Santa Monica: The leading overseas education facilitator

Established in the year 2002, Santa Monica is the brain-child of Mr. Denny Thomas Chempazha, which took shape from both a dream and promise, combined with entrepreneurial farsightedness as a credible overseas education facilitator. He speaks about the present Global Education Scenario.

What drives Santa Monica?

Initially, when we started Santa Monica in 2002, like any business, we did it for our survival. In three TO four years as our foundations grew strong, we transformed the business into a service orientation approach. This was primarily because we realized the benefits the public is getting through us and how critical it is we oriented ourselves to do the business with a service approach. Our vision is to create international standards for Indian experts by exposing them to international education. We realize that will bring multiple benefits to the Country. We stopped focusing on the money aspect and worked with the good intention of giving education.

What changes did you bring in the Industry?

The first thing we did was we started eliminating mediators. This was very important for many reasons. One of the primary reasons was that it was important that the mediator also is in line with our principle thought of seeing this as a holy act. We kept re-investing most of the profit to traveling to each university around the world and creating a direct relationship with them. We put a lot of effort into setting up a team of the international relationship who would deal with the universities directly. I traveled to over go countries to establish this foundation.

How different is our education system from other countries?

The education system in developed countries has an astounding vision which we lack in our country. I am proud of my Country which once was the home of Takshashila and Nalanda University where people from all over the world came to learn. With this business, bringing back this standard is always there in my heart. It's a long-distance dream for India. Still, I am very optimistic about it. Unfortunately, Indian Universities don't even list in the top 20o high-ranking universities across the world. My mission, however minuscule it may be is longing to change this by getting a global talent pool of Indians.

Is India on the right track? How do you see the current situation?

I appreciate the work done by the Indian government to create an environment for global education. Though late, the pace at which current government policies are shaping certainly gives a ray of hope. Saying that I still know it's a long way ahead, We have sent 1000s students abroad through Santa Monica. According to recent data, 4,20,000 students have gone to various countries for higher studies. The money that has gone out of the country is estimated close to 65000 crores. This is a considerable amount going out of the country. I strongly wish to reverse this trend. If we develop the standards of education then India can be an attractive place for students across the world.

What has been your experience interacting with students who come to Santa Monica to study abroad?

The Indian student's mind is highly compartmentalized. They are often pressured to study a subject which they don't have aN affinity towards. Students don't study subjects that they are passionate about. At Santa Monica, we have a high-standard career assessment test that enables them to understand what their skills are. We train them to be unbiased and give them the direction of higher studies according to the talent and the job prospectus available in the country. After which we look at their financial background and other details and then connect them to the right university abroad keeping in mind the labour market opinion of the country.

This is an art. Santa Monica's assessment gives students a specific direction.

What's your future plan?

To create a hub for attracting students from other countries, especially in South East Asia and Africa to study in India and bring in money to our country.