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problem solving, logical thinking, Education and
and a host of other soft and hard adapted to include
skills,” says Singh. local history, art
“To raise awareness among job and traditions, is
seekers, education institutions, delivered by teach-
industry associations, employers and ers through music,
policy makers about the specific skill painting, sculpture,
requirements across industry sectors dance, and theatre
and provide a data-driven analysis media. Children
of India’s workforce, we also publish are encouraged to
an annual India Skills Report in col- learn by doing, ask
laboration with All India Council for questions and are
Technical Education (AICTE), Asso- assessed informally.
ciation of Indian Universities (AIU), Our objective is to
PeopleStrong HR, Taggd, Google, nurture self-learn-
State Skill Development missions, ers with indepen-
and Sector Skill Councils,” he adds. Tanmay Mondal: Tagore-Montessori inspiration dent thinking and
Future plans. Following its recent problem solving
acquisition by ETS, Wheebox plans Newspeg. Kolotan is all set to add skills,” says Tanmay.
to enter the US recruitment market an upper primary school from the The trust (annual budget: Rs.23
to enable large and medium-scale new academic year beginning June lakh) incurs an expense of Rs.2,200
enterprise customers to acquire and affiliate the school with the West per student per month with parents
high quality talent. “We also plan Bengal Board of Secondary Educa- paying Rs.500 as tuition fees in addi-
to partner with higher education tion. tion to an admission fee of Rs.7,000.
institutions and edtech companies History. Dismayed with the rote- “We are aware that even a Rs.500
to deliver remote proctoring services centric, poor quality school educa- tuition fee is difficult for parents in
and introduce our standardised tion provided in rural government this desperately backward and poor
tests — Compass 8PF, Insight 360 schools in 2018, this group of six area. But we believe every parent
(aptitude test) — in the US market,” university graduates promoted a should pay towards their children’s
says Singh. primary school with 32 students and education, according to their capabil-
Testing times ahead! 11 teachers in two rented apartments ity. Parents incapable of paying fees,
Paromita Sengupta (Bengaluru) in Santhospur-Mirhati with an initial contribute artisanal skills to Suman-
donation of Rs.5 lakh from Tapas gali, the handicrafts and artisans
Determined idealists Mondal. emancipation project of Kolotan,”
says Tanmay.
“The primary objective of Kolotan
is to provide interactive, experiential Future plans. With parental demand
ANMAY MONDAL is trustee school education based on the phi- for admission rising, Kolotan is look-
of Kolotan (‘song of birds’), losophy of Rabindranath Tagore and ing to adding labs facilities and ad-
Ta North 24 Parganas-based Maria Montessori in rural Bengal. ditional classes. “A local farmer has
trust which runs an English/Bengali- Simultaneously, we intend to spread donated 3,600 sq. ft of land to the
medium nursery-class V low-fees environmental awareness, preserve trust. Soon we will launch a dona-
private school for 81 first generation indigenous culture, and conduct em- tion drive to raise funds to construct
learners, including 25 girl children ployment-oriented skill development a building using locally-sourced
from poor households. Promoted in programmes,” says Tanmay, a politi- natural material. We are fortunate
2018 by a group of young education cal science and education graduate to have a team of deeply commit-
enthusiasts — Tapas Mondal of West Bengal State University and ted founders, patrons and teachers
(president), Sujoy Sarkar (secretary), West Bengal University of Teachers’ who share a commitment to provide
Tanmay Mondal (trustee), Sairul Training, Education Planning and rural children high-quality education
Molla (trustee), Pratick Das (trustee) Administration. and equip them with the skills and
and Bivas Mondal (trustee) — Direct talk. According to Tanmay, capabilities to establish small-scale
Kolotan also conducts environment the distinguishing feature of Kolo- food processing units to improve
awareness and skill development tan is that all teaching-learning is farm productivity. That’s the formula
programmes for youth in the under- experiential and activity-based. “The for increasing the prosperity of rural
developed Santhospur-Mirhati curriculum, based on the National India,” says Tanmay.
village, 31.5 km from Kolkata. Curriculum Framework for School Baishali Mukherjee (Kolkata)

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