Building the School of Life: Inside Dr Amlan’s leadership philosophy

With over 27 years of experience in education, Dr Amlan K Saha joined Glenrich International School, Uttara as Principal. Known for his strong leadership and commitment to academic excellence, he has transformed leading boarding and day schools, such as The Assam Valley School, The Sanskaar Valley School, and The Sagar School, into globally recognised institutions.

The Daily Star sat down with Dr Amlan to explore his leadership philosophy, his vision for Glenrich, and his thoughts on the future of education.

The Daily Star (DS): You have spent over 27 years in the education sector, including leading several top-ranked institutions. How has this extensive journey shaped your philosophy of leadership and learning?

Dr Amlan (A):  It's been an extensive, almost 30-year-long journey. What feels rewarding to me is the fact that I started educational leadership at a very early age: in the third year of my teaching career, I took over as the Vice-Principal of a boarding school. That helped me acquire the knowledge and carry it forward while also experimenting with things occasionally.

I like to describe myself as a transformational leader. My vision as a leader is to empower, and my mission is to produce more leaders, whether it be students or staff. In fact, many of the teachers whom I had recruited and trained are currently working as Vice-Principals or Principals of other institutions.

I follow a motto in this whole journey of the leadership transformation: truth is strength. And, in my philosophy, when it comes to transformational leadership, I try to incorporate two factors: ensuring a happy environment and, as an administrator, ensuring effectiveness. Hence, as a leader, I try to make the environment around me happy and effective altogether. And, for the action plan, my priority is to always be humble. So humility is the first virtue I would like to think about before taking any action. At the same time, I believe that there is no room for compromise when it comes to productivity and integrity.

In a nutshell, this has been the leadership style which I have been following wherever I have worked as an administrative leader.

DS: You have already transformed prestigious institutions like The Assam Valley School and The Sanskaar Valley School. What key elements, in your view, define a truly world-class institution?

A: A good school will always give you good results. My target has always been to take it from good to great.

I always set a very high benchmark as a leader and as a visionary, and then, I challenge my community—be it the students or staff—to achieve that. For example, when I took over The Sanskaar Valley School, it was a young, one-and-a-half-year-old school, and was yet to give its first board examination. Even then, I set a target that the first board result average of the school cannot be less than 80 percent, and we ended up achieving 81 percent. I also made a comment at a staff meeting that in ten years' time, we can take the board result average to 90 percent, and kept on challenging and motivating the students. And it did happen. When I left the school after 11 years, we reached the target of 90 percent.

When you challenge students, you also have to create opportunities for them. It's the primary responsibility of the school to create such opportunities. Children need to find fulfilment in what they do, and, eventually, turn their passion into their profession.

DS: Glenrich International School promotes a "School of Life" philosophy that goes beyond conventional academics. How is this philosophy being translated into classroom practices and co-curricular life under your values?

A: If you look at the Glenrich logo, it has two parts: on the left of the logo, we have the school's name. As a school, the whole philosophy and ideology here have to be educational philosophy-centred. I strongly believe that a school which is moving from good to great should run on set educational principles, and the work of a principal is to do value addition. The system should run with empowerment in such a way.

If you look at the second part of the logo, it's written "The School of Life". Research conducted by Harvard University, the Carnegie Foundation, and Stanford Research Center suggests that 85 percent of job success comes from having well‐developed soft and people skills. On the other hand, only 15 percent of job success comes from technical skills and knowledge, which are hard skills.

But in the normal school education, for 18 years, we concentrate only on the hard skills, and we then expect children to do their best in terms of soft skills, which we don't teach, for the rest of their lives. So, by "The School of Life", we are actually showing that we focus on soft skills for children, which are also life skills that they need to learn to be successful in today's world.

DS: You have received several accolades, including the Global Edu Icon Award and the Kalam Visionary Principal Award. Which achievement do you consider most defining in your career, and what lessons did it teach you?

A: I thank the educational sector for trusting in my ability and bestowing these awards on me. They are very close to my heart, and I have huge respect for the organisations that have given the awards. The first award I received was almost 25 years ago, as an educational administrator, which was very memorable to me, and I went to Delhi to receive that award. But what is more important for me than the awards are the rewards I have gotten from my students, and they carry more value to me in my teaching and educational administrator life.

