Double Joy: The Snehlata Prize and the 75th edition of the Good Schools of India Weekly.

On July 24, 2026, at 5:00 PM, we celebrated Smt. Snehlata’s birthday at The English Book Depot and announced the Snehlata Prize for 2026, supported by SooNews. The prize honours those who embody Snehlata’s spirit.

This year’s winner, Mrs Brinda Ghosh, was recognised for her 47-year career in education, training thousands of teachers and inspiring many students. She has taught English Literature, theatre, and teacher training, and inspired countless young readers- truly a wonder woman. Tune in to the podcast to listen to the full story.

BOOKS OF THE WEEK

Potato Crisps at the Learning Forward Retreat 19-21 July 2026

Kratika and Sakshi from DPS Abu Road joined us for the Learning Forward Retreat, and their imaginary character goes to My Good School and grows up to become a scientist. He finds his way through school, negotiating between Service, Skill, Sport and Study - the 4S framework his school offers him.

Overall, this training has motivated me to become a better educator, strengthen my relationships with students and colleagues, and continue my journey of learning and self-improvement. Most importantly, it has rekindled my interest in reading, and I look forward to exploring more books that will help me grow both personally and professionally. Thank you for providing such a meaningful and inspiring learning experience.

• Sakshi Sharma, TGT Science, Delhi Public School, Abu Road.

Read And Lead With Us

Emerging Literacies Session July 18, 2026

Emerging Literacies Masterclass is hosted every Saturday at 5:30 PM by Sandeep Dutt.

The world has moved from a set menu to a buffet menu. Today, there are countless options before us in all the spaces, be it education, careers, technology, and life itself. But the future does not belong to those who have the most options. It belongs to those who can evaluate, prioritise, and make wise choices.

In a world of abundance, the ability to choose well is more valuable than the abundance of choices itself. Critical thinking, self-awareness, decision-making, discernment, and adaptability are no longer optional; these are essential life skills.

- Khushi Kumari, Lotus Petal Foundation

Read more on The Happy Teachers Blog

Sometimes all it takes is catching someone at the right moment with the right amount of urgency, pressure or trust. And the book, Bharat Bluff, explores the world of scams and fraud through real experiences, including incidents that Soumya and her husband encountered themselves; that is why meeting an author is always interesting: hearing the experiences that shaped a book adds another layer to the reading experience. It reminds us that behind every published work is a person who has observed, experienced, and chosen to turn those moments into something others can learn from.

Thanks to Bookstores, they often introduce us to new books, stories and people.

Perhaps that’s the biggest takeaway from today’s meet and greet - Awareness isn’t about being suspicious of everything. It’s about knowing that anyone can be caught off guard and that staying informed is one of the simplest ways to protect ourselves.

-Sneha

To discuss the future of work and AI’s impact on jobs.

Key Takeaways

• AI’s Threat to Jobs: AI’s ability to hack human biology (emotions, decisions) and its non-human advantages (connectivity, updatability) threaten even creative and cognitive roles, not just physical ones.

• The “Useless Class”: A new class of people may emerge who are economically redundant, not just from job loss but from a lack of emotional stamina to cope with constant retraining and career volatility.

• The Human Edge: Jobs requiring complex motor skills, empathy (e.g., nursing, caregiving), and dealing with unforeseen scenarios are more resistant to automation.

• New Session Format: The session is now a direct-link meeting with no registration, simplifying access. Recordings and notes are on the My Good School YouTube channel.

Discover more

Learning Forward Saturday session focused on a reading and reflection exercise about teacher Roma, exploring themes of emotional support, classroom relationships, and the impact of a teacher’s presence. Participants shared reflections on the power of a smile and understanding students’ emotions. Brinda recapped last week’s reading on Roma’s handling of conflicts and building student connections. The group discussed Roma helping her class cope with the loss of teacher Sonam, highlighting teachers’ role in emotional support. The session included congratulations to Brinda for an award promoting reading. Participants were encouraged to reflect on their own experiences as students and teachers in challenging situations and building meaningful relationships.

A reading and reflection event at “My Good School” featured book readings and discussions. Brinda, a recipient of the Snehlata Prize, read from Gerald Durrell’s “My Family and Other Animals,” focusing on the family’s relocation to the Snow White Villa and Durrell’s observations of nature, including geckos and mantids. Jugjiv then read from “What You’re Looking For is in the Library,” discussing the protagonist Hiroya’s struggles with self-esteem and employment and his interactions at the library. Students shared their reflections on the readings, with many focusing on themes of curiosity, self-awareness, and avoiding comparisons with others. The session also included a discussion on the importance of libraries and personal growth.

