A living dream of a humble couple- Dr. S.K Rathor and Kavita Rathor, Sanfort is the U.K. concept international preschool chain that has redefined the early year learning space in India. In a short span of 10 years, Sanfort has presence in over 250+ branches across India and neighboring countries. The award winning pre school chain is known for its `Child-Centric philosophy' and time tested curriculum that focuses on the holistic development of the child through cutting edge technological resources. The husband-wide duo started their first preschool in 1999 with a bouquet of attraction, concepts and role-play models for tiny tots based on the 'Play-Way' methodology or 'Learning by Doing'. Sneha Rathor, accompanied by her brother, Abhishek Rathor, has been carrying the legacy of her parents in this industry. Thanks to her, the industry sees a lot of potential in Sanfort due to the innovations in terms of curriculum and teaching pedagogy that the UK Concept PreSchool chain upholds. For the first time in India, Sanfort brought Trinity College London for the preschoolers. Almost more than 4000 kids in India received the Trinity College London's certificate. Examiners all the way from UK visited the Sanfort chain of schools and screened 3-4 year olds for their talent and awarded them with certificates. Sanfort's association with UK, its curriculum designing, and the in-house research team, is making a significant positive change in the preschool education segment in India.

Sneha is a PG researcher in Childhood Studies and Early Year from Leeds Beckett University and Bachelor in Commerce from Delhi University. She is known to be one of the youngest early years and parenting expert in India and has also been awarded as the "Youngest Eduprenure of the Year 2018". Sneha, a member of the founding team joined Sanfort as a CEO - Academics & Innovations after completing her PG research. She is the primary source behind curriculum designing & development, training, and innovations at Sanfort. Sneha is a speaker in major conferences on education and her articles on parenting are published in chumpak plus. With her young mind, she desires to create a pedagogy that provides an enriching learning experience to the early learners and has been working for it restlessly.

The Inspiration

Sneha recalls her parents' compassion toward children and their need to learn while they grow. "I remember when they started in 2009, as a brand, at that time, people were not really aware about how important it is to teach their little ones at the age of two or three. So they were not ready to send the small ones to school and therefore it took quite a lot of effort to change this perspective of the parents. And I had been seeing this whole journey and got influenced and motivated at a very early age", she said.

Having been in such close proximity of her father's brilliant vision, Sneha was determined and convinced that this is the path that she wants for her life. She started travelling with her father more and more, understanding how education in India works. Thus, her academics were centered on her goals to transform preschool education in India.

“I do not say this from a business point of view, but the number of schools that we require for our children is something very important”

Sanfort has made remarkable improvements in terms of how education is imparted amongst children. With the sudden turn of events brought about by Covid, students were drifted from the classroom in many parts of the globe. Some are wondering whether the adoption of online learning will continue to persist post-pandemic, and how such a shift would impact the worldwide education market. Very few like Sneha would go about thinking how this will affect the foundational, and most important years of a Kindergartners growth years. Sharing her views on this, Sneha says, "We could have never imagined as educators that a two year old or three year old could be taught via a laptop screen. We ourselves were in a conflict with our brains, thinking about the fact that the kids won't be able to come to school. However, the education must go on because the first five years for children are the most important and the foundational years for the future learning. So it is very important that even if they're sitting at home, their learning is not hindered. We needed to devise a method. And I think, as part of the education industry, we've have brought about a lot of transformational means to educate, not only for the children, but everybody who are part of this process".

Tech+Teacher

Sneha is a firm believer of `blended learning' as the future of education in India. Children will no longer depend only on teachers, but will also allow technology to help them learn. This new found combination of Teacher + Tech will take the concept of education to new heights.  In fact, under Sneha's management, Sanfort became the first preschool chain to bring in smart technology like touch screens and smart boards to preschools. Ever since, Sanfort has been upgrading the teaching methodologies to catapult preschool learning.

Preparing Teachers Of Tomorrow

At Sanfort, technology goes hand-in-hand with Teachers. The hiring of teachers at Sanfort Schools is taken with utmost seriousness. Every teacher is required to give a written and oral test wherein they are to report the child's performance in terms of new things learned, grasping abilities, and similar other parameters pertaining to child psychology. This implies the teacher's ability to understand the children. Sanfort has experts coming over from overseas to help teachers understand the art of teaching the children in their most sensitive years of growing. Right from story-telling to phonetics, Sanfort ensures that no stone is left unturned thereby refining the teaching pedagogy. This in turn, also helps in the retention aspect, wherein faculties have learnt so much that they love to do what they do.

`We Grow Together'

Speaking on her thoughts about Women being a superpower in several industry, especially education, Sneha describes women's role in the country's education landscape. She says, "Women have been predominantly taking charge of education and educational institutions. However, seldom do we see a women entrepreneur in this field. We see principals who had women, but that's that to it. We, at Sanfort, pay attention to this gap in entrepreneurship and therefore give out our franchises, preferably to women partners". As a leader herself, Sneha believes in growing together. She ensures that her existence in this industry is driven by helping women to rise and take charge with confidence. At the same time, Sneha believes that young minds are equally competent in driving an entire industry with their sheer talent and will. She add, "As young people in education, we need to prove ourselves, that we're the change bringers. The idea that young people have needs to be there in education, and that's where the shift is going to come".

Finding Ground Zero For Professional & Personal Life

Sneha realizes the `task' that entrepreneurship is and how difficult it can get sometimes. However, that hardly suffices for the greater opinion she has toward her duties as an entrepreneur. In a very fine statement that she gave, Sneha proved her empathy and ingenuity as a leader. She say, "Though entrepreneurship is a full-time job, it can get pretty hectic at times. But what I keep reminding myself is that, my life is not just my time divided between personal & professional frames. 100 more lives depend on it for their livelihood. If I slip for a moment, that moment can affect the others who depend on this employment opportunity. So, its like I'm never, not an entrepreneur". Speaking on finding the middle ground between personal & professional life, Sneha is of the opinion that the balance is an absolutely important aspect of a long course in success. Family, friends & personal self, should always come first. However, like they, `Women can't have it all', Sneha too thinks it is true to a certain extent. Not because the society says so, but because `women' as the true noble species of the human race always prefer giving rather than receiving. Sneha says, "As daughter, or mothers, we tend to feel responsible for our loved ones, and that cannot be unlearned. What we can rather do, is finding the balance and do it anyway".

Future is to expand

Sneha observes the brunt of covid faced by many primary and play schools. Many couldn't survive the hit, and perished. Some are at the brink of shut down because of lack of funds and adequate manpower. Sneha intends to extend a helping hand toward these institutions and help them recover and sustain. "I do not say this from a business point of view, but the number of schools that we require for our children is something very important", says Sneha. Besides, with lockdown eventually getting lifted across India, Sanfort has a great opportunity ahead to reach out to more children by filling in those gaps left by preschools that unfortunately closed.