Lina Ashar
Lina Ashar is an Indian educationist, entrepreneur, and writer based in Mumbai.[1][2] She is the chairperson of Kangaroo Kids Education Limited (KKEL), an education chain that runs the schools.[3] She is also the founder of Kangaroo Kids International Preschool and Billabong High International School.[4][5][6] Lina has received numerous awards for her work. The most notable award she has received is the Lifetime Award for Achievement in Education by Education World in 2014.[7][8]
Lina Ashar | |
---|---|
Born | Melbourne, Australia |
Nationality | Indian |
Alma mater | Victoria College, Melbourne |
Occupation | Founder, Kangaroo Kids Education Limited |
Awards | Lifetime Award for Achievement in Education (2014) Alumni Excellence Award (2015) Inspiring Business Leaders India Award (2016) |
Early life and background
Lina is an Australian citizen who grew up in England and presently lives in Mumbai.[9] She finished her primary schooling in England and traveled to Australia to complete her secondary and tertiary schooling in Melbourne.[2] She completed her Bachelor's degree in Education from Melbourne's Victoria College, Melbourne.[10][6][4]
Career
Lina began her career as a secondary school teacher in Melbourne, Australia.[10] In 1990, she took a year-long sabbatical and came to India, while being in touch with her roots, she ended up taking up a school job in suburban Mumbai. She was surprised to see the education system is in India,[9] so she started the first Kangaroo Kids Preschool in Bandra[2] in a 650 square feet with a small batch of 25 students and today Kangaroo Kids[11] is a chain of 70 preschools across India as well as in Dubai, Qatar, and the Maldives.[3][12] Later she also founded Billabong High International School (BHIS) in 2004, which presently has 23 branches at 16 locations across India.[5][6][4]
Awards and recognition
2009:
- Education Excellence by Indian Economic Development and Research Association[13]
2011:
- Leading Woman Entrepreneur of the year in 2011[14]
2012:
- "Education Entrepreneur of the Year" and Indian Education Awards- 2012 presented by Franchise India & Bloomberg[15]
2013:
- Leading Women Entrepreneur by iiGlobal[16]
2014:
- Lifetime Award for Achievement in Education by Education World[7][8]
- Panelist at The Economic Times Future of Learning Summit 2014[17]
2015:
- Alumni Excellence Award by Australian High Commission[17]
2016:
- Inspiring Business Leaders India award by The Economic Times[17]
Publication
- Who Do You Think You Are Kidding? Random House India, 2012, ISBN 9788184003628.
- Drama Teen: A Cool-Headed Guide for Parents and Teenagers, Random House India, 2016, ISBN 9789385990724.
See also
References
- "Meet Edupreneur Lina Ashar – The founder of Kangaroo Kids Preschool". Inventiva. 26 August 2017.
- "Learning by doing: fun school with a price tag". Mint. 2 July 2008.
- Nair Anand, Shilpa (18 August 2013). "On a different path". The Hindu.
- Riaz Usman, Muhammad (23 December 2017). "Incubating the future thinkers, innovators". Khaleej Times.
- Choudhary, Anuradha (22 March 2017). "Kangaroo Kids raises $20 million from Gaja Capital". Mint.
- "Marketing lessons Kangaroo Kids can teach you". The Economic Times. 7 September 2018.
- "IEDRA award for educational excellence". Dinamalar. 2 December 2009.
- "Lifetime Achievement in Education Leadership: Lina Ashar". Education World, Inc.
- "Ms. Lina Ashar – Founder of Kangaroo Kids of Billabong High International School". India School News. 21 April 2016.
- "Ms. Lina Ashar, Chairperson, Kangaroo Kids Education Limited". India Infoline. 7 April 2006.
- "LiIn the Kanga". Times Internet. 2 November 2003.
- "How She Did It: Lina Ashar on Building Kangaroo Kids Into A National Chain Of Schools". SheThePeople.TV. 6 April 2017.
- "Lina Ashar receives Lifetime Achievement Award for Educational Excellence". DigitalLEARNING Magazine. 11 December 2009.
- "Lina Ashar awarded 'Leading Woman Entrepreneur of the year' award". India Infoline.
- "Award Winners – Indian Education Congress". Indian Education Congress.
- "Stuti Jalan won the Best Young Women Entrepreneur at the Women Leaders India Awards 2011". The SME Times. 26 April 2012.
- "Speakers Lina Ashar – TEDx". TED.