Special Projects by GSA

Learning Forward Retreat

Over three days of The Learning Forward Retreat, I had the opportunity to spend time with teachers and educators from different schools and different backgrounds and experiences. We were brought together by three simple ideas: 3Rs

Reading, Reflection, and Relationships

Our journey began with reading the book “Is Your Child Ready to Face the World?” During the YES Workshop, we explored chapters on humility, honesty, goals and other values. Every teacher had a different story to tell, and reflecting on their years of teaching and listening to these experiences made me realise that a book is never read in the same way by two people, as they had their teaching reflections, and I had reflections from my student life. The discussions encouraged me to pause and ask questions like, do my actions match my values?

On the second day, we dedicated time to reflection, working together to create flip charts based on our learning from the book. Being together, it may sound like a simple activity, but what stood out to me was seeing teachers become students again. We spent time deciding how to present our ideas, discussing colours, drawings, words, and layouts.

I had fun watching experienced educators carefully sketching, colouring, and debating which illustration would best match a sentence. It reminded me that creativity doesn’t belong only to children; sometimes adults need the opportunity to use it again. We listened to one another and built on each other’s ideas. We didn’t do reflection alone but together.

The final day was about relationships; we visited Aasraa Trust, a shelter home for underprivileged children. It was a chance to connect with people whose lives are very different from ours. Spending time with the children reminded me that everyone carries struggles we cannot immediately see, yet despite those challenges, they welcomed us with warmth, curiosity and joy.

The Retreat also helped me build relationships with the educators around me. Whether it was chatting over lunch or exchanging ideas after a session, every conversation added a new perspective, and every person had something valuable to teach.

As I look back on these three days, I realise that the three Rs are deeply connected. Reading opened my mind, reflection helped me understand what I had learned, and relationships gave those lessons a human meaning.

- Sneha, The English Book Depot

Find out more

What Does It take to Make Happy Teachers?

Schools aren’t investing in teachers. They’re investing in teaching.

There’s a lesson plan, but no health plan for them: a classroom management framework, but no retirement plan. We ask teachers to master differentiated instruction while paying many of them below-average monthly wages — wages that leave little room to save, let alone plan for the future. Studies on private school teachers in India have found that the majority report high stress, and lower pay consistently emerges as one of the strongest predictors of it.

You can’t build resilience on top of financial anxiety.

That’s not a training gap. That’s a foundational gap.

Read Kunal's Post

Books of the Week

Brewing Knowledge

Stories That Inspire Reflection and Compassion - Sunbeam School, Ballia

The reading session, conducted by Jugjiv Sir and Manisha Khanna Ma’am, reminded me that people can have different perspectives in the same situation. It also made me realise that even simple incidents can teach valuable life lessons if we observe them carefully. Overall, the session encouraged me to be more understanding, observant, and appreciative of the lessons hidden in everyday experiences.

Riya Yadav, Educator

Read the full post and check out the refletions from the students and teachers of our changemaker school at Balli, in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Joy Of Learning Diaries

Learn, Give and Grow

Good Schools Alliance invites you to experience the Joy of Learning

Discover the joy of learning through reading, reflection, and relationships - the 3Rs that define My Good School.

Why not join us?

Learning Forward Saturday

A teacher training session on reading and discussing ‘Wanted Back-bencher, Last Ranker Teacher” by Kavita Bhupta Ghosh. Sneha led, starting with reflections on the previous chapter, in which Sunita discussed balancing heart and mind in teaching. The group read about teacher Roma’s confrontation with school management and the defence of her approach to students’ emotional needs. The discussion highlighted the importance of emotional support, personal connections, and the creation of meaningful learning environments, especially for adolescents. Brinda explained the role of emotions in learning and suggested strategies like open-ended questions and waiting time. Participants like Seema and Swati shared their challenges, and Sneha recommended ways to foster community in the classroom. The session ended with key takeaways from the chapter.

Analysing the enduring crisis of liberalism, with a specific focus on the contemporary global order.

The Saturday Emerging Literacy Masterclass, led by Sandeep, revolved around a group reading and in-depth discussion of Yuval Noah Harari’s acclaimed book “21 Lessons for the 21st Century.” The session focused on the chapter that examines the ongoing crisis of liberalism.

