Meraki Margdarshak

Thanks for your comment Sweta.

One of the key beneficiary of our program is the parent. Therefore, we have designed our approach based on the principles of Andragogy, also known as the Adult Learning Theory, developed by American educator Malcolm Knowles.

This theory is based on Knowles 5 assumptions of adult learners:
1. Self-Concept: As a person matures his/her self concept moves from one of being a dependent personality toward one of being a self-directed human being.
2. Adult Learner Experience: As a person matures he/she accumulates a growing reservoir of experience that becomes an increasing resource for learning.
3. Readiness to Learn: As a person matures his/her readiness to learn becomes oriented increasingly to the developmental tasks of his/her social roles.
4. Orientation to Learning: As a person matures his/her time perspective changes from one of postponed application of knowledge to immediacy of application. As a result his/her orientation toward learning shifts from one of subject- centeredness to one of problem centeredness.
5. Motivation to Learn: As a person matures the motivation to learn is internal.

Based on these 5 assumptions, the principles of Andragogy were developed. These are:
1. Adult learners need to involved in the planning and evaluation of their instruction.
2. Experience provides the basis for the learning activities.
3. Adult learning is problem centred rather than content oriented.
4. Adults are most interested in learning about something that will have an immediate result or impact on their job or personal life. 


Keeping in view the assumptions and principles of Andragogy, we have designed our approach:
1. Build on experience: Adults are a reservoir of experience, which is a tremendous resource for learning
2. Arrive on an understanding: We are not imparting knowledge, rather constructing it, together.
3. Parent as agent: Adults are self-directed humans, capable to reflection and action and motivated internally
4. Raise stakes: for ownership and responsibility, we cannot do what is their work
5. Task orientation is problem-centered not subject/content-centered



Technology:
As mentioned in our 5 year goals - Meraki's program (as of now) is designed to work for challenges of urban poor. Within that landscape, our technology is designed to work for everyone. We provide, both, an Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS)based solution for parents with feature phones as well as a chatbot solution for parents with smartphones. Thus ensuring that no parent is left behind.

Great thought Sweta.

The main target of the Margdarshak program is the primary caregiver of the child. We define a primary caregiver as someone who spends the maximum time with the child (has maximum access). In our target areas, this is usually the mother.

But the program design allows for different kinds of primary caregivers (varied by gender, age) to access the program. In fact, around 15% of program attendees are fathers. Rest 5 % constitutes grandparents and aunts.

Therefore, yes, the program design allows for inclusion of all types of primary caregivers (based on the structure of each family)

Absolutely Sweta - a child's first 1000 days provide a unique window of opportunity to build healthier and more prosperous futures. Meraki is committed to expanding its current Margdarshak program to parents of 0-2 year old children.

But here's why we haven't delved into 0-2 age group (so far) and have focussed our efforts on 2-6 age group instead:

Meraki's mission is to create an India of school ready children. In order to do that, our learning program targets parents who send their children to government institutions such as the anganwadis (pre-schools) and schools (nursery grade). Typically, children in these institutions (and at that stage) are in the same age group (2-6 year old). This approach has benefitted us in three ways:

1. It helps us leverage our team's collective experience of working with the 2-6 year age group, in the education sector for 15+ years
2. It helps us leverage our preexisting networks to build faster, stronger partnerships across education departments in the government
3. Given that our go-to-market strategy has been through government partnerships, it brings our customer acquisition cost down to negligible.

As we move forward, we are partnering with organisations with the right experience and domain knowledge in the 0-2 age group to extend our program as well as build our expertise. This step, we know, will go a long way in aiding our work towards an India of school ready children and one we are excited about taking.