Nonprofit ETS announced today the formation of ETS India, officially establishing an office in the country to grow the organization’s global footprint as it seeks to continue serving learners as part of their lifelong educational journeys. Lejo Sam Oommen, formerly of Pearson™, will lead ETS India as Managing Director. In this role, Oommen will develop and implement ETS’s overall growth strategy for its products and services in India.
ETS has long been committed to the Indian education community and establishing the ETS India office is a natural next step in supporting learners– both in-country and globally – as well as higher education institutions as they continue to attract diverse graduate students. The formation of ETS India will continue to strengthen the organization’s relationships with key partners in-country, providing both ETS and Indian businesses increased opportunities for collaboration and investment, including in and with schools, institutions, corporations, education agents, language trainers and study abroad advisors.
“ETS is strongly aligned with India’s bold and visionary approach to reforming, improving and broadening access to quality education for all Indians through the framework of the New Education Policy (NEP), and the increased opportunities it will make available to Indian students,” said Mohammad Kousha, Associate Vice President of Global Growth at ETS. “ETS’s mission-oriented approach of advancing quality and equity in education for all is consistent with this forward-thinking vision. We look forward to expanding learning opportunities in-country to the people of India and having Lejo on board will help us accomplish this.”
“I am pleased to be joining ETS and leading its India office and team at a time when the organization is undergoing significant transformation as we look to the future of serving learners worldwide with a particular focus on those in India,” said Oommen. “It is my intention to build on the already strong foundation that exists here in India, reinforcing the value of ETS’s existing products including the TOEFL® Family of Assessments, GRE® test and TOEIC® exam, as well as new learning tools and business opportunities.”
At Pearson, Oommen served as General Manager with oversight of the PTE®-Academic test and was credited for his contributions to the strong business performance of the organization, delivering significant results in growth, revenue, operational performance and profitability. Prior to Pearson, he held roles at organizations including Reliance Money, ICICI Bank amd Axis Bank. He is an alumnus of Bangalore University.
Despite impacts from COVID-19, ETS continued to focus on delivering research and assessment solutions that serve the needs and interests of Indian students and institutions so their education needs and requirements remained uninterrupted. This has been evidenced by announcements of the launch of at-home testing including the TOEFL iBT® Home Edition and the GRE® General Test at Home, as well as democratizing access to our tests by making provisions for use of the Aadhaar card as an alternative ID in India, and the launch of the TOEFL® Essentials™ test.
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