A tryst with destiny

P Narayana, Andhra Pradesh minister for Municipal Administration didn’t come from a well-off background. His mother was illiterate and father was a bus conductor in a local private transport in Nellore. With no family back up, Narayana built a towering inferno Narayana Education Group which graduated into a prestigious national education body having branches in 14 states with more than four lakh students having stakes linked to their future.

The Rs1,500 crore group employees 50,000 personnel, mostly teachers of the highest order. While politics was not his cup of tea he was invited by Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu to join his cabinet and repeat his educational success in the realm of politics.

A member of legislative council, Narayana was entrusted with the all important jobs of laying the foundation for the development of smart cities and the world class capital building, the core vision of the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) government. Here are a few insights into Narayana’s life and his path to success.

How do you explain the phenomenol growth of the Narayana Education Empire?

I am not a politician; but perhaps an educationist with a passion to teach and make a difference in the lives of Telugu students of our undivided state. I started the group at a time when the ratings of Telugu students were very low in the national context (particularly in IIT and civil services). With an aim to place the then undivided AP in an honorable position at the national level, I took up the challenge to devise our own syllabus, teaching patterns, creativity and innovation in learning styles of students and to 'hit the nail on the head'.

The past two decades saw Narayana emerge as an education light house realising its mission of graduating from one seat to South India and nine seats to North India in IIT admissions in 2008 to 2,500 seats to AP state alone out of 10,000 seats in nationwide IIT admissions in 2014. That one seat for South India in IIT was shared alternatively by AP and other southern states.

How did Narayana Group trigger a performance revolution in AP?

In 1997 we brainstormed on IIT coaching and admissions and I personally specialised in creating our own education resources, material and designed our own syllabus by coaching 100 students for IIT admissions. Starting with seven students in 1997, the tally of those selected for IIT increased every year from seven to 14, 21, 56, 93, and 336 and eventually to 2,500, which is 25 per cent of the total seats.

One can understand the journey to securing 2,500 IIT seats from the position of just one seat for south India and nine seats for north India.Those who secured admissions in IIT in the 1990's were children of IAS and IPS officers whereas in the present dispensation, most students hail from poor and middle class families.

Trace the milestones in your three decades journey

With a humble beginning in Nellore district in 1979 after completing my MSc, I took up teaching by joining as lecturer in VR College, Nellore with a monthly salary of Rs120. In 1980 my services were regularised but I had a passion to be on my own and subsequently started a tuition which attracted 2,000 students to my mathematics skills. I taught mathematics to 2,000 students while two others handled physics and chemistry subjects.

Since then I never looked back. The Narayana Coaching Centre was launched in 1985 with a view to expand to far corners of India. In 1988 Narayana Junior College was launched in Nellore. By 1996 we had 10,000 students in Nellore alone. In 1997 we expanded to Hyderabad and in 98 to Visakhapatnam and Vijayawada and by 2001 to New Delhi and subsequently to 14 states of India having four lakh students with an employee work force of 50,000.

What do you think is the driving force for your success? Tell us about your future plans.

Passion for education and zeal to make a difference in the lives of those who are the future and the destiny of the country, was and will be my success mantra forever. My journey does not end here. I have taken up another challenge to mould municipal schools of the State into schools of excellence and to inspire the faculty to give their best and make the students industry ready. I aim to bring municipal schools on the elite education map of the country by 2018.

By:Ravi P Benjamin