Page 57 - EW March 2021

preschool and primary Newspeg. At the height of the
school children in over Covid-19 pandemic last Septem-
100 tier II-III habita- ber, DPSSC started a legal literacy
tions countrywide. campaign in schools in Delhi NCR to
Newspeg. Last Sep- educate students, teachers, parents
tember (2020), Whiz and administrators about the protec-
Kidz Media received a tive and grievance redressal provi-
huge boost when it was sions of the Pocso Act.
awarded angel funding Direct talk. “Child safety and security
of $400,000 (Rs.2.9 is one of the biggest challenges of
crore) from Mumbai- our times. From sexual abuse to
based Lead Angels. physical violence and cyber bullying,
History. A maths and crimes against children are on the
business management rise worldwide. In 2012, the Union
alum of Delhi Universi- Agrawal: joyous English learning goal government took an important step
ty’s St. Stephen’s College forward to curb child abuse by enact-
and the blue-chip IIM-Bangalore, will impact 10 million pre-primary ing the Pocso Act. However, despite
Agrawal began his career in 2000 and primary school children country- the Act being in force for over eight
and acquired 15 years of work experi- wide,” predicts Agrawal. years, awareness about its provisions
ence with top-ranked corporates Wind beneath your wings! is very limited. The objective of The
(Asian Paints, Marico Industries, Paromita Sengupta (Bengaluru) Right Side Story and legacy literacy
Infosys, Google and YouTube), rising campaigns is to spread awareness
to leadership positions prior to quit- Child rights about the Act’s provisions and pro-
ting corporate life and going solo. In cesses,” says Agnihotri.
2015, he invested his savings of Rs.1 champion According to her, DPSSC has
crore to promote Whiz Kidz with the specially designed online train-
mission to teach English to socio-ec- ing modules to educate children,
onomically disadvantaged children. elhi-based SHIKHA AGNI parents, teachers and care-givers on
Direct talk. “I am a first generation HOTRI is state president of Pocso provisions. “While for adults,
learner and found English lan- Dthe Delhi Public Safety & the training modules provide infor-
guage very difficult to learn during Security Council (DPSSC) of the mation on ways and means to report
my formative years. Over time, I Women’s Indian Chamber of Com- crimes against children, for children
realised that working professionals merce & Industry (WICCI), a rep- we focus on sensitising them to good
from small towns suffered similar resentative organisation of women and bad touch, cyber bullying, social
experiences. Whiz Kidz Media was entrepreneurs and business leaders media and online sexual abuse,” she
promoted to gamify school learning countrywide. A seasoned travel
and provide regional preschool and professional, she is also promoter Agnihotri: Right Side story initiative
primary school children in small of Young Edsplorer Pvt. Ltd (YEPL,
towns joyous English language learn- estb.2015), an education consultancy
ing using their mother tongues,” says which works in partnership with
Agrawal. schools to provide experiential learn-
Business model. Subscription fee for ing programmes to their students.
the OckyPocky platform — Rs.4,000 Over the past five years, the firm has
per student per year. Subscribers are signed up 200 schools and provided
charged in the range of Rs.1,000- experiential learning to class III-XII
4,000 for access to the company’s children in the areas of STEM, arts
language-specific live online classes. and adventure.
Future plans. Encouraged by the In 2019, Agnihotri launched The
positive response of schools and Right Side Story, an initiative to
individual subscribers to OckyPocky, educate women and children about
Agrawal has ambitious expansion the Sexual Harassment of Women
plans. “By 2022, we want our online at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibi-
English learning classes to be sup- tion and Redressal) Act, 2013 and
ported by 12 vernacular languages. Protection of Children from Sexual
Over the next two years, OckyPocky Offences (Pocso) Act, 2012.

MARCH 2021 EDUCATIONWORLD 57