Page 55 - EducationWorld June 2020

mentored by 183 teachers. of our pupils have computers and the post-Covid era
Internet connectivity, we are making • It should also carefully review the
Parikrma schools’ Covid-19 response. two children share a Smartphone relevance of our draconian examina-
PHF not only provides high-quality with a magnifying screen to at- tion systems and innovate better and
education to children from slum tend online classes every day in one more creative ways to assess chil-
habitations, we also look after their child’s home. Volunteer parents have dren’s learning
nutrition, health and family welfare. also been trained on how to manage
For us, it’s important to keep children. • We should migrate from industrial-
our schools running even during era curriculums to nature-based
holidays so our children don’t miss State governments’ fees waiver/defer- syllabuses and curriculums.
their meals — breakfast, lunch and ment circulars to private school manage- Future plans. We are seriously look-
evening protein drink with snacks ments. Parikrma schools provide ing at restructuring class sizes and
— and remain safe. Things changed totally free-of-charge education so period timings. The one lesson Co-
when the lockdown was imposed. these government circulars don’t im- vid-19 has taught us is that children
We began providing rations to our pact us at all. However, some private enjoy change and experimentation
children’s families and so far, we schools are running their schools and flow with it. We have witnessed
have distributed 7.5 lakh meals to as business organisations. This is a extraordinary creativity among our
our 1,500 families. good time for them to realign their children during these challenging
To continue the academic educa- thinking. A fair percentage of what days. They have made their own
tion of our children, we send lessons these managements earn through projectors for Smartphones that they
to them through WhatsApp and fees must be invested back into the are borrowing from their parents to
their parents bring their homework schools for proper salaries and train- attend the Parikrma Reach V schools
to school when they come to collect ing of their teachers, better equipped initiative. Secondly, we will continue
their weekly rations. We have also libraries, extra-curricular activities to invest in our teachers because
started our Reach V schools initia- and better technology. we now know that in emergency
tive for which our teachers have 3 proposals for reviving K-12 education. situations, they respond with great
been trained to run online classes alacrity and creativity if they really
from 8.15 a.m to 12.30 p.m through • Government must make blended care for their students.
learning normative in all schools in
Google Classroom. But as none
Divya Lal Simultaneously, we are intensively
Managing director, Fliplearn Education Pvt. Ltd training teachers to use our platform
while supporting parents through de-
A tailed manuals, videos and a dedicated
psychology graduate of Delhi Uni-
call centre.
versity, Divya Lal acquired two de-
cades of valuable work experience
in blue-chip edtech companies includ- Several state governments have issued fee
waiver/deferment circulars to private school
ing NIIT, Educomp Solutions and Ebix managements. What’s your comment?
Smartclass prior to her appointment as State governments are doing the best
managing director of Fliplearn Education they can to ease the economic pain of
Pvt. Ltd in 2019. This Delhi-based com- parents hit by the lockdown. However,
pany provides online learning solutions to this will adversely impact the ability
1,500 schools and 3.5 lakh students. of schools to pay teacher salaries. I
How has Fliplearn responded to the Covid-19 urge parents who can afford to pay, to
challenge? understand that schools and teachers
On March 24 when the government ordered closure of are working tirelessly to ensure learning continuity for
all education institutions, the schooling system in India children, and pay fees on time.
was disrupted overnight. Since then, edtech companies Top 3 proposals for reforming K-12 education in India...
have stepped forward with innovative solutions to en- We need a multi-pronged strategy to manage the
sure learning continuity. Fliplearn provides 68 schools Covid-19 crisis and build a resilient Indian education
with 79,683 students in 25 cities countrywide with system. Three areas which need immediate focus of the
virtual learning programmes integrating high quality Central and state governments are: make digital devices
content, assessment and feedback, live online classes available at discounted/reduced price for students and
and dashboards to track student performance. educators; declare Internet access an essential service
What challenges do you foresee in delivering quality online and rapidly make bandwidth available in rural areas;
education to all children in India? implement a ‘phygital’ education model to enable any-
The major challenges to delivering quality online educa- time anywhere learning.
tion are suboptimal Internet bandwidth, lack of access What are your future plans for Fliplearn?
to digital devices and untrained teachers. In Fliplearn, We are committed to providing affordable and person-
we are actively addressing these problems. The Fliplearn alised online learning solutions to schools and students
app optimises low bandwidth and is device agnostic. across the country.

JUNE 2020 EDUCATIONWORLD 55