Page 62 - EducationWorld Aug 2020 Flipbuilder

People

and effect and visual understand- the SVKM JV Parekh International related fields. The idea is to ignite cu-
ing to primary school children, and School, Mumbai and a few other riosity and imagination of students,”
robotics, coding and programming, schools in the city as a pilot project. says Mathur.
sensors and actuators, physics, In 2017, he quit his job with the Future plans. Enthused by the
mechanics, electronics, mathemati- Shiamak Davar dance academy and encouraging response to Nasca’s
cal applications, Internet of things, formally promoted NASCA Llp with STEAM curriculum, Mathur has set a
artificial intelligence and design an investment of Rs.45 lakh from target of reaching 1 million students
thinking in higher classes. personal savings. by 2024. “We are planning to expand
Newspeg. Since the Covid-19 induced Under the NASCA business our footprint to 25 Indian cities and
national emergency lockdown in mid- model, partner schools pay Rs.4,500 foreign countries — UAE, South
March forced the closure of all educa- per student per year for installing Africa and South-east Asia — during
tion institutions across the country, specialised STEAM labs with trained the next two years with an investment
NASCA’s 60 subject experts have been faculty, teaching tools/equipment and of Rs.1.5 crore. Moreover, we plan to
conducting live online classes to main- curriculum. establish two 10,000 sq. ft Centres for
tain learning continuity of its STEAM Direct talk. “It’s highly satisfactory Innovation in Mumbai and Delhi to
programmes. that students exposed to STEAM develop STEAM product prototypes
History. A science and business man- education have shown better concep- and patent some of these technolo-
agement alum of Mumbai University tual understanding of their subjects. gies. We are also collaborating with
and IIM-Calcutta, Mathur acquired Their average performance in annual several state governments, local
two decades of work experience in and competitive exams has improved municipal corporations and NGOs
blue-chip corporates (Bennett Cole- remarkably compared to non-STEAM to launch subsidised or CSR-funded
man & Co, Goldshield Plc) before students. Moreover, exposure to STEAM programmes in municipal
he experienced an epiphany that school-level robotics, IoT, data sci- schools across the country,” says
transforming education was his “true ence and AI has also generated great Mathur, who is sailing smoothly full
calling”. In 2013, he introduced a self- curiosity within students making steam ahead!
designed Robowizards programme at them eager to explore careers in Akhila Damodaran (Bangalore)

62 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2020