Mr Umeshchandra Raja & I have worked together for 8 years. As a teacher – educator (lecturer) from University College London, I worked with Umeshchandra who is the head teacher of the Swaminaryan School, which has been one of the longest standing Institute of Education partnership schools for initial teacher training and I regularly visited and liaised with Umeshchandra & his staff who were mentors for my student teachers each year. What has struck me most about Umeshchandra is the love & admiration that he earned and sustained from his colleagues, pupils and parents because he led a school with a strong ethos of inclusive tolerance, compassion, respect and humility. The children, parents and staff, without exception, genuinely admired his leadership and wisdom.

As a Principal in the USA for ten years and more recently I have worked with Mr Umesh Raja as his Assistant Principal at The Swaminarayan School (TSS); we co-developed and implemented a teacher conference in India and CPD in Leicester. Within our collaboration, Mr Umesh Raja proved himself to be an outstanding headteacher with his humility, being a team player, affiliative and coaching style leadership. Core to his teaching & learning role was his ability to encourage collaborative discussion on quality first teaching and called for additional CPD and one-to-one discussions on the specific needs of the school. He inspired high quality teaching that is carefully planned and takes account of prior learning. As a head teacher, he endeavored to make his actions a positive opportunity for growth to produce maximum impact.

I had the absolute pleasure of working with Umesh Raja from 2007-2012 in the position of Deputy Head Teacher of the Swaminarayan Prep School in London. It’s now 2021 and I am still drawing from the range of experiences he rovided me. Umesh Raja is without doubt, the deepest thinker and educational practitioner I’ve come across. Umesh oozes class, etiquette, builds successful teams by role modelling. an outstanding work ethic, goes the xtra mile, is selfless in thought, deed and action, and is meticulous in his planning and execution of any roject or mandate that comes across his table. Despite Umesh’s professional disposition and ease at which he approaches and completes a wide range of consultancy and academic tasks and processes, Umesh holds true to a core set of values along with a wonderful sense of humor.

Mr. Umesh Raja & I have known each other for 13 years now. When I visited The Swaminarayan School (London) in 2007, he came across as a very thoughtful, organized, quiet yet impactful leader who ensured quality education in the school he led. The love and respect he garnered from students and teachers alike was something that struck us. When we decided to start a girls’ residential school in Gujarat (India), we approached him. He provided us with well-defined and well-meaning advice in several meetings we had with him. He was clear in ideas, simplified complex issues and showed us the way out, and provided us with more pathways to think. It was evident that his solutions were based on his in-depth study of Education as discipline, experience as Principal and came from a bonafide intention to help selflessly.

Mr Raja has a very genial personality that invites people to work with him easily. His easy - going personality allows people to relax and feel at ease in his company. He converses succinctly, never dominating but always willing to help people realize their full potential. He has excellent listening skills and is always understanding, sympathetic and empathetic in his responses. He is tempered, measured and careful in the way he chooses his vocabulary, paying a huge attention to the feelings of others. He is deeply spiritual man and ascribes to service to mankind in the first instance, In this regard he has an excellent pastoral approach to all the stakeholders. He engages in discourses and discussions with teachers, parents, governors, inspectors and pupils to arrive at the best decision.