School Governing Body

Ajay Rajendran joined PNCI in 2004, bringing with him a wealth of industry and leadership experience. In his capacity as Co-Chairman, Ajay has helped shape PNCI Group’s growth in the UAE, a key market for the company, including the diversification of the Group into educational services. He is known for incisive industry analysis and team-building skills.

Ajay is a gold medalist in Chemical Engineering from M.S University Baroda and holds a post-graduate degree in Business Administration from Jamnalal Baja Institute of Management Studies, University of Mumbai.

Bernard J. West has two decades of experience building investor-backed education businesses across developed and frontier markets in Asia, Africa and America. His work in the sector spans K-12 education, post-secondary training and online learning. Currently, he is an advisor to PNCI’s education business. Bernard served as the founding CEO of Tadrees Education Holding in KSA, a K-12 education platform sponsored by the Safanad and NCB. He grew the school platform to serve more than 12,000 students in less than 5 years. Bernard’s previous work includes managing and advising several leading education companies, school acquisitions and public/private partnerships. Bernard West is a graduate of Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and of Howard University.

Daniel Lewis joined NLCS International in December 2025 as Managing Director, bringing extensive experience in global school leadership and educational strategy. His connection to North London Collegiate School is long standing, reflecting a deep understanding of the ethos that defines the NLCS family.

Dan began his NLCS career in 2002 and was appointed Deputy Head at North London Collegiate School in 2010, overseeing the opening of NLCS Jeju. In 2016 he became the Founding Principal of NLCS Dubai, leading the establishment of the school and shaping its early culture of scholarship and ambition for every child.

He later broadened his international experience as CEO of RS Academics International and as Managing Director of Repton International Schools, where he guided growth and development across the global group of schools, including bringing UK schools into the Repton family.

Rohan Bhaskar leads the Investments and Strategy department for the growing education portfolio of PNCI Group. He has over 15 years of commercial experience, primarily in real estate and education, including acquisitions, development management, capital raising, fund management and financial operations.

Rohan has closed transactions both internationally and in the GCC region worth more than AED 3.7bn (including UAE, UK, US, Saudi, Qatar, Bahrain and Singapore). He has led several sale and leaseback funding transactions for K-12 schools in the region and has been involved in both debt and equity capital initiatives. Prior to PNCI, Rohan spent close to a decade in the region working at investment banking units in Qatar and Bahrain, and has also worked in India at PricewaterhouseCoopers and PepsiCo. Rohan holds a degree in Chemical Engineering from S.V. Regional Engineering College, Surat, and holds a post graduate diploma in management from the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow, he is also a Chartered Financial analyst (CFA).