Session Start and Theme: The session began with a song about “My Good School,” emphasising learning, creativity, and community.

Book Discussion: Reflections on Gerald Durrell’s “My Family and Other Animals” highlighted lessons on humility and crisis management.

Personal Growth and Self-Discovery: The session concluded with readings from “What You’re Looking For in the Library,” focusing on Hiroya’s journey of self-discovery and the significance of passion and mentor support.

Finally, reading from Time Stops At Shamli (Hindi).

The Jodhamal Public School has been built on the sound edifice of traditional wisdom and futuristic thought. The Trustee, Nandan Kuthiala, and the Director, Arti Kuthiala, our gracious hosts, laid out the red carpet!

Alka Sharma, Professor, Dean, Business Studies & Director, SIIEDC, lit the lamp and inaugurated the Literacy Project for Educators Jammu e…

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Bumper Issue of the Weekly #MondayMotivation

Village Ways Charitable Trust

The Trust enables the last-mile rural communities of the remote mountainous areas of Uttarakhand to access preventive and primary health care.

Over the years, the Tr…

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Emerging Literacies

The Literacy Project for Educators is a specialised initiative—powered by the Good Schools Alliance and Learning Forward India—designed to empower teachers with practical, everyday life skills beyond standard textbooks. It focuses o…

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We are reading 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Yuval Noah Harari

In Chapter 19 of 21 Lessons for the 21st Century, Yuval Noah Harari focuses on how rapid technological and social shifts render traditional schooling obsolete. He argues that schools must stop teaching ro…

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Participate in our Reading Sessions, Retreats, Workshops and Residential Training Sessions

The Alliance’s mission is to nurture inclusive and impactful educational ecosystems that promote collaboration and lifelong learning. Community partners serve as resource providers, knowledge contributors, co-cre…

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Join the Good Schools Alliance

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Learning Forward Retreat

Join us for an immersive learning experience in Dehradun. Learn to connect deeply with young people through Reading, Reflection, and Building Meaningful Relationships. Explore The YES Way, a transformative framework that places Youth Engaging Society (YES) at the core of school culture, emphasising skills for life.

At the first Learning Forward Retreat in Dehradun, we had the pleasure of welcoming teachers from Gyan Anant Vidyalaya, PYDS Learning Academy, Hillwoods Academy and trainers from the Association of Mutual Funds of India and the Good Schools Alliance to share the joy of learning with us over three days at the mystical Fig Tree Cottage.

Book your weekend full of the joy of learning now!

Take your Learning Forward

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Happy Teachers and the Making of My Good School

Kunal Rajpurohit, a student at The Fabindia School, is now the Projects Manager at the Learning Forward India Foundation. In the photo, you’ll find a heartwarming story of a teacher and a student at the same level, each taking a step forward together. It’s a beautiful tale of horizontal learning and building strong relationships.

The My Good School Program, at the heart of The Fabindia School’s learning journey in Bali and Rajasthan, is a wonderful example of how schools can transform. When we focus on teacher development, amazing things happen! #HappyTeacher

From one My Good School to the Good Schools Alliance and now The Literacy Project for Educators, powered by the Learning Forward India Foundation, to equip teachers with essential life skills that extend beyond textbooks—helping them grow both professionally and personally.

Centred around the idea of “Happy Teachers,” the project emphasises empowering educators with practical knowledge in areas that affect daily life, including:

- Financial Literacy

- Food Literacy

- Emerging Literacies such as AI and more

Join The Teachers Academy #HappyTeachers.

The Teachers Academy

Transform Life Chances For Every Child We Reach

When a school shifts, a child’s entire world shifts.

I’m Sandeep Dutt, and at the Good Schools Alliance, we’re now collaborating with over 50 schools that are eager to learn and grow together.

Through My Good School, we organise Sunday reading sessions and The Teachers Academy, helping schools weave reading, reflection and relationships into their weekly schedule. This means that every week, children get to read, share and reflect with their peers and teachers across the Alliance.

In just one year, 17 schools and 8 programme partners joined forces under the Alliance—ranging from reading and life-skills groups to wellbeing and teacher-development partners. This means that a single donor’s support is multiplied across dozens of campuses, hundreds of teachers and thousands of children each year.

Our member schools contribute an annual subscription, and philanthropic support enables us to subsidise programmes for our Special Projects that might not be able to afford this on their own—especially those with low fees and in rural areas. Your funding helps us expand retreats, reading programmes, and special projects in financial literacy, health and girls’ empowerment.

