Shemrock and Shemford

The school group began as a chain of preschools. Bimla Arora sought a preschool for her daughter and opened her own in 1989. She became the founding director of the Shemrock preschool group. Her son, Amol Arora, did the marketing for the school and later became vice-chairman of the chain, and his wife, Meenal, became the preschools' executive director.[1] Shemrock expanded to urban areas with the belief that franchise preschools were in higher demand there. Their classes have 12 students and are designed to be interactive, with individual attention for each child.[2] Amol Arora distinguished the chain's preschools from others by classroom environment, curriculum, and approach to schooling.[1] In one school, new students acclimate to the school in a "welcome home", with toys including a doll house, television with nursery rhymes, and shaped blocks. The kids progress to an Activity Area with a wooden stage, writing area, sandpit, and technology such as a smartphone and ATM counter. Shemrock teaches the alphabet through objects and tie letters to modern technology, such as ATMs and Blackberry devices.[3]

Shemrock preschools use the Chota Bheem cartoon character as their "brand ambassador"[1] with expectations that the character would engage and motivate children to learn. Their in-house marketing team led a campaign to use the character in class activities, and released their first television commercial with the character in 2013.[4] Shemrock celebrated one school opening in 2013 with a carnival.[3]

The Aroras expanded into primary and secondary education in 2009 with Shemford Futuristic Schools.[5] Meenal Arora was their founding director. The first Shemford school was opened in Ashok Vihar and later led to offshoots in Bagh, Noida, Punjab, Rohini,[1] and Patna.[6] By 2012, there were 22 Shemford secondary schools in India, one in Doha, Qatar,[7] and plans to open 15 more across Tamil Nadu over three years.[8] The secondary schools are either associated with the Central Board of Secondary Education or the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education.[7]

The Shemford Noble International School of Doha, Qatar, opened in 2011 with dignitaries present from the Qatar Foundation and Indian government. The International School was opened in collaboration with the Doha Noble Indian Education Society, which started in 2007 "to provide quality education to the expatriate community".[9] The school follows a proprietary curriculum known as ShemEduMAX that is designed as a "child created curriculum" with "personalized assessment".[9] At the school's 2011 opening, Arora said over 160 Indian schools used the curriculum.[9]

The Shemrock and Shemford group was recognized by the Limca Book of Records in 2013 for starting the most schools in the shortest time.[1][5] By 2014, the group had opened 100 branches in 17 Indian states,[5] with 225 preschools across India and over 75 Shemford schools.[1] In 2012, the Shemrock and Shemford schools employed about 3,000 in staff for 20,000 students, and planned to expand to 900 teachers within five years.[8]

• Shemrock preschools
• Shemford primary and secondary schools