ConnectingTheDots, ReImagining Education

We live in a society that increasingly relies on Science and Technology to solve problems. That will require students equipped with problem solving and analytical thinking capabilities.

India’s is a highly exam-oriented education system relying on rote-learning. Students neither understand concepts nor develop problem solving skills.

We give high quality STEM and English education to rural schools. Our teaching aligns with the syllabus but combines experiments,  everyday experiences and engineering applications making STEM concepts easier. Quality, accessibility, equality and inclusivity are elements of our programs.

Using technology we reach students in remote areas. Our programs are integral part of the school’s timetable. Through lectures, tests, quizzes throughout the academic year we make a lasting impact on learning outcomes.

In 5 years we achieved measurable changes in learning outcomes of 100,000+ students from under-served communities.

This solution is globally relevant as societies increasingly depend on STEM to solve the world’s problems. 

In an increasingly complex world, it's more important than ever that youth are prepared to bring knowledge and skills to solve problems, make sense of information, use information to make decisions. Students develop these skills in STEM education. But the approach to these subjects in India, and in other countries, remains outdated, based on rote-learning and removed from the reality of a fast-changing world. Unless we enhance scientific temper and critical thinking skills, problems of the world will remain intractable.

250 million students in middle and high school in India – and for 65% of whom medium of instruction is not English - need to be taught to integrate STEM learning with everyday experiences and developments. India’s education system (syllabus , evaluation practices)  failed to keep pace with changes. National education policies recognize the problem and have guidelines and budgets to address this. But poor quality teachers, inadequate training and outdated practices ensure that traditional classroom teaching is woefully inadequate.

Every aspect of our lives changed dramatically in the last 25-30 years – except the experience of classroom education. This is the single biggest crisis facing us – because it's only through quality education can the world’s problems be mitigated.

We short-list and on-board schools into our program. School selection is based on “need-analysis”, often in backward educational districts.  Schools joining our program adopt our schedule. We become an integral part of their timetable.

We run live lectures by virtual-classroom technology in Science, Math, English for these schools through the year. These lectures are engaging, interactive and visually rich – including experiments, demonstrations, everyday experiences, computer simulations and practical applications.  Our holistic view of concepts connects them to the natural world, engineering applications, “what-if” questions and recent developments.

All students in the classroom participate in the learning process at a time. Infrastructure required in a classroom to attend our classes  is basic and affordable. We have a Learning Management System to organize academic operations.

The lectures are recorded and available to students for viewing later for revision. We also provide worksheets, online tests, preparatory exams.

Operational and academic performance data gathered for every student enable analysis and decision making. Our short-term outcomes on exam performance, longer term impact in terms of pursuit of higher education and choice of Science-based careers have been encouraging over the years.

Our technology enables us to reach thousands of students in remote locations all year.

India’s education system is the largest in the world with over 1.5 million schools and 300 million students. It has come a long way in terms of achieving expansion, inclusivity, equality and literacy levels since India’s independence.

But the system has been inadequate in terms of excellence and employability. “A staggering 80% of engineers in India are unemployable” was a headline in 2019. And there have been many such headlines over the years.

There have been numerous studies conducted on what ails India’s education. The points below represent our assessment of it.

Firstly, the syllabus has to change to present concepts in a holistic and integrated manner. Students can appreciate concepts better if they seem relevant to the real world. Instead, subjects are presented in a dull manner with stress only on rote learning. The syllabus also does not keep up with a rapidly changing world.

Secondly, the manner of evaluating students has to change to test creative problem solving, application knowledge and critical thinking. Instead, all exams merely test students’ ability to remember and reproduce information during exams.

The above issues are addressed to some extent by India’s policies. NCF of 2005 and NEP of 2020 go a long way in addressing these same issues. Implementation of the changes, however, fails because of the third issue – the quality of teachers. Teacher availability is poor in government schools in most states. Teaching is a profession that very few young professionals prefer –and, sadly, teaching does not attract the brightest minds in the country.

The most under-served students are those who are in small towns or rural areas, studying in government schools and in a non-English medium. Such students do not have access to good teaching or learning resources.

