International Journal of Research and Development - A Management Review (IJRDMR) _______________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________ ISSN (Print): 2319–5479, Volume-5, Issue–1, 2016 73 REDEFINING SCHOOL EDUCATION IN ODISHA -DR. BIJOY KUMAR SAHOO 1 Sweta Leena Hota, 2 Smruti Rekha Sahoo SAI International College of Commerce Abstract : Today, India is the one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Entrepreneurship plays a vital role in the economic growth of any country and in a developing country like India, the importance of entrepreneurship increases manifold. Many people in India have strong entrepreneurial skills, but due to lack of support and guidance, their vision is not transformed into reality. However, there are some people, who, against all odds, achieve what they want to because of their passion, dedication and desire to excel. It’s a tale of a highly educated individual’s obsession for education which ends in triumph with SAI International School. His unrelenting and continuous efforts of 10 years gave rise to SAI International School standing on the pillars of 360 degree holistic education. His main mission is to enable, encourage and endow every young mind to initiate a lifelong pursuit of learning and excellence. Dr.Bijoy Kumar Sahoo, a Chartered Accountant by profession, revolutionized the private education sector of Odisha and brought with him a sea of opportunities into the lives of school students. This case illustrates the passion of a man in bringing about a change in private education sector in Odisha. However the path to success was not an easy one. Is there anything that could have been done to help Dr. Sahoo? Does the government play any role? Could the Society have done something for him? There are many such questions which need to be answered. Entrepreneurship is a key facet of any nation’s economy and is the crucial driver for employment and economic growth. A favourable environment needs to be created so that more and more people are encouraged to become entrepreneurs. I. INTRODUCTION Dr. Bijoy Kumar Sahoo, a familiar name in the state of Odisha, is an Edupreneur. His passion to learn and share new ideas resulted in the establishment of SAI International School that has changed the traditional approach of school education system in Odisha. Looking at Dr. Sahoo, it isn’t immediately apparent that he is the man who let go of his lucrative and well established career as a Chartered Accountant in order to make a mark in the education sector. Passionate about change, he presents his deeply held convictions without reticence, which makes him unique in the conservative society that surrounds him. It was indeed a very difficult task to spark a revolution and to break the jinx of traditional classroom teaching. However, this didn’t deter him. His belief in combining traditional classroom teaching with activity based learning and developing creativity among students has led to making SAI International School the 6 th best school in the country within a span of only 7 years. II. HIS LIFE AND STRUGGLE Born in a well-to do family, Dr. Sahoo is the son of Sri Arjun Sahoo and late Smt. Sushila Sahoo. His early childhood was spent in luxury; however, the year 1977 saw a change of fate and his world came crashing down when emergency was declared in the country. They lost their business and even their house was demolished landing them in streets. Although this was the most struggling time for the family but his mother was determined to give the best of education to her son even at the worst of times. He completed his schooling at Demonstration Multipurpose School, Bhubaneswar as a topper of Senior School Certificate Examination of CBSE. He graduated in Commerce from Ravenshaw College, Cuttack under Utkal University in the year 1982. During this time he was awarded National Scholarship through which he funded his college education. He bagged a place for articleship at Price WaterHouse Cooper, Calcutta for a stipend of Rs. 300 per month. Survival in Calcutta with a meagre amount of Rs. 600 per month (Rs 300 stipend and a sum of Rs. 300 from parents) was indeed difficult, however the love, support and encouragement from his parents was like a silver lining in dark clouds. For the initial two years he stayed with a watchman at Kolkata’s Princep Street Post Office verandah and used common toilet. There were days when he could not even manage two square meals a day. These trying times didn’t deter his determination from completing Chartered Accountancy and he was able to bag himself a seat at Rajendra Chhatra Bhawan, Calcutta in his third year. His importunate hard work was rewarded with Certificate of Practice, from the