About Us
Part of one of the fastest growing international educational brands with 575+ schools in 40+ countries, Maple Bear South Asia brings the very best of globally reckoned Canadian early childhood and elementary school practices to India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal. We offer Preschool, Elementary and Infant Care programs, delivered in a safe, secure and stimulating environment that instills in students a passion for lifelong learning.
Today, more than 8500 students in 130+ Maple Bear schools across South Asia are benefitting from the methodology and curriculum developed by our Canadian faculty of expert educators, and this number is steadily growing.
Maple Bear South Asia is a joint venture between Maple Bear Global Schools Ltd, Canada and Modi Edutech (Modi Group).
The Story of Maple Bear
The idea to develop Maple Bear Canadian schools grew out of the work of the Canadian Education Centre Network (CECN), a non-profit organization supported by the Government of Canada and the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada which was mandated to market Canadian education abroad to attract foreign students to study in Canada.
Maple Bear was born after CECN managers overseas recognized there was a domestic demand for high quality, bilingual Canadian education from emerging middle class parents, many of whom had studied outside of their own countries in general and in Canada in particular.
The first Maple Bear Canadian School to open was in Indirapuram (New Delhi), India in 2005.
In 2007, Maple Bear became a privately owned company with a dozen schools operating in Korea, Brazil and India. Those numbers quickly changed as news of the excellence of Canadian immersion and bilingual education spread, especially among parents who could see the positive outcomes in language, learning and behavior of their children.
Today, there are more than 575 schools in more than twenty countries with more than forty one thousand students studying at Maple Bear schools worldwide.
We invite you to join the Maple Bear South Asia family as a school owner, a student, a parent, a teacher or a member of the Canadian faculty.
Maple Bear South Asia Executive Team
Piya Modi
Chairperson, Maple Bear South Asia
A graduate in Communication and Graphic Design from IILM University, who has recently completed her MBA from Regents University, London, UK.
Piya is a young dynamic leader serving as a Director at Maple Bear South Asia, Modi Edutech, Asahi Modi Material Pvt. Ltd and Modi Rubber Limited. She has also served as the Principal of Maple Bear Canadian Preschool, Rajouri Garden, New Delhi.
An animal lover, Piya is an active member of a number of animal welfare societies and is currently in the process of setting up her own NGO to support the cause. She is also a passionate equestrian and has received multiple accolades in the sport at international, national and regional level.
Piya Modi also holds the following positions:
• Whole time Director: Modi Rubber Pvt. Ltd.
• Director: Modi Edutech
• Director: Asahi Modi Material Pvt. Ltd.
Shalini Jaiswal
Director & COO, Maple Bear South Asia
Shalini Jaiswal graduated from Mumbai University. She is the winner of The Foundation Principal Galby Gold Medal (1989) and Lotus Foundation Prize (1989), both awarded by the University of Bombay. After her post-graduation in Textile Chemistry she did her Bachelors in Education from CCS University, Meerut.
Shalini began her career as a teacher at Delhi Public School. From a teacher, she went on to hold various positions in the school. From being the primary teacher section in charge in Chinmaya Vidyalaya, she moved on to be in the core team for developing and implementing experiential learning modules at Cambridge school.
A person who wanted to bring world class education to India, she went on to start the first Maple Bear preschool in India. Simultaneously, she also started her abacus and brain gym centre. She was also a Master Trainer for the abacus program at SIP Academy India Pvt. Ltd., Chennai.
Besides, Shalini has worked as a consultant with Xseed where she developed the curriculum modules for various grades and conducted teacher training workshops in a number schools. She has worked as a consultant for Inspire Education and developed various educational programmes for kindergarten schools.
From being a consultant, she moved on to join Maple Bear South Asia full-time as an Academic Coordinator and then as Director of Academics in 2010.
Inderpal Singh
CEO, Maple Bear South Asia
Inderpal comes with over 27 years of progressive experience within the education and training industry
with exposure in varied domains including software
and hardware training, K-12, test preparation, skill enhancement, and ed-tech domains.
Graduated as an Engineer in Computer Science and
a post-graduate in Management, Inderpal has been instrumental and played a key role in transforming businesses with education giants including, STG International, Air Hostess Academy, Educomp Solutions and ICA Edu Skills to name a few.
Known as an authority on franchise operations, he has signed and operated over 600 franchisees during his career, Inderpal is well known and marks his presence in the Education Industry with high respect.
Alok Kumar Modi
Director, Maple Bear South Asia
Alok Modi is a dynamic entrepreneur and part of one of India’s foremost business conglomerates – The Modi Group of Companies, with diverse interests ranging from glass, education to travel. Known for his forward-looking approach and incisive vision, Modi plays a vital role in the Group with expertise in conceptualizing, strategizing and setting up new ventures. It was under his leadership that Modi Edutech (Modi Group) entered into a joint venture with Maple Bear Global Schools to form Maple Bear South Asia.
