Education & Academia

Preeti Sogani, Leading the Way to a Brighter Education System

Director at Witty International Schooludaipur

Coming from a humble background, Preeti Sogani has risen like a star on Udaipur’s private education horizon.

Woman on a mission

Preeti Sogani is a woman on a mission. Her mission is to provide world class education to children of Udaipur and she is working for it night and day. She is happy that her efforts are paying and a world class institution in the form of Witty International School has come up in Udaipur and is being appreciated by one and all.

Humble beginnings

Born and brought up in Mumbai, Preeti belonged to a normal middle class family. Her school and college education was done in Mumbai. She was married to Deepen Sogani of Jaipur at an early age. They spent five years in Jaipur and then moved to Udaipur for business considerations. Preeti was free and had no intention of starting anything big. But her brother, Vinay Jain, who is the visionary founder of the Witty chain of schools encouraged her to start the Udaipur branch of the school.

Proud of the world class school she runs

Preeti started with a small pre-primary wing of her school in 2002. Then she started looking for a big land to start a full senior secondary school but she had to be really after the UIT for allotment of land. After sustained efforts, she got a piece of land in 2008 and built a school there. She started Witty International in 2009 which is currently a senior secondary school with all streams. Witty School is a value based chain of ten schools in Mumbai, Udaipur and elsewhere and Preeti tries to give the students and parents best of everything-education, ambience, technology, infrastructure, values, cleanliness.

Positive attitude can overcome challenges

Life is full of challenges says Preeti, but with a positive attitude, you can overcome all hurdles. She says that running a school is quite a challenge as you have to handle the staff, students and parents, but if you are committed to your work you can manage all the problems efficiently. Preeti’s success mantra is hard work and no short cuts. Besides, she believes that in life:

कोशिश करने वालों की हार नहीं होती|

These lines from the famous poem are the mission statement of her school and are even printed in the almanac of her school which always motivates the students. She believes that if you take even the defeats positively, you can convert the defeats into victories the next time, but your intentions must always be pure and clear.

Teamwork is important

Preeti also believes in teamwork. She knows that she cannot run the school alone. The administration of a school consists of so many people-the Principal, teachers, admin staff, housekeeping staff, drivers, cleaners, gardeners, IT people etc. She has to train everyone and impart her vision to everyone. Under her guidance, Witty promises the best.

Teamwork is very important in the management of a school. You have to take along all your staff and co-workers.

Preeti is happy that her students are everywhere in all the fields. They are launching startups. They are even doing social work.

Inspiring father and visionary brother

Preeti’s role model is her father. She has imbibed the habit of hardwork from her father. She recalls how her father also did his business part time after his job. She is also inspired by her brother who is also a motivational speaker. She draws guidance from her sister in law Ms Raina Jain too. She says that her brother always pushed her to do things herself in order to build her confidence. Everyone in her family including her husband and mother-in-law always supported her.

Not so easy to work with children

For someone interested in the education industry, she advises passionate understanding of the requirements of society. In her opinion, it is no longer possible to have a one room school and then to add to it one by one. Nowadays , you have to showcase your best from the first day. Tying up with a big chain always helps. You must have patience and passion to work with children.

Preeti thinks she was not a natural-born leader. Slowly, her work taught her to interact with her co-workers and staff and she evolved herself as a team-person.

Happy with the course of her life

If she is put into a time machine and taken back in life she would like to do more studies in life. Although, she would choose the education industry only as she likes the course her life has taken.

Very active socially

Preeti is very active socially too. She has been an active member of the Rotary Club for the last several years. Currently she is Assistant Governor of zone 15 of the district 3054 of Rotary International. Rotary members collect funds among themselves and work for the needy sections of society. She is also vice chairman of the ladies wing of Jain International Trade Organization-JITO Udaipur chapter. She is also Chairperson of the Namokar Mantra Bank.

Education starts as soon as you are born

Preeti thinks that education is not only what you learn at school and college but it starts as soon as you are born. How much education you have inculcated in yourself is important.

When asked about her childhood memories, she remembers how she had a good time together in her family with her brother.

Cooking as pastime

Preeti has a seven year old son and most of her free time is spent with him. She likes to talk to him about his activities during the day and also tries to teach him new things. She is also keen on cooking and likes to try new recipes. She also loves talking to old school friends. She also does glass paintings. Preeti says about life:

जो करो दिल से करो|