Under the new normal, schools have to integrate technology into every aspect of education, be it classroom or at home, says SUMEET MEHTA
How is the institute reshaping school education in India?
Our mission is to transform school education in India. We serve 2000-plus schools across 400-plus cities, and reache eight lakh-plus students and 10k plus teachers. As long as a school has teachers, students, a building and furniture, our integrated school system provides everything else — software, hardware curriculum, books, a school kit, and training sessions. Our uniquely designed ed-tech system covers the entire breadth of schooling, from pre-primary through Class X.
How are you different from other ed-tech players?
Most other institutions offer either piecemeal or peripheral digital solutions, whether it is in the area of higher education, tutorials or upskilling. We are addressing the challenges at the core education level and transforming conventional schooling in India with its tech integrated solutions. We replace the purely textbook-based listen and repeat system with multimodal learning. The institute also replaces twice a year assessments that used results to label children as 'good' or 'bad' with multiple assessments throughout the year with ample opportunity for remediation built into the timetable.
What is your vision for schools in India?
We want to transform the arc of education with superior technology solutions. The new normal driven by school ed-tech is an opportunity for schools everywhere to recoup learning loss, infuse digital technology into pedagogy, revise curricula to maximise high-quality learning and become innovative in how we teach students. Schools can and must - reimagine the classroom, transform schools into tech-based centers of excellence, make learning both engaging and exciting.
What is the on-ground reality of schools and what is needed?
The COVID-19 has impacted school education, especially the delivery of quality education as well as classroom-based teaching and learning. It has become one of the major concerns for parents. Over 130 million students who go to Government schools were deprived of any learning. At school learning is core to education and critical to impact learning outcomes of the 270 million students in the country. Schools must focus beyond academics in schools.
Will go back to their old ways once physical schooling starts completely?
While the learning losses across grades can’t be measured, it has allowed school owners, educators and teachers to transform education — not to the pre-COVID-19 days, but a post-pandemic new normal backed by a robust school ed-tech. Schools have to integrate technology into every aspect of education, whether in the classroom or at home and give the students the best of blended learning. In the new normal, schools will have to integrate technology not just with pedagogy and curricula but also routine administrative tasks, attendance management, extracurricular activities and PTA meetings.
What are the future plans?
We aspire to reach 26 million students and 60,000 schools by 2026. Second, we are looking to deliver teacher delight so that she has more time to teach. We will use AI and ML to automate homework checking which takes up 20 per cent of a teacher’s time. Finally, we want to enhance personalisation, both for the teacher to build her skill and for the student.