Our Story

Sunshine worldwide School was conceptualized in 2002. We found the need for a school which would be different and prepare children for life. We were in touch with many parents, and they all thought that the education system needed to be child centric rather than exam centric.

We met with a lot of educationalists like Ms. Nisha D’Cunha and Miss Shirin Choksi who helped us further understand that education could be delivered in a way that would make it life-relevant.

It was on December 14th, 2002, when we had our first meeting after deciding to start a school with a difference.

We had multiple meetings after that with a few parents and a few educators. My wife was away to Jaipur and my mother was in Aligarh in the month of March, I told them that we were starting school in June.

They were surprised and said, “Deepak, there is nothing, you don’t have a building, we don’t have anything, how will we start?” I did not give them a choice and they agreed.

I said “don’t worry we have looked for a place for rent and we will start even if it is with 5 children.”

Finally, we took a place on rent, advertised and I started going home to home for meeting parents to explain to them the kind of education we proposed to deliver; we advertised in newspapers, passed the word around through daily conversations as a result of which, many parents who showed keen interest were counseled personally by me.

However, just as things began to look easy, the person who had given his house on rent for the school had his neighbors make an issue. They felt it would make the surroundings very noisy and complaint that the school couldn’t be operated in a residential colony. I ran hither and thither trying to make it work but finally had to vacate.

God always has a plan.

We looked for another house and finally got one in Old Goa and started the school on 16th of June 2003, with just 8 children and some of them coming all the way from Vasco. We appointed a clerk who used to drive the car from Vasco and bring the children as help to the parents for Transport. We started the concept of full day school and served lunch which was prepared by my wife Sapna and mummy. Of course, it was yummy and the children loved eating the food.

We had a classroom with children of different age groups and different levels, so we started with multi-level concepts. Right from its inception, our purpose was to be an inclusive School as we had differently abled children that were immensely talented in their own unique ways. Many parents who were open to a new approach to Education, joined Sunshine Worldwide School.

We understood the principle of 80:20. Sunshine worldwide school was conceptualized on a unique philosophy which I had learned over the years of my experience provided by life itself; this and also a lot of learnings gathered from a network marketing business and Britt Worldwide. It was based on my philosophy and the vision which I got from Brit worldwide and my parents.

The first year of school was a roller coaster ride, the education department did not give us permission, so by December, we had many children leaving the school. But we did not lose heart. Our school Principal whom we had appointed initially also left us in December just when we were in the middle celebrating a Christmas party. Still, we danced and celebrated as our philosophy required us to look within and embrace unconditional happiness; it being the core of our Curriculum at SWS. We truly believed that above everything else, our children need to be happy Individuals!

Some parents got together during the Christmas party for a PTA meeting and blamed us for not having permission. We had already applied to the Department of Education and started working towards it. Even after that jolt, we continued our high spirits and looked on the positive side of everything.

Nevertheless, we got more admissions in January and in March; we celebrated our first annual day which has been a custom every year since March of 2004. It was a great success and we moved to the next level. Many more children joined us in the next academic year and the number had now increased to 16.

Initially, I found myself doing everything from getting children in my car as a driver to doing the accounts taking fees as a cashier; every little and big thing that was required to start the school or to manage the school was onto my shoulders. Yes, of course my mother who was a pillar was full time with me and my wife Sapna who stood by me and helped me continuously; sometimes placing the needs of our children at school above our own children Khush and Yash. Also, to mention here, Miss Patricia who joined us on 17th of April, 2003, was with us all through and is with us even today.

We wanted a different approach towards education and concluded that miss Shereen Choksi would have to be the one who could train our Educators and guide us in the way we wanted the school to run. We researched her and found her number. She was in Bangalore at that time and had just retired from the Godrej School in Mumbai as the principal followed by which she had joined Titan School as officiating and guiding principle in Bangalore Hosur.

I asked her for an appointment but she was very busy; she was 65 years of age at the time and didn’t want to do anything more. Although her hands were full, I insisted that she at least meet me for a few minutes. She agreed to meet but could not promise a specific time or place as she lived at the Titan guest house in Bangalore. I took the evening bus and reached Bangalore early morning and went straight to her guest house, waiting for her to meet me. We started the meeting at 11:00 a.m. and believe me, it got over only at 5 o’clock and I earned her consent to help us. I was filled with excitement and boarded the evening bus to return to Goa.

The mission had been accomplished, there was a lot to look forward to.

We got Miss Diana Charles who was appointed as our principal and Ms. Shirin began coming every month to train our staff and guide us. She used to stay at home with us. Our training would start at 5:00 a.m. in the morning and end at 12 a.m. midnight. Sapna would sit with a register and write down whatever I narrated or listed, sitting next to her on the ground in the morning.

Afternoon she was in the school observing, training, and meeting parents. This happened for three consecutive years; months after months, we were building a learning community. She helped us set up the school and Diana implemented the learnings from her, locally. The number of children grew every year and we got permission in 2005 after a lot of persuasion and difficulty; nevertheless, we started doubling every year from 35 to 70 to 150 to 300 to 500 to 600 and so on.

Ms. Shirin became like a family. We had seen this land along with her and we were now building a school together; we put the board on the first time and it felt natural. We did Bhoomi Poojan and started construction in 2006. In 2007, we started school in the new building with just 4 rooms.

The PTA was very supportive and we did our annual on a very huge scale, every year. We kept growing and building floors every year and completed the school building in 2012. 2011 was another year of ups and downs where we were refused affiliation by ICSE and our children in the 9th standard had to be moved to another School. Some stayed back who trusted us and we got Goa board permission for those two years and got them through the 10th standard with Goa board affiliation.

In the meantime, we had applied to CBSE as well. CBSE was very futuristic and was moving ahead of its times in 2011 with CCE, ASL, PSA etc. incorporated in their curriculum. They also gave the option of home board and open book exams which actually was in line with our philosophy. We were already doing enquiry projects from 2004 itself, we had no textbooks from the beginning and no examination concept until the 7th grade. We had written down and pledged to practice our unique philosophy of freedom without fear, responsibility over discipline, competence over competition, learning to learn, and no carrot no stick etc., understanding concepts and applying in real life whatever we learn.

In the same year, March of 2012, we got affiliation from ICSE as well as CBSE. Our perseverance, consistency, and persistency had ripped fruits. Now, we were in a position to take a decision as to which one we wanted to choose; of course, we chose CBSE.

Our first batch of CBSE 10th standard cleared in 2013 and the first batch of 12th in 2015; the rest is, history. Now we are an established leading CBSE school of Goa and also, we have taken the IB curriculum because the examination department took a U turn in 2017. We got our IB PYP authorization in 2020 during COVID and we became the only IB World School in Goa.

Here at SWS, we are serving society with our unique philosophy, varied learning methodologies and application; and most importantly, value-based education to the children of today. We started differently and continue to be different even today. We’ve been Pioneers of unique initiatives that aid Education in true sense, such as – No school Bells – Full day school providing lunch – a Corporate Model – SALF – Business Conclave, and so much more.