Sunitha Peter

Academic leader with 20+ years in education, including 12+ years building Ankur's residential scholarship ecosystem from the ground up for first-generation learners from underserved communities. Directs curriculum, faculty development, and academic operations, including a ₹15-20 lakh annual budget. In 2025-26, this leadership produced a 100% CBSE board pass rate (84% cohort average), a 90%+ average in English among first-generation learners, and an overall failure rate below 5% across Grades 8-12 reversing years of prior underperformance.

Vice Principal – Academics at Ankur, Advaith Foundation (2021-05 – Present)

• Direct the full Grades 5-12 academic ecosystem - curriculum mapping, scheduling, exam preparation, result analysis, and remedial intervention for 180 residential students.
• Serve as Principal for NIOS OBE B, an outcomes-based national curriculum Bridge Programme that closes foundational learning gaps within one year and transitions students into CBSE schooling.
• Run the end-to-end admissions evaluations for 500+ applicants annually - entrance exam design, educational evaluation, and shortlisting and yielding 25 enrolments against defined need criteria.
• Coach and evaluate Home Room Teachers 12+ through fortnightly reviews, classroom observations, and 5E lesson plan audits.
• Manage a ₹15-20 lakh annual academic budget for contract faculty of 15+, holding year-on-year cost escalation below 10%.
• Build faculty capability in structured answer-writing (Revised Bloom's Taxonomy), differentiated instruction (Howard Gardner's Multiple Intelligences framework), and annual performance appraisal design.
• Drive IEP-based remedial support for children with special needs (CWSN) and design Individual Development Plans for high-ability students.
• Built a structured reading culture, library systems, reading logs, vocabulary development, and a book reward programme.
• Oversee co-scholastic programmes including a Tinkering Lab, Math Lab, Electronics, Research, and inter-school competitions.
• Manage IT infrastructure, online schooling systems, and a bilingual website with Google Analytics integration
• Hosted and coordinate 70+ foreign volunteers so far from 17+ countries; designed the Student Portfolio and Student Reflection Journal systems used to track outcomes across 180 residential students.

Senior PGT – Biology at Sri Veda School (2020-03 – 2021-04)

• Taught Biology to Grades 7-10 with emphasis on conceptual depth and board exam preparation.

Department Head – Biology at Centenary Junior College (2018-06 – 2020-03)

• Led the Biology Department and taught in a bilingual English-Telugu environment; developed student-centric instructional approaches for rural first-generation learners.

Part-Time Online Curriculum Coordinator & Online Tutor - Biology at Catalyze Center for Learning (2018-11 – 2021-03)

• Tutored Biology across CBSE, ICSE, and IGCSE curricula for secondary grades in a bespoke online EdTech environment.
• Received the Fresh and New Skills Award (Dec 2020) for contributions to evolving The Learning Curve LMS.

Boarding, Campus & Transport In-charge - Home Room Teacher - Academic Coordinator at Ankur, Advaith Foundation (2011-05 – 2018-04)

• Progressed over 7 years across four roles, building operational and pastoral systems spanning Transport-Campus management and in-house event coordination.

M.Sc. in Botany – St. Joseph's College, Bangalore University (1997)

B.Ed. in Science & English – Bangalore University (2009)