Our approach incorporates these main principles – Quality, Access, Equality and Inclusivity.  We want to provide high quality education by integrating concepts with the real-world. Our style of teaching, practice and evaluation are designed to present concepts in simple manner, enhance  critical thinking and problems solving. Most importantly, it reduces the fear many students have about Science and Math. We also conduct teacher training programs every year to make our impact sustainable.

 Many of our beneficiaries are first-generation learners. This opportunity to get quality education presents an opportunity for economic upliftment.  

Access is provided by eliminating the three barriers that exist – distance, language and cost. Distance is addressed by use of technology – that allows us to engage students in the most remote of locations through the year. Language barrier is addressed by delivering our high quality content in the local languages. Cost is kept to very low levels to make the program accessible to all students.

Our style of teaching, practice and evaluation strike a balance between aligning with some aspects of the existing system (syllabus, academic calendar) while making innovations in many aspects (pedagogy, student engagement, evaluation practices). This has delivered consistently good results in the last 4 years.

Our  teaching practices need to adapt and evolve to prepare students for a fast changing future. For this we:

• a)Teach students through the year, present concepts with practical applications. This enhances conceptual clarity and problem solving skills - covering all students in a school
• b)Train teachers to adapt to a holistic teaching methodology that increases real-life integration of concepts
• c)Give students access to recorded lectures, worksheets, quizzes, tests
• d) Provide Science kits to schools for hands-on experiments
• e) Inter-school quizzes to promote competitive thinking

All of these are delivered for students in remote locations (using technology) cutting across language barriers.

Our organisation started teaching through virtual classrooms in 2016. Our programs have benefited about 100,000 students between grades 6 through 12. We have delivered training programs for 4000 teachers.

What we have improved and refined over the years are:

• a)unique methodology for Science and Math and content – including demonstrations, experiments, simulations
• b)Student engagement, monitoring, evaluation practices in online programs
• c)Maturity in field operations in certain regions
• d)Robust, scalable technology stack

For  a bigger impact we need to go beyond our current geographies with:

• a)Local language capabilities and content in other regions
• b)Capacity for field operations
• c)Business development and partnerships in new regions

We plan to extend our services to the Hindi-belt of India – which with potential to benefit over 25 million students in Hindi medium between grades 6-12. Our plan in 2-3 years is to go other developing nations with our services. 

We address five requirements: Quality, Accessibility, Inclusivity, Intensity, Sustainability – making us innovative and different from other education service providers.

Quality:

Our live lectures include experiments, simulations, everyday experiences, natural phenomena, engineering applications. This enhances conceptual clarity, application oriented thinking and problem solving abilities. Our integrated approach (where Physics, Math etc are not unrelated subjects but interconnected topics) is unique.

Accessibility , Inclusivity:

Using technology we reach students in remote locations in government or budget-private schools in semi-urban, rural areas. By serving schools directly, during school hours, we ensure every student in the school benefits. It is not limited to a few with smartdevices and internet access at home.

Technology keeps costs affordable. Our services overcome  language, distance and money barriers .

Intensity:

We deliver live lectures everyday of the year. Students interact with our world class teachers in our team, learn from us, and often regard us as role models. This is likely to create lasting impact.

Our interactive lectures engage students with questions, discussions and competitions.

Lectures combined with our worksheets, quizzes, online tests, exam preparation sessions and personalized progress reports provide the necessary intensity.

 Sustainability:

We conduct teacher training every year. Training includes holistic approaches to teaching, use of technology and progressive evaluation methods. Elevating teacher quality is important for sustainability.

We focus on short term as well as longer term learning outcomes for students. Our approach emphasizes conceptual understanding and analytical thinking – and this ensures that benefits of our program are realized beyond schooling years.

CTD’s services have been delivered online since 2015. Since then it has benefitted over 102,000 students and 4000 teachers.

Most programs are intense and run through the year. We have delivered about 9 million student-hours of classes since 2015.

In the current academic year our solution will benefit 24,000 students and 600 teachers. Next year we estimate the numbers to be 40,000 students and 900 teachers.

In the next 5 years we expect to have made a lasting impact on a total of 1.6 - 2 million students

CTD’s mid-term and long term impact goals align to several of indicators associated with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The main ones are:

Goal 4: Quality Education

Goal 5: Gender Equality

Goal 10: Reduced inequalities

Goal 17: Partnership for the goals

We measure progress in a variety of ways.

