John Mason

Jonathan Anthony Mason (born 10 January 1945 in Dehradun, India) is an Indian educationist. He has served as the Headmaster of several major public schools, including St. James' School, Kolkata, the Modern High School in Dubai, and the Doon School. He also served as House Master at La Martiniere College, Kolkata before moving to St. James' School, Kolkata as its Principal.

Career

Although usually known as John Mason, his real name is Jonathan Anthony Mason. He was educated at La Martiniere, Calcutta, where he won the Good Conduct Medal, and Jadavpur University, where he graduated Master of Arts in English.

Mason has taught in and headed several schools during his career. These include his own old school, La Martiniere, St James' School, Kolkata, and the Varkey group of schools in the United Arab Emirates. In 1996, he took over from Shomie Das as headmaster of The Doon School, remaining there until May 2003, to be succeeded by Kanti Bajpai. Mason then returned to the Varkey Group and was managing a number of schools of the group in the UAE. He was also a member of the Standing Committee on Examinations of the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations,

Mason has now retired from his full-time teaching career and currently lives in Dehradun, where he is working on a village project near Meerut.

Publications

John Mason has written several English textbooks for Indian schools:

• Using Grammar Book 1 (1997)
• Using Grammar Book 2 (1997)
• Using Grammar Book 3 (1997)
• ISC English Practice Papers (2001)
• New! Learning To Communicate: An innovative multi-skill course in English (with co-authors Paul Gunashekar and S K Ram )