Avanti Schools Trust
What kind of education helps the whole person develop?
The Question Behind the Project
Education is never only the transfer of information. Every environment teaches something. Through its expectations, relationships and values, it gradually shapes how a young person understands themselves, other people and the world around them.
For Nitesh, questions around education became more immediate with the birth of his first son. The question was no longer only philosophical: What should children learn? It became something deeper: What kind of human beings are our educational environments helping to form?
The Idea in Practice
Avanti Schools Trust emerged from an exploration of how principles from Vedic thought could contribute to modern education in a way that was practical, inclusive and relevant.
The aim was not simply to critique existing approaches, but to develop a working model – one that brought together academic excellence, character formation, spiritual development and preparation for life beyond the classroom.
At its centre was a broader understanding of human potential: that education should support intellectual growth alongside qualities such as self-awareness, responsibility, compassion and purpose.
The project became an attempt to ask how timeless questions about human development might inform the everyday realities of schools, teachers, families and communities.
Continuing Work
After several years of development as a volunteer-led initiative, Avanti Schools Trust has grown into a network of schools serving thousands of students.
Its ongoing work continues to explore how education can respond not only to what society needs people to know, but who society needs people to become.
Project Details
Area: Education & human development
Origin: Questions around education and formation following the birth of his first child
Role: Founder / CEO
Today: 12 schools, 1,000 staff, expanding internationally