• Number of Science, Math and English classes conducted for each students
• Performance in regular tests to the students
• Number of special sessions like Science projects, quiz competitions and career counselling sessions.
• No of teachers trained and their performance in training.
• Application of learnings by teachers form their training and its impact on student learning
• Performance of students in public exams and competitive exams for professional courses
• Number of students securing seats in professional courses
• Number of students qualifying for merit cum means scholarships
• Number of students who choose the Science stream
• Number of girl students enrolling for Science and professional courses
•  Number of vernacular languages in which coaching is imparted
• Demographic coverage of students
• Coverage of students from socio-economically challenged backgrounds
• Number of government schools partnered with
• Number of individuals and social and government organisations partnered with 

We have 38 people working with us. 31 are full time employees. The other 7 are on contracts.

Of the 38 people, 28 are related to teaching, content creation. Others work to manage,  monitor and evaluate.

There is also a 4 member advisory council that guides the organisation.

The team comprises 4 main areas of expertise.

Firstly, academic knowledge and experience. This team has knowledge of syllabi, subject matter, exam patterns and policies. We look for teachers and engineers with knowledge, passion, communication skills and creativity to teach innovatively. We prefer those with bilingual skills to overcome language barriers. Our recruitment standards are stringent. Over the years we have interviewed hundreds of teachers – and selected one-in-fifty candidates. Once inside the organisation, they receive training in technology and methodology aspects. We also invest in continuous training and development.

Secondly, project coordinators who engage with customers, schools and students to plan, implement, monitor and evaluate. These people have years of experience dealing with rural / semi-urban schools, government officials and other stake holders. They are responsible for field operations.

The project coordinators act as eyes and ears of the organisation – bringing a deep understanding of the social milieu in which we operate into the organisation.

Thirdly, the management team responsible for running of the organisation. This consists of a small team with over 85 years of professional experience between them in the global technology and education industries. They ensure that organisation is aligned to the vision  and mission. This team also represents the organisation in all external engagements and partnerships.

Fourthly, the advisory council consisting of veterans in teaching and education policy guide the organisation establishing  priorities and course corrections. We also collaborate with senior academicians with vast international experience to bring good practices from other countries.

Our team has to have the expertise required to deliver the impact and scale. With this objective, we have team members from diverse backgrounds and regions.

The founders and management team consist of people with decades of professional experience in the technology industry. This experience has taught lessons on organisation building, people skills and value of transparency and ethics in professional lives.

 Our academic team includes teachers and engineers from different backgrounds. Some educated in the best institutions in the world and with a global perspective, others who have spent their formative years in government schools in small towns. This diversity brings the range of expertise and degree of compassion necessary in the team.

Our field coordinators, many of whom studied in budget schools in small towns, bring a deep understanding of the social context in which we operate.

Business development personnel have experience working with schools, colleges and administrators in their respective regions. In the recent past we have started engaging with partners other countries where the needs are similar to India’s – like Saudi Arabia and Qatar. This model will be extended to other developing countries in the region.

Despite the diversity in our backgrounds we are united in the cause that we stand for. We want to bring about change in the learning outcomes of 2 million underserved students by 2025. Our programs cut across religions, gender, states and languages. It offers quality education to underserved students – and creates a strong platform for higher education and scholarships.

Our organisation is at a point where we have amply demonstrated the efficacy of our approach. This has also benefited students and teachers in several states of India. We are at a stage where our services have to be offered in other regions. There is potential to expand in different ways:

• a)Expand in newer regions/countries
• b)Develop content in other languages (Hindi, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil will cover an additional 40 million students in 4 countries)
• c)Work with the administration, where possible, to refine teaching and evaluation practices to better implement national education policies
• d)Work with teachers in their developmental stage and make a measurable change in their abilities. This is one important way to create sustainable change

For these goals to be pursued we need funds and a network of influencers and change-makers. It is for these reasons that we apply to MIT Solve.

We expect to benefit from ideas, suggestions and mentoring from members of MIT and Solve networks. The potential for exposure at media events and platforms is immense. This exposure can greatly benefit a social enterprise such as ours. The funding opportunities will help fuel our expansion.

Apart from receiving benefits from MIT Solve, we also believe we have much to contribute to MIT Solve from our expertise, experience and good-will gathered so far. 

