Biography

Dr. Niyati Chitkara holds a doctorate in school‑based assessment, with a focus on Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation, and brings to her role a rare combination of academic depth, pedagogical innovation, and on-the-ground leadership. She graduated as the top-ranked M.Ed. student from Panjab University, earned gold medals in both her MBA and M.Com programs, and has built a career defined by the consistent translation of research into practice.

At Chitkara International Schools, she has created an educational environment that goes well beyond conventional schooling. Her PhD-to-Playway reverse-integrated model is a distinctive pedagogical framework that builds interdisciplinary thinking and Industry 5.0 skills from early childhood through to higher education. Under her leadership, Chitkara International School became India’s only school to secure more than 18 patents through faculty-student collaborations, a reflection of the research culture she has deliberately built into the institution’s fabric.

Her work on student well-being has been equally substantive. She designed the school’s Happiness Curriculum, integrating SCERT guidelines with the globally recognised PERMA model to place student well-being alongside scholastic achievement as a core institutional priority. The school has since earned Platinum status in the School Health Accreditation Project, conferred by the Department of Education, Chandigarh, in collaboration with PGIMER and ICMR.

Dr. Chitkara’s international reach is considerable. She has forged over 250 international collaborations, led the school to receive the British Council International School Award, and represented India at the AI for Educators Workshop in Geneva. Chitkara International School has been ranked No. 1 in India in the Outlook Bharat School Rankings and ranks among the top co-educational day schools nationally in the EducationWorld India School Rankings.

She is a certified IB Trainer for the Primary Years programs, a published author, and a frequent voice at national and international education forums. Her book, Assessment Quotient, published by Lambert Academic Publishing, Germany, addresses learning assessment for Generation Z and Generation Alpha students. In 2014, she was one of ten global recipients of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Scholarship, presented at the TED Active Conference in Canada.

Through her work, Dr. Chitkara continues to advocate for an education system that blends rigorous academics with creativity, well-being, and global perspectives, preparing students to navigate an increasingly complex and interconnected world.