Dr. Commander Kartikay Saini

Dr. Commander Kartikay Saini is the Chairman of the Scottish High International School and also Chairman of the Board of Directors for Special Olympics Bharat, the national Special Olympics Program for India. He serves on the Special Olympics International Advisory Committee.

Dr. Saini has over three decades of experience in the civil and defence forces with over 19 decorations. He has undertaken numerous leadership roles in his career and has been a key speaker in various workshops and seminars on leadership and governance around the world. Dr. Saini is currently the Director of Hema Engineering Industries Ltd and the Chairman of Scottish High International School, India. Dr. Saini has been involved in sports for his entire life, enjoying a multitude of various sporting activities.

He has contributed nationally to education for the underprivileged, integrated education for children with intellectual disabilities, and pioneered research as the head of the Autism Research Center of India. Dr. Saini has served Special Olympics in various capacities since he started volunteering in 2003, including as the Chairman of Special Olympics Bharat and Chairman of the Special Olympics Asia Pacific Advisory Council. Motivational leader:

Apart from his laudable accomplishments in the field of education at the National and International levels, Dr. Cdr Saini has served and continues to serve as a key speaker in workshops and seminars on leadership and governance in different parts of the world-Spain, Switzerland, China, U.S.A, Macau, Philippines, Malaysia, to mention a few. He constantly challenges the status quo, expunging mediocre ideas and concepts with his radical views and innovative ideas on global issues. He models true leadership by practising what he teaches.

Little wonder that he is highly respected in the community, with his ideas catching on like wildfire. He has led youth conferences in India and abroad inspiring thousands of youth across the globe. Dr. Kartikay Saini has been invited to lead conferences and workshops across the world and honoured for his excellent humanitarian work in the field of ‘disability’. His workshops include the Academies of Asia Pacific, Europe Eurasia Youth summits, America’s Youth Congress, etc. Artiste & Orator: Dr. Cdr. Kartikay Saini is a keen writer, a poet, and has contributed to a number of journals and magazines including the US Proceedings, USA.

His oratory skills and interest in drama & music embody the qualities of a well-rounded leader who works hard and plays even harder. The Fore-runner: Dr. Saini is the first INDIAN to have been the Chairman of 30 Nations Asia Pacific Unified Sports Advisory Committee. He has brought laurels to India by leading the social cause of Unification across the Asia Pacific continents including Australia, New Zealand and Malaysia. He has made the country proud time and time again as he is the FIRST INDIAN to have been appointed to the Board of Special Olympics International Washington, mentoring 177 countries of the world including continents of America, Africa, Asia, and Europe.
 

His vision can be found in a recent interview conducted by Dinis Guarda. In that interview, he said the following about the armed forces, Scottish High International School, Special Olympics and COVID-19:

Armed forces “While I was in the navy I decided to move from medicine to engineering. It was at that point I decided to stop my career in the navy and start in education. I spent years in the armed forces in India. The Indian Navy is complex, to say the least. There are thousands of different languages, multiple religions and traditions across the country and all of them are represented in the army in one way or another.

However, in the army, there are strict rules so you can’t have religious figures or representations in your quarters nor you can show them in public. By my fifteen years of service, I just became commander and my son was just diagnosed with autism. At first, we were angry, then we went through the stage of denial and then into mourning. After a little while, we accepted it and we decided to act.

My wife and I decided to quit our jobs and give our lives to help our son. We started looking for schools that would be good for our child and provide all the attention he needed. However, we couldn’t find any. That is why I decided to create a school only for children that need special attention and provide the best education possible. That is how Scottish High International School was created.”

Scottish High International School; “Scottish High International School welcomes children with and without disabilities. In India, parents still hide children that have intellectual disabilities. When we set up the school we had it very clear that all children would be accepted and integrated. All children were going to share the same classes, be taught by the same teachers and have the same opportunities.

Likewise, I knew that some children need special attention so we brought in physiotherapists, and psychologists to support children with disabilities to feel integrated and help get the best out of them. Our main goal with all these actions and special policies we followed was to make parents and society accept all children and change the overall feeling about having children with disabilities.

Challenges when starting school. We first wanted to move away from traditional education. Normally, education is all about books and memory, which just wouldn’t work in a school like the one we were building. Instead of the usual 7 to 4 normal school hours, we created a schedule that would suit the children better including regular breaks and outdoor activities. We wanted it to be truly international sealing off partnerships and collaboration with international schools all around the world. We really tried to make something different for the children so we could promote their true potential. And that means helping the children become their best selves.”

Special Olympics “I have been on the board of Special Olympics for almost 15 years now. I started as a volunteer and grew up on the ladder to become one of the board members. I haven’t seen a more professional organization than the Special Olympics in my entire life. Everything is well organized, structured and planned. It is an organization that has helped more than 5.6 million people with disabilities all over the world, and their families and given them purpose through sports events.

The Special Olympics have been very special for me and I have to thank my son for that. When people with children with disabilities, especially intellectual disabilities, come to me, I always say congratulations, because this child will never lie, will never be dishonest, will show unconditional love and respect and if they can connect with them, they will be truly happy and joyful.

The second thing I say is to stop mourning. I found that parents usually focus on the negative side as they blink, they have to follow rituals, etc but they also smile and laugh, they are trustworthy, etc. The third one is to teach them as much as they can to become the best person they can be. Cooking, finance, social skills, etc are good skills to start with and then adapt to their own pace.

I tell parents that it is a long journey, but parents need to find the strength to keep going and never give up because the children won’t. And most importantly, parents need to acknowledge that their children have a disability and need to accept that and normalize the situation. Hiding them, making them tabu or using euphemisms never help.”

COVID-19; “COVID-19 has promoted technology greatly. In education, for example, we use technology to keep the classes going and provide support to the children. However, I also think that technology can’t replace real-life experiences which is especially important for small children that are just discovering the world. They need to go out and live them firsthand for themselves.”