Meet the Pintos, family behind the Ryan empire of education

Controversies are not rare for the Ryan group’s schools across the nation.

The Ryan International Group of Institutions, founded by Augustine F Pinto in 1976, started with one primary school in Borivali, a Mumbai suburb. Even though the start was not great as there was little response from parents, the group started two more schools in the city within the next 10 years. Today the group has over 200 schools across the country and abroad.

The Ryan International Group of Institutions was founded by Augustine F Pinto (left) in 1976. His wife Grace Pinto is managing director while their son, Ryan (centre), is the CEO of the group. (Sourced Image)

The group is co-founded and run by his wife and managing director Grace Pinto. Their son, Ryan, is the CEO of the group.

Grace started her career as a teacher in a convent-run school in suburban Malad in the early 1970’s. The couple got married in 1974 and started their first school two years later.

At present, the group runs schools affiliated to various education boards including the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE), Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and International Baccalaureate (IB) & International General Certificate for Secondary Education (IGCSE).

Controversies are not rare for the group’s schools across the nation.

The Ryan group is again in controversy after an eight-year-old boy was murdered on September 8 in the toilet of Ryan International school’s Bhondsi branch in Gurgaon.

In another incident in October 2015, the management was pulled into another controversy after a class 9 student of Ryan International School in Chembur alleged that his teacher slapped him six times in class for leaving his collar unbuttoned in class. Parents of the student took the school management to court for targeting the child in school and eventually suspending him.

On January 30, 2016, six-year-old Devansh Meena of Delhi’s Vasant Kunj branch, died after he allegedly fell into a water tank. A case of negligence was registered and the police arrested the principal and four school staff.

The group has also received several notices from the state government as well as the school education department for not paying teachers their dues as per the rule book.