Grace Pinto is the Managing Director of the Ryan International Group of Institutions (RIGS). She plays a major role in expanding the group and represents it at public events.
The chain of Ryan International Schools was started in 1983 by Grace Pinto and her husband, Augustine F. Pinto. In just over 40 years, RIGS has grown very fast and is now one of the largest and most successful private K-12 school groups in India.
Today, the group has:
- Over 130 schools in India
- 5 schools in the Gulf region
- Around 18,000 teachers and staff
- About 2.7 lakh (270,000) students
Every year, more than 30,000 students graduate from Ryan schools. The group continues to expand and opens around 4 to 5 new schools annually.
The schools are named after their son, Ryan Pinto, who is currently the CEO of the group. He has a master’s degree in Business and Entrepreneurship from CBS London. Although Ryan leads the organization, Grace Pinto is the most visible and active face of the group.
The Pinto family is closely involved in running the institution:
- Snehal Pinto handles the development and execution of national and international curriculum
- Sonal Pinto, the younger sister, focuses on early childhood education and holds a degree in ECCE (Early Childhood Care & Education)
The journey of the Ryan Group began with a simple idea. Augustine Pinto, while working as a temporary teacher in a primary school in Malad, noticed that there were not enough English-medium schools for middle-class families in Mumbai. Seeing this gap, he decided to enter the education sector.
He married Grace Albuquerque (now Grace Pinto), a mathematics teacher, in 1974. Together, they worked towards building quality English-medium schools.
Their first attempt was Father Angelo Primary School in Borivali East in 1976, started with a small investment of ₹10,000. However, this venture did not succeed. Despite this setback, they did not give up. Their next effort led to the establishment of St. Xavier’s High School in Borivali East, Mumbai, which marked the beginning of their successful journey.
Founder Story | Indian Entrepreneur 