Dilip Thakore interviewed Ashish Rajpal the promoter-chairman and chief executive of iDiscoveri and affiliated companies, in Gurgaon. Excerpts:
Looking back over the past decade, how satisfied are you with the progress of iDiscoveri and its affiliated companies?
Very satisfied, for many reasons. We have been able to create iDiscoveri’s Xseed programme which substantially improves the quality of learning and teaching in primary classrooms. The programme has spread far and wide, to over 100,000 children in the smallest towns across the country. We have assembled a team of education professionals of outstanding quality and integrity. We have a successful leadership training practice and our outdoor programmes are still the most popular. Despite all this, we have just made a beginning and have a long way to go.
From summer camps for upscale schools the focus of iDiscoveri has shifted to primary education development in mid-market schools. what’s the explanation?
The desire to make a bigger impact upon segments of society that most need it. Quality school education for all is the most critical need of India’s children. In iDiscoveri we have built a team that has the drive, expertise, and experience to create the model class-room of tomorrow. It would have been unforgivable not to have put it to use towards a great cause.
Thus far iDiscoveri’s focus has been on primary education development in private schools. to what extent if any, are you engaged with government primaries?
While so far we have focussed on middle income private schools, we are also keen to work with government schools. We are working with government schools in Bhutan as the royal government showed great interest in Xseed. In India our involvement with government has been limited, but we hope that in the coming years it will deepen. I recently had the privilege of meeting our former President Dr. A.P.J. Kalam, and he urged us to start working with state governments across India.
Numerous studies indicate that while enrolment percentages in primary education are rising, learning outcomes in 1 million government primaries are abysmal. what’s your comment?
There has been a sharp increase in the number of private primary schools in small towns and even rural areas of India, during the past three decades. We estimate India has close to 300,000 private primary schools, if one includes all unrecognised and low income schools. The main reason for this phenomenon is dissatis-faction with government schools, where teachers don’t show up and English is not taught. Unless government schools have more respect for their customers, this trend is unlikely to reverse.
What are the medium and long term development plans of iDiscoveri?
iDiscoveri wants to take the Xseed study programme to all parts of the country and all types of schools — private, government, urban, rural, rich and poor. We hope to be teaching 1 million children the Xseed way in the next year or two. We will constantly improve our curriculum, integrate technology, reach children in higher grades, expand our pre-school-cum-centre model, and also develop the leadership skills of young adults. iDiscoveri is fully committed to quality education that unleashes the potential of every Indian mind.