If you believe every child deserves a good school, please partner with us—either as a donor or a funding agency—so that together, we can take the Good Schools Alliance from dozens of schools to hundreds, and transform life chances for every child we reach.

10,000+ Subscribers on YouTube

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Why We’re Losing Reading And What That Costs Us?

A letter on trust, empathy, and the disappearing art of connection.

Special Edition of the Good Schools of India Weekly.

I’ve been thinking about a conversation I had last week with a teacher who looked exhausted. She said her students weren’t reading anymore.

At first, I thought it was because of the obvious things: screens, distractions. But as she talked, it became clear that the real cause was quieter, more insidious.

They believed there was no reason to, except when it was about exams.

The Book as a Mirror to Others

Here’s what most people miss when they talk about the decline in reading: it’s not just about literacy. It’s about empathy.

Books do something that no algorithm, no social media feed, no curated content stream can replicate. They place you inside another person’s skin. Sometimes for hours. They let you live as someone entirely different. Someone who thinks differently, feels differently, and makes choices you wouldn’t make. And in doing that, they rewire something fundamental in you.

Without reading, we lose access to the lives, the feelings, the struggles of people who aren’t us. We lose the texture of human experience beyond our own small corner of the world. And in losing that, we become smaller. More brittle. Less capable of caring for those who aren’t like us.

I don’t mean that as a platitude. I mean it as a crisis.

The Architecture of Trust

This is where education gets interesting and where I think most of us have been asking the wrong questions.

We talk a lot about confidence in schools. Confidence in students. Confidence in our systems. But I’ve come to believe that confidence isn’t what education should be building toward. Trust is.

Today in our Joy of Learning Masterclass, we explored the Adlerian philosophy on trust, confidence, and interpersonal relationships.

Reading from the book The Courage To Be Happy by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga :

Key Takeaways

A work relationship runs on confidence. You trust a colleague because they’ve proven competent. They deliver. It’s transactional. It’s earned. And it’s fragile because the moment they slip up, you’re looking for someone more reliable.

A friendship runs on trust. Different thing entirely. You trust a friend not because they’re perfect, but because they’re real with you. Because they can take off the social mask, the careful performance we all maintain to avoid conflict, to protect other people’s feelings and just be.

Education, if it’s going to work, has to build trust-based relationships. Not confidence-based ones.

That’s how you foster the self-reliance that actually matters.

Aren’t we done drilling competence into our children?

By creating a sense of safety that lets them be fully themselves — messy, uncertain, still figuring it out — we help them believe in themselves no matter what.

This is a friend relationship. And it’s almost completely absent from how we structure schools.

Active Belief

There’s another word I want to untangle: confidence, not in the context of students, but in how we practice as educators.

Real confidence isn’t about hoping someone will succeed and crossing your fingers. It’s an active choice to believe in them even when they’re struggling, especially when they’re resisting.

I’ve watched teachers do this when I was a kid, and more so now as an educator. Teachers we remember are those who are good at holding the belief steady. They believe in the kid everyone else has written off. And something shifts. Not immediately. But enough times that it matters.

This is the only way a real connection gets built, particularly with students who are defensive, who have reasons not to trust, who’ve been let down before.

The Root Of Radical Self-Acceptance

There’s one more thread here that ties it all together, and it’s the one that most educational reform misses entirely.

Radical self-acceptance comes first before you can trust others. Before you can build genuine connections. Before you can even want to read about someone else’s life.

Self-centeredness looks like egoism, but it’s actually the opposite. The people who are most self-absorbed, most defensive, most hostile to difference, most unable to care about anyone outside their tribe, are almost always people who don’t like themselves very much. They’re protecting something fragile.

The person who is genuinely at peace with themselves? They have room for others. They can read about a life completely unlike theirs and find something human in it. They can trust without needing guarantees. They can believe in someone before they’ve earned it.

This is what Adlerian philosophy has been trying to tell us for over a century. And we’re still not listening.

Where Do We Go From Here?

So here’s what I keep coming back to: reading isn’t the problem. Reading is the symptom.

The crisis isn’t that children have lost interest in books. The crisis is that we’ve built an educational and social architecture that doesn’t make space for the kind of trust, self-acceptance, and empathy that makes reading matter in the first place.

We’ve optimised for confidence without realising we were sacrificing trust. We’ve built systems where students perform rather than be, where connection is always conditional, on grades, on behaviour, on fitting in.