As has been described in previous questions, we are at a stage where we have a tested and proven solution, a demonstrated record of bringing measurable changes in learning outcomes and the ability to scale with our processes, talent and technology.

Our expansion plans include newer regions and languages. We also count on teacher training to bring about sustainable change.

These plans require access to capital to invest in talent, digital infrastructure and business development.  We also need to bring about a considerable change in the perception of administrators and decision makers about education. Most of them have outdated views on teaching and evaluation practices. We will also need the marketing and business development to reach new beneficiaries.

We would like our partnerships to help us in the critical factors that enable our growth.

We seek to raise investments from institutional investors in social enterprises. Organisations like MSDF (Michael Susan Dell Foundation), Unitus, Gray Matters Capital, Elevar Equity are likely partners. Their participation will be in the form of “patient equity”.

School associations like Karnataka Unaided School Management Association are good partners to deliver messages about services to several schools at once.  There are numerous such associations in India – and in other developing countries. These are good avenues to spread our message.

Change is hard to bring about – especially in education. Most aspects of our lives have changed dramatically in the last 40 years. But very little has changed in that time in the syllabus, teaching techniques and evaluation practices. We need to partner with change-makers and policy makers  to make change acceptable and institutionalise change. This is possible through  collaboration with policy makers and academic leaders in different progressive and developing countries.

Collaboration with MIT Solve faculty is critical to get different perspectives on scaling and related challenges, specific approaches in different countries, good practices in fund raising  and exposure on a bigger scale.

We are an organisation that has worked since 2013 to improve STEM learning outcomes in the most backward and underserved communities in India. Our approach has short-term goals and longer term goals of making students better informed, with a scientific temper and improved problem solving skills.

Our approach incorporates 4 key elements - quality, sustainability, inclusivity and intensity. These elements are essential to making lasting change on students. We want to change the lives of 2 million students in 5 years.

Technology is an enabler in our solution. We have put existing technology to innovative use. This allows us to create an interactive, visually rich learning experience for students. It also allows ample opportunity for practice and rigor.

Our programs have consistently delivered positive student results in STEM related subjects. The performance of our students in public board exams in Physics, Chemistry, Math and Biology are measurably higher than other schools in the district. We are transforming the country one classroom at a time. 

The prize money will be dedicated to transforming 20 select schools from one of the most backward districts in the state in the next 3 years.

We are an organisation that has worked since 2013 to improve STEM learning outcomes in the most backward and underserved communities in India. Our approach has short-term goals and longer term goals of making students better informed, with a scientific temper and improved problem solving skills.

Our approach incorporates 4 key elements - quality, sustainability, inclusivity and intensity. These elements are essential to making lasting change on students. We want to change the lives of 2 million students in 5 years.

Girls have been historically at a disadvantage in education. In the last 50 years girls have had lower school enrollment, higher dropouts, fewer enrollments in higher education and lower literacy levels compared to boys. 

 Many of our girl-beneficiaries are first-generation learners. This opportunity to get quality education presents an opportunity for economic upliftment.

Even though much has been done by government and non-government agencies to correct this situation, there is a lot more to be done.

The prize money will be dedicated to transforming 10 select girls-only schools from one of the most backward districts in the state in the next 3 years.

We will also partner with an NGO that provides merit-cum-means scholarships and make scholarships possible for girls pursuing higher education.

Hear from some girls who benefited from our programs:

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We are an organisation that has worked since 2013 to improve STEM learning outcomes in the most backward and underserved communities in India. Our approach has short-term goals and longer term goals of making students better informed, with a scientific temper and improved problem solving skills.

Our approach incorporates 4 key elements - quality, sustainability, inclusivity and intensity. These elements are essential to making lasting change on students. We want to change the lives of 2 million students in 5 years.

Technology is an enabler in our solution. We have put existing technology to innovative use. This allows us to create an interactive, visually rich learning experience for students. It also allows ample opportunity for practice and rigor.

Our programs have consistently delivered positive student results in STEM related subjects. The performance of our students in public board exams in Physics, Chemistry, Math and Biology are measurably higher than other schools in the district. We are transforming the country one classroom at a time. 

The prize money will be dedicated to transforming 20 select schools from one of the most backward districts in the state in the next 3 years.