Pandemic-proof pedagogy is need of the hour in current Covid crisis

Amid concerns that the third wave of Covid-19 may hit children hard, most of the parents are not willing to send their kids to schools though the governments of both Telugu States are mulling to reopen the schools post August 15. Online classes and mobile phone-based learning also proved to be futile in providing education to the children during the pandemic period. In such a scenario, a Chennai-based skill development company for children has successfully navigated this challenge by developing robust platforms and new technologies to engage the students. Dinesh Victor, Managing Director of SIP Academy India Pvt Ltd, in an exclusive interview with Bizz Buzz, elaborates on how their platform has significantly impacted the mental capability of children even during the pandemic times

How skill development programmes can stimulate academic learning among the students?

The answer steps from another question – what stimulated academic learning among students? We know in addition to a great teacher the key to stimulating learning is an ability to grasp concepts faster and self confidence in learning. Skill development programmes like the SIP Abacus programme support kids in improving their ability to concentrate better, enhancing their visual memory and arithmetic skills. Such programmes go a long way in helping the younger generation to stimulate their academic learning.

How has the pandemic Covid-19 changed the learning scenario in the country?

There are many reports which have shown that learning has been severely impacted by Covid 19. A study by Azimji Premji University says that the closure of schools for a long time during the pandemic has had negative impacts on children's learning. On an average, 92 per cent of children have lost at least one specific language ability from the previous year across all classes and 82 per cent of children have lost one mathematical ability. This is a very serious situation among students.

Do you think the shift to e-learning is better than classroom-based learning? What are the pros and cons?

In SIP Abacus, we find that online learning is almost as effective as classroom based learning. This is due to a much smaller teacher student ratio – 1:10 compared to a school. The benefits of online learning are obvious – no locational constraint, no need to travel regularly and learning can continue from the safety of the homes even during the pandemic. The biggest con that we feel is the lack of interaction with peers which is necessary for the well-rounded development of any child.

Can you compare the quality of education in India to that of other countries? According to you, what is missing in the current education system here?

In the skill development sector, particularly with abacus training and our art programme, our courses are both of international standards and are internationally accredited. The Globalart programme is run across many countries and the SIP Abacus programme by us is currently in 13 countries other than India.

So we are able to promise and deliver an international quality education to our students. Our students also prove the success to us through the many Alumni who have been placed in some of the top academic and industry institutions in India and across the world – like IIT, NIT, NID, NIFT, Chelsea College of Arts-England, Google USA, Sony Japan and many others. Our Alumni Bhanu Prakash known as the 'world's fastest human computer' became the first Asian to win gold at the Mental Calculation World Championship at the Mind Sports Olympiad (MSO) in London on Aug 15, 2020. He's also the first non-European winner in the event's 23-year history. Thus as far as our SIP Abacus and Globalart programmes and our students are concerned, we feel it is at par with international standards.

India's National Education Policy stressed on cultivating skills among students. What is your take on this? Do you have any suggestions?

This is the right approach and we fully support it. Especially the focus on foundational skills of literacy and numeracy in the primary level are key for lifelong learning. The National Education Policy gives great primacy to these key skills.

What is the scope of on-demand learning in India? Can you throw some light on its market size?

On-demand learning market in India is growing exponentially. Pre-Covid classroom learning necessitated physical presence for the student to access a certain class. But with online education and internet access, even rural India has access to the same course material and teachers as urban India.

In a way, it is a levelling of the playing field for the long existing divide between urban and rural India in the quality of classroom learning. We feel that this demand will only rise and not reduce. It is evident in the venture capital investments that are being attracted by edu-tech players and the investments they are in turn making in the market.

Currently, how many online players are there in teaching skill development for children? How SIP Academy became one of the trusted brands in India and abroad?

There are many players in the skill development space ranging from smaller centres which teach skills like music/dance to city level players, regional players and national players. SIP Academy has been in this space for over 18 years now. We have been able to build an enviable reputation thanks to the work of our teachers and support teams across 350 cities in India.

Around the world, we have launched SIP Abacus in 13 countries including during the challenging pandemic times. The success of our present students in their overall development and the success we see in our alumni are testament to our promise delivery. We do everything with the child in mind and as stated in our vision – with the aim to make a significant impact in the mental potential of children.

That single minded focus guides us to constantly improve our course content, teaching methods, our franchisee business partner interactions, our employee orientation and our actions as a company. It is this approach that helps us and results in us getting a large percentage of our new admissions through referrals.

In how many countries SIP Academy is operating at present? What are the further expansion plans?

We are currently present in 13 countries outside India. During the pandemic, the company signed up five countries – Bangladesh, New Zealand, Greece, Cyprus and Nepal. Our focus is to grow the business in these countries along with India. From the positive response we have seen, we are very keen to expand steadily in the coming years ahead.

Let us know about the overall number of students learning from your platform, along with the number of centres, trainers and franchisee partners. We have across all our platforms (SIP Abacus and Globalart) approximately over 78,000 students learning online. We are present in almost 900 centres and have over 4,000 trainers and over 850 franchisee partners across India. Some of them run two centres each. It has so far reached out to 9.5 lakh students in 23 States over a period of past 18 years.

What is the concept of MomPreneurs? How many MomPreneurs are with SIP Academy?

We have franchisee partners who had initially come to us as a parent and later become entrepreneurs by becoming our franchisees. Almost 90 per cent of our franchisees are women and mothers too! Till before the pandemic, all centres were based on classroom learning. Within two months of the pandemic, SIP Academy has decided to move to online classes.

The MomPreneurs were the brave ones who took up the challenge of that transformation. With no previous experience in running an online education business or online classes, they were enthusiastic and dedicated to learn new skills themselves which as a company SIP Academy imparted to them.

From using new technology, to course content changes, to training the 4,000 course instructors and delivering effective online learning, these MomPreneurs have proved to be as innovative and adaptive and up to facing a challenge, as would be expected of any entrepreneur in any industry especially in such trying times.Pandemic-proof