I will give you two examples. When I came to Bangladesh, I found around 25 of my ex-students in Dhaka whom I had taught over two decades ago. And when I invited them for an in-person discussion, they came immediately. On another occasion, I received a phone call from a former student, and she wanted to tell me that she and her husband had been blessed with a baby girl and asked me to suggest some names for her.

These are the small things which come back in a teacher's life from their students. I think we value those more than any physical awards.

DS: As we look at the international stages, education worldwide is rapidly changing with technology, skill-based learning, and mental well-being taking the centre stage. How is Glenrich adapting to these shifts while maintaining academic excellence?

A: I saw my first computer in my life when I was typing my PhD thesis. And I started using a computer when I was working as a teacher. But today, being tech-savvy is a given proposition. In fact, it's no longer called being "savvy"; it's called digital fluency.

Today, we need to know how to use AI for our benefit. AI is not going to take away your job; it is going to help you do the job so that your brain is free to do other things, like thinking. Digital fluency is one of the primary things that has to be taken into consideration to move forward in this changing world.

Everyone, today, should be adaptable to the extent of starting as a beginner every week. The moment you are comfortable with being uncomfortable to start a new thing, you are there.

Communication has also changed. The new generation must learn new communication methods, be it through emails, social media, or even presentations.

Brand building is another important aspect. Everyone has to start building their own brand to make themselves prominent in the sector. This individual brand-building, from an early stage, like their school life, will take them a long way.

DS: How do you empower teachers at Glenrich to innovate, collaborate, and nurture a growth mindset among students?

A: The core principle is very simple: do not compromise with the standard of excellence. But this excellence is not in terms of just results; it's also excellence in the form of your efforts. Whatever the outcome, what matters is whether or not you have given your 100 percent.

Also, in classrooms, we have given the teachers the autonomy to continue innovating, keeping the core syllabus in focus. For instance, if I teach a subject, I should be able to convey its teachings. Now, whatever I am conveying is available in textbooks as well as on the internet. However, what's not available is the way I am simplifying it to the students. Teachers have been given the autonomy to simplify how they see fit through various trainings and the programmes.

We also have many academic-related programmes taking place. Recently, our Commerce Department hosted the Eco-Accounts Summit 5.0, an academic programme where students practised what they learned in class. Before that, our Science Department organised a STEM Carnival, and students turned their classroom theories into real projects. Next year, I am introducing another programme to strengthen students' entrepreneurship skills.

These activities help us balance academics with hands-on learning. We give students real opportunities to lead events, with teachers supporting them in the background. They start building leadership skills early, and that's what truly sets us apart.

DS: In today's fast-paced academic environment, parents often struggle to balance expectations with their children's well-being. So what message would you like to share with guardians about supporting holistic growth at home?

A: My first message to parents would be to understand one underlying philosophy: we cannot nurture the children of today for their tomorrow based on our yesterday. We have to come out of this idea, because the changes that used to take place once every 25 or 30 years are now taking place every third year. Parents need to understand this shift in things, but, at the same time, instil the value system, which is traditional, national, regional, or even religious.

Parents also need to make children aware of the difference between value and price. In a consumer-based society, we are more involved with the price tag, but we don't value the value of the material itself.

The other thing which we probably need to talk to our children about is that success in life is in the path you travel during the journey. Success is not at the end of the path with the outcome.

If we can teach all these things to our children, I think the message will become crystal clear, and they will get the best benefit through parenting. Our parents need to change, and they need to understand this generation of children.

DS: What words of advice would you offer to the young generation preparing to face an unpredictable yet exciting future?

A: I consider the young generation to be very lucky, because there are plenty of opportunities for them to take. However, the paths to be taken to avail these opportunities are in the grey area. Even in the job sector, things are unpredictable. So the new generation should have the urge to learn. Any opportunity that comes their way, they must grab it.

If I put it simply, I believe the younger generation should focus on the "Seven Cs." They need creativity like an artist, collaboration like a sportsperson, and critical thinking like a scientist. They should communicate like a journalist, criticise like a lawyer, stay committed like a doctor, and show compassion like a spiritual leader.