vision is clear – to stay ahead of the changing landscapes of society while being firm in our core value of ‘Education for Life’.
Our goal is to become a hub of education where tradition and modern appeal, global exposure and Indian values blend seamlessly. I want the schools to be places where technology, creativity, critical and logical thinking work side by side with compassion, ethics and strong character.
I envision expansion in terms of infrastructure and also in terms of collaborations which may be national or international, resulting in preparing the students not just for exams and result oriented approach, but also for a life beyond the school. All this will be possible only if we continuously invest in our teachers who are our strongest pillars.
Our ultimate vision is a future where every student graduates from our institution holding their heads high…a global citizen who is confident, competent and compassionate. That will be what we call as success.