Apart from this, he has been involved in setting up schools in the rural areas of Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh, imparting education to nearly 7000 students from KG up to Intermediate level and has plans for their expansion and modernization.
An engineering graduate and alumni of Modern School, Delhi, Alok Modi, also holds the following positions:
• Joint Managing Director: Gujarat Guardian Ltd.
• Managing Director: Modi Rubber Ltd.
• Director: Continental India Ltd.
• Director: UniglobeTravel
• Chairman: All India Flat Glass Manufacturers Association
• Director: All India Glass Manufacturers’ Federation
• President: Governing Council, Confederation of Construction Product and Services
Arno Krug
CEO, Maple Bear Global Schools
Holding a BSc in Law, a Post Grad in Administration, two Masters in Business Administration (MBA) in Logistics and in Franchising, as well as many certificates such as Disruptive Strategies, Global Business and Leading Management in Education from Harvard Business School, Arno has served in many executive roles and companies including ALL Logistics, AB Inbev, Pearson PLC, Wall Street English and most recently as CEO of Maple Bear in Latin America.
Arno is responsible for the operations side of the company. He oversees company structures, budgets, KPI management and financial sustainability. He also supports growth in the numbers of global schools and students by working closely with our existing joint venture partners and new partners to come, as well as building new strategic relationships.
Lenna Glade
Vice President Academic, Maple Bear Global Schools
Lenna Glade has been an educator for more than 40 years. She has been a teacher, a school administrator, a Department of Education coordinator and is currently a Faculty Member at the University of Winnipeg in Manitoba, Canada. For the past ten years, Lenna has initiated and implemented several international education projects in her role as Faculty Member. In addition to practicum programs in Thailand and China, Lenna implemented a Bachelor of Education program in Asia and a Post Baccalaureate program in Brazil.
Lenna Glade is a former Academic Director of Maple Bear Brazil. For the past 6 years she has trained teachers and administrators and presented to parents of Maple Bear Schools in Brazil, India, China, Korea, Viet Nam and Singapore. Also, Lenna has coordinated the annual Maple Bear Owner’s Convention in Brazil.
Founders
Rodney Briggs
Co-Founder & Board Chairman
A graduate of the University of Manitoba with an MA in Political Science, Rodney served as a Canadian diplomat from 1981 to 1996 with postings to Canada's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, the Kingdom of Thailand, the People's Republic of China, and the Republic of Korea. He also served as President of the Professional Association of Foreign Service Officers.
In 1996, he joined the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada as the Vice-President responsible for the Canadian Education Centre Network project and in 1997 became the first President of the newly-formed non-profit company, the Canadian Education Centre Network. In this capacity he was responsible for building the network from three centres in the Asia-Pacific region into an entity with a presence in 17 countries spanning the globe. While with the CEC Network, Rodney conceived and developed the Maple Bear education system. In March 2007, he purchased Maple Bear from the CEC Network.
As President of Maple Bear Global Schools he traveled extensively, expanding Maple Bear’s global footprint to over twenty countries.
In March 2021, Rodney retired from his operating role as President & CEO of Maple Bear Global Schools. He remains active as Board Chair and a shareholder in the company.
GERALD MACLEOD
Co-Founder
Gerald Macleod held both a B.A. and B.Ed from the University of Saskatchewan, a Masters degree from Carleton University in Ottawa, and a Masters of Education (second language and immersion specialization) from the University of Manitoba. In addition he held a Diplôme d’études françaises from the Université de Poitiers, and a Diplôme d’études internationales et du développement from the Université de Toulouse, France. He also received numerous academic awards, including the Government of France scholarship for Graduate Study in France.
His education credentials were extensive, beginning as a teacher in Montreal, Saskatoon and Winnipeg; as Vice-Principal and Principal at all levels of the Winnipeg school system and as a university professor of Education Administration at the Collège universitaire de Saint Boniface, Manitoba.
Gerald served as School District Director of International Education in Winnipeg; Director of International Education in the Department of Advanced Education for the Province of Manitoba, and as a consultant in international education globally. He frequently presented on international education topics to teachers, principals and school boards.
Gerald passed away in early 2021.
Maple Bear Global Faculty
The University of Winnipeg Faculty of Education and Maple Bear Global Schools have been in academic cooperation since 2014. Our academic affiliation with the University of Winnipeg provides us with direct access to top education experts in the country, and elevates the quality of our teacher training initiatives and our classroom curriculum.
