Singapore-based edupreneur R. Sinnakaruppan wears many hats. Currently, he is chairman/CEO of Kip Mcgrath Worldwide Education Centres (KMWEC), Singapore (estb. 2005), chairman of Singapore Education Academy (estb. 2008), managing partner of Indus Age Advisors, a corporate advisory firm, chairman of Vimarks Holding Pvt. Ltd, a Singapore-based software consultancy firm and chairman of Educare Enrichment (S) Pte Ltd.
Born in Kairaikuddi (Tamil Nadu) into the family of a banker who migrated to Singapore in 1965, Sinnakaruppan received an excellent education which equipped him to succeed in business as also to enter Parliament in a country which is now acknowledged to have the highest standard of living and human resource development in the world.
A mechanical and production engineering graduate of Singapore’s highly-rated Nanyang Technical University (NTU), Sinnakaruppan started his professional career in 1985 as an R&D engineer at National Semiconductor Pte Ltd, where he developed Singapore’s first industrial robot. Subsequently he secured a scholarship to pursue a Masters programme in robotics at Loughb-orough University, UK. His active involvement with education began in 1991 when he was head-hunted by the ruling People’s Action Party to become a member of Parliament at the early age of 31. “As a member of the parliamentary standing committee on education, I became closely involved in policy formulation and also served on the board of several educational institutions including the Institute of Technical Education, and Nanyang Polytechnic, where I became acquainted with the administrative and pedagogic features which distinguish excellent institutions,” recalls Sinnakaruppan.
After completing his term in Parliament, Sinnakaruppan, a votary of continuous education, signed up for the senior managers programme of the Harvard Business School following which he was appointed executive director of the Jakarta-based Texmaco Group where he served for three years (1998-2001).
However it was only after leaving Texmaco in 2001, that Sinnakaruppan transformed into an education entrepreneur promoting Kip Mcgrath (Singapore), SEA etc in which he has invested Rs. 21.5 crore. He plans to bring best practices in education from Singapore into school, college, vocational and technical education in India, China, Vietnam and the Gulf countries.
An avid champion of education throughout his eventful career, Sinnakaruppan is currently focused on popularising the Kip Mcgrath brand in Singapore, India and Malaysia. “I am very impressed with Kip Mcgrath’s maths and English pedagogies which identify every child’s specific learning needs, using diagnostic tools to customise lesson plans individually. The unique motivational system of giving incentives and gifts to children who perform well has proved highly effective. I’m proud to say that what started as a hobby in 2005, has now grown to 30 centres and over 3,000 students in Singapore. And I’m confident that the Kip Mcgrath education centres will prove as popular in India and Malaysia which now have one centre each,” says Sinnakaruppan
Most welcome. Indian education needs all the help it can get.
Hemalatha Raghupathi (Chennai)