New India Education Summit 2025 in Chennai: Ravi Santlani on Redefining Learning Beyond the Bell Curve

The New India Education Summit (NIES), hosted by ScooNews along with the Tamil Nadu School Education Department, is being held today and tomorrow in Chennai at Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER), Porur. The summit brings together some of South India's most influential school leaders and decision-makers.

At the heart of this movement is Ravi Santlani, Founder of ScooNews, a self-described rebel and former school dropout who refused to accept learning without purpose. His journey shaped a clear belief: education must be practical, relevant, and linked to real life, so that students graduate truly prepared for the world.

Through ScooNews and this summit, Ravi is working to inspire a shift in how schools teach, think, and shape future-ready learners. In this conversation, he shares what this transformation means in practice -for schools, educators, and students

Interview

1) This is the first time NIES is being held in Chennai. Why choose South India now, and what do you hope to learn from educators here?

We have been organizing conferences mainly in the northern part of the country. We are one of the largest school education media houses, and we kept receiving requests from southern states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Kerala. It has taken us 10 years to bring our debut event to South India, and we are happy to host it in Chennai. We are collaborating with the Ministry of School Education, Government of Tamil Nadu, for this event. They are our supporting and host partners. We are very glad to begin our South India chapter with a large number of private school correspondents, owners, and school leaders participating.

2) What has it been like to gather so many key decision-makers, reformers, and influencers from the education sector under one platform?

This is not just another event but for us, it's twenty weeks of heart, hustle, and hope.
Presenting an extraordinary line up of speakers and partners from across the country coming together not just to host South India's largest education conference, but to build an intellectual property that's here to stay- has been overwhelming. The event that has the potential to become India's largest celebration of education.

Deeply grateful to the Government of Tamil Nadu, our patron Hon. Minister of School Education Thiru Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, our core organising committee, speakers, delegates, and every unseen hero who's worked day and night to make this dream real.

This is our debut in South India. There may be a few rough edges, but what you'll experience is pure passion, purpose, and pride. We promise a conference that's worth your time and your trust.

3) The theme is "Beyond the Bell Curve." What does this mean to you, and how does it connect to reshaping learning?

The theme is "Beyond the Bell Curve," and I believe it is time to relook at school education with the current influx of technology and AI, and with a more skill-based curriculum coming into play. Many assessments are being redesigned and redefined. It is time for reinvention. So "Beyond the Bell Curve" is a conversation we want to keep alive across the various sessions here, to explore how schools can evolve.

4) How do you see NIES influencing classrooms and educational policy after the summit ends?

The New India Education Summit is our annual intellectual property that we want to establish in South India. This year we are in Chennai, and next year we would like to come back to Chennai as well. Going forward, we want to take it to other South Indian states-maybe Hyderabad in 2027, or Kerala after that.
We want to create hyperlocal communities of changemakers to drive larger national change. It is important for Tamil Nadu schools to learn from other states and vice versa. We aim to be the bridge that connects North, South, East, and West through shared learning.

5) AI in education-partner or threat? How do we balance technology and the human touch?

AI in education is making everyone realize that there must be a major shift in the current system. The curriculum that existed until recently is not very relevant anymore. Many of the jobs we were preparing students for no longer exist, and new kinds of jobs are emerging. So we cannot say that AI brings no threat, nor can we continue with the old curriculum the way it has been for decades. We need deeper research and careful consideration to balance technology with humanity in education.

6) Your personal journey has been unconventional. How has it shaped your work with ScooNews and NIES?

My journey has been very unconventional. I am a school dropout and was quite a rebel during my school days. I used to ask whether what we were being taught would really be relevant when we entered the job market. I questioned why the education system asked us to go through things that might not matter later. These questions led me to want to reinvent the system and work with educators to impact students' lives. Teachers shape young minds who think differently today. My personal journey has inspired everything I am doing, and that is how platforms like ScooNews and the New India Education Summit came into being.

7) What qualities will define the next generation of school leaders? Any inspiring examples from your experience?

We are looking at founders and school correspondents who are willing to try new ideas like self-organized learning environments, AI tutor agents, skill-based curriculum, gamification, experiential and project-based learning, and play-based learning.

There are schools that are leading the way such as Heritage Xperiential Learning School, Riverside School in Ahmedabad, Mahatma Gandhi International School in Ahmedabad, and Mayoor School in Jaipur. These schools are reinventing the wheel, and others are now looking at them as models.
We need to celebrate these changemakers by bringing them to the stage and highlighting their innovative teaching practices. For example, Professor Manish Jain at the Center for Creative Learning, IIT Gandhinagar, left his job in the US and now teaches teachers how to teach using toys and STEM/STEAM. We need more people like him.

8) What is your larger dream for NIES in the coming years?

The larger dream is for the New India Education Summit to become not just the largest conference in South India, but the largest education conference in the country. We also want to take it to the global stage. Next year, we want to have at least 100 countries participating in the New India Education Summit 2026. The goal is for the world to learn from India, how India can become the knowledge capital of the world and a global education powerhouse. That is the dream I am working toward.