And we’re surprised when they don’t pick up books.

A Different Way Forward

This is why we’ve been building what we’re building at Good Schools Alliance. Why do we keep coming back to the same core: connection, curiosity, collaboration?

Every Sunday at 10:30 AM, we gather, teachers, students, parents, people who love reading, and we read together. Not to hit benchmarks or gather more ‘knowledge’ but, to discover what happens when you sit with a book and with other people who are willing to take off their social masks and actually think together.

We explore Adlerian philosophy because it maps onto something real: the architecture of how human beings actually learn to trust, to become more fully themselves, to care for others.

And we do it affordably at just Rs 3000 a year. That’s less than what you spend on pizza every year.

I sincerely believe that we haven’t lost readers.

We’ve lost the conditions that make reading necessary. Trust, safety, and the acceptance of self and others. Build those back, and reading follows.

If you’re an educator tired of watching children opt out of connection, a parent worried that something real is slipping away, or someone who believes there’s a different way, read with us.

Access 120+ hours of Joy of Learning every Sunday. Join masterclasses on philosophy and education. Build a community of people asking better questions about what it means to learn.

Join us here

We’re four decades into this work. And we’re just getting started.

Sandeep Dutt is the founder of Good Schools Alliance, currently leads the 100-plus-year-old bookstore The English Book Depot, and is the director of Learning Forward India. He writes about education, reading, and the conditions that enable genuine learning.

The YES Way: Building Schools Where Youth Engage Society (YES)

GSA offers workshops and bespoke training sessions. The YES Way Framework focuses on Youth Engaging Society (YES) as the heart of school culture, empowering students in service, skills, sports, and studies. GSA provides customised on-site training and learning workshops to help schools improve, supported by various programmes and partners.

Masterclass: Sandeep Dutt, Founder of Learning Forward India Foundation and Good Schools Alliance, conducts a masterclass every Saturday at 5:30 pm IST on Zoom. These sessions share insights from over four decades of experience working with school teachers and students worldwide, and Dutt is the chief architect of The YES Way Framework.

Thank you for helping us reach 10,000 followers on LinkedIn!

We’ve never really counted how many lives we’ve touched, or how many generations back our family tree goes.

•⁠ ⁠Almost 10,000 subscribers on our YouTube channel

•⁠ ⁠Over 35,000 followers on the GSA Facebook page

•⁠ ⁠Almost 20,00,000 PageViews for our Joy of Learning Diaries, the students’ blog, at www.JoyOfLearningDiaries.com

•⁠ ⁠Almost 35,00,000 PageViews for The Teachers Academy blog #HappyTeachers at www.HappyTeacher.in

There are still more on Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms; we are humbled.

Our goal is simple: Read and Lead. Thank you for supporting our 100+ years of efforts at The English Book Depot (EBD), GSA and the Learning Forward India Foundations. Our deep commitment to ensure that every teacher is empowered to support young people with their personal and social development #JoyOfGiving

My Good School

Sunday School book reading of “My Family and Other Animals” by Gerald Durrell, led by Brinda and Sandeep, with Jugjiv moderating. They discussed the Daffodil Yellow Villa chapter, nature, animals, and the characters’ experiences. The facilitators announced a new 30-minute limit on reading, followed by discussion. Students’ reflections and retreat presentations on engaging with society through service, skill, sport, and study were shared. The session ended with an explanation of the YES framework and resources on schooleducation.com.

The Decline of the Hindu Civilization Shashi Ranjan Kumar at the Book Cafe

The book The Decline of the Hindu Civilization: Lessons from the Past by Shashi Ranjan Kumar is a historical analysis that traces the trajectory of Indian civilisation from its intellectual peak to its gradual decline. Shashi Tharoor and other prominent figures have praised the work for its scholarly rigour and balanced approach.

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Bumper Issue of Our Newsletter

My Good School Retreat 2026: Nurturing Learning, Reflection, and Relationships

The My Good School Alliance Retreat (MGS Retreat), in collaboration with Mayoor School Jaipur, was successfully he…

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My Good School Retreat, April 2026

Back in 2016, the My Good School Retreat was envisioned to inspire and empower people through personal and social growth. Today, it has grown into a wonderful…

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Revolution in Education

Celebrating 10 years of the My Good School Retreat

Back in October 2016, The Fabindia School kicked off an exercise to help teachers grow personally and socially. Now, it’s blossomed into a full-fledged My Good School experience for students, teachers and everyone involved. We’re al…

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