Ramya Venkataraman On Transforming Private Schools: 'Teachers Drive Outcomes, But Quality Must Be Visible'

In an era where educational institutions face mounting pressure to demonstrate value and outcomes, the conversation around teacher quality has evolved from a peripheral concern to a central strategic priority. Private schools across India are increasingly recognizing that their teaching workforce represents not just operational necessity, but a competitive advantage that can drive enrollment, parent satisfaction, and student success. Ramya Venkataraman, Founder and CEO of CENTA, has been at the forefront of this transformation, working with thousands of schools to implement systematic approaches to teacher assessment, development, and recognition. In this exclusive interview, she shares insights from CENTA's extensive work across the education ecosystem and outlines the key trends shaping how progressive schools are reimagining their approach to human capital.

Q: In today's competitive education landscape, how are private schools shifting their mindset to view teachers as strategic assets rather than just operational staff?

A: Absolutely. For many progressive schools, the idea that 'teachers drive outcomes' is already familiar. What's newer – and frankly even more powerful – is treating teacher quality as a core part of the school's brand in a way that's win-win for both the school and the teacher.

What does this look like in practice? I am seeing a few big shifts -

One, many schools are making their teacher quality visible with objective certification. For example, we frequently see schools saying that they have so many CENTA-certified teachers in websites and parent newsletters. Some schools even put this up in their reception. When a school uses an externally benchmarked certification to signal teacher competence, quality becomes easy to communicate to parents and even internally to staff.

Two, we are seeing a large number of schools retaining and rewarding their high-performing teachers through merit-linked careers. When promotions and salary growth are tied to demonstrated competencies (not just tenure), high-quality teachers are retained – whom the school is also able to project clearly as I mentioned earlier. And importantly, other teachers see a clear pathway to grow and self-select into upskilling.

Therefore, to enable both of these, schools need robust but operationally simple ways to assess competencies, personalize learning and connect growth to opportunities. CENTA for Schools is precisely designed around these needs and this strategic focus on teachers.

Q: Can you share specific insights or data from CENTA's work that show a link between teacher certification and school growth, parent trust, or student outcomes? Where do you see the gaps?

A: Yes, our work with a very large number of schools is now showing three patterns at least.

First, where schools publicly showcase teacher competencies and certifications – on websites, admissions collateral, and orientations – parents report greater trust because they can 'see' quality, not just hear promises. Sometime back, I got an intern to do a dipstick of how many schools are talking about their CENTA-certified teachers as a way to inform parents about quality, and we found thousands in a short exercise. That made us launch 'CENTA School Ratings on Teacher Quality' and the first 30 schools with A or above ratings have been identified.

Second, certified teachers tend to drive stronger classroom practice and peer influence. They become internal role models and a large number of teachers around start engaging in learning. In the CENTA platform, which is now the world's largest professional platform for teachers, we have seen close to 10 million self-driven learning engagements in a 12-month period – which is clear evidence that when merit is visible and rewarded, teachers 'pull' for upskilling.

Third, several school leaders have reported about an 80% correlation between teacher certification and teacher classroom practice. Both school leaders and teachers also report the positive impact of daily micro-learning on their classrooms.

The gaps? Again I want to highlight three: (i) measurement – many schools still lack a rigorous, shared view of competencies; (ii) incentives – rewards often aren't tied tightly enough to demonstrated competencies; and (iii) leadership bandwidth – principals need simple ways to act on this data, not more paperwork, which is also why CENTA for Schools focuses a lot on user-friendly dashboards.

Q: For schools in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities with limited resources, what practical approaches have you seen work for sustained investment in teacher quality?

A: That's a great question. From what we've observed, sustained talent development doesn't need large budgets – just smart design.

'Digital-first' is an important principle for teacher development in low resource environment and it has also become very doable given India's high digital penetration.

With digital, comes the ability to do 'personalized micro-learning' – short bursts that fit into teachers' already busy days and actually change practice. And this is not just for low-resourced environments, because time as a resource is scarce everywhere!

Contrary to popular belief, competency-linked recognition can even in such environments and they may not just come from within the school. For example, CENTA has partnerships with leading UK- and US-based universities through which several teachers from tier-2 and tier-3 cities have received the opportunity for international study tours and trainings – this is an example of visible cost without cost to the school.

Communities of practice within the school and across nearby schools is also a powerful model.

Q: Parents increasingly factor teacher quality into their decision when choosing a school. Are you seeing teacher credentials being highlighted in marketing or admissions conversations?

A: Very much so. Especially in mid- to high-fee schools, parents increasingly want to understand "who will teach my child" – not only facilities or programs. As a result, we have seen schools put their CENTA-certified teachers on their website, newsletters or reception areas; we have seen schools host short 'open classrooms' or 'demo lessons' so that parents see pedagogy in action; we have also seen schools share growth stories on social media – how they are investing in their teachers and how that is continuously improving learning.

Covid also played a big role in this shift because suddenly the teacher (who was online) was visible in the living room and parents were able to see that even in the same school, there are significant differences in teacher quality. The classroom was no longer a black box. Though classrooms have gone back to the physical mode of course, parents have retained that learning that teacher competencies matter.

Q: What key trends are you seeing in how private schools approach hiring and upskilling teachers? Are there particular skills or certifications that are becoming baseline expectations?

A: I am seeing a few clear trends. Firstly, competency-based certification is rapidly emerging as a common language. NEP 2020 has also given a significant thrust to this. So external, standards-aligned certification is increasingly used alongside internal observations. This helps with hiring, deployment and development conversations because 'merit' becomes tangible and objective.

With this, some skills are becoming baseline expectations, for example –

One, bringing the subject and pedagogy together. Schools are increasingly realizing that conceptual gaps exist in some teachers' own subject understanding while others know pedagogical terms but not how to implement them. Bringing subject and pedagogy together – or what is called Pedagogical Content Knowledge or PCK – is becoming a core expectation.

Two, needless to say, digital pedagogy including a good understanding AI, are becoming common expectations. CENTA's recent nationwide survey shows that over 70% of teachers are already integrating AI tools, especially for lesson planning – though the survey also shows several misconceptions on how to use these. Schools want teachers to also enable technology-driven learning effectively.

On the other side, professional and leadership skills like communication, classroom culture, collaboration with colleagues and parents, and the ability to mentor peers are now treated as essential – not just 'nice to have'.

So the expectations are increasingly. The good news is that along with this, at least in a significant subset of schools, the willingness to create career and earnings growth for competent teachers, is also increasing, which can make it a sustainable win-win for everyone.

As Indian private schools navigate an increasingly competitive landscape, the insights shared by Ramya Venkataraman point to a fundamental shift in how educational institutions conceptualize and invest in their most valuable resource – their teachers. The data from CENTA's platform, with its 10 million learning engagements and growing network of certified educators, suggests that this transformation is not merely aspirational but actively reshaping the sector. For school leaders, the message is clear: in an age where educational quality is both more visible and more scrutinized than ever before, teacher competency is no longer an internal matter but a public commitment to excellence that parents, students, and the broader community can see and evaluate. The schools that recognize this shift and act on it systematically are likely to find themselves with a sustainable competitive advantage in the years ahead.