AN ALUMNUS OF MODERN school, Delhi University, WLCI Business School, and CIMA, London, Rishi Khemka is chief executive and director of the Mumbai-based Ark Infosolutions Pvt. Ltd. He is also the promoter-CEO of Aditya Infotech Ltd (estb. 2001), a well-known name in the CCTV surveillance equipment, video graphics and software businesses.
Newspeg. Last December, Ark Infosolutions launched its creative education programme branded Mindbox for class VI-XI students at the Modern School, Barakhamba, New Delhi by organising a three-day Access Carnival in which more than 100 schools of Delhi NCR (national capital region) participated. The outcome of the carnival is that Ark Infosolutions will be sending three-four student teams to participate in the VEX Robotics World Championship to be held in Anaheim, California in April. This is the first time Indian students will be competing at the event, where top robotic teams from 24 countries will exhibit their models.
History. In 2012 Aditya Infotech promoted Ark Infosolutions, an education-focused subsidiary which signed a collaboration agreement with the US-based Autodesk Inc to jointly promote robotics education in schools. Currently the company’s Mindbox Education Programme offers project-based learning, workshops and regular weekly classes in eight disciplines — robotics, 3D animation, game development, digital videography, digital photography, digital painting, graphic design and computer-aided design.
An estimated 75-80 schools are expected to sign up for Mindbox programmes before the start of the next academic year (July/August). The company provides a dedicated trainer to tutor students, while the school and parents log in to monitor their progress online.
Direct talk. “Our modules are mapped with school curriculums making them exciting and more than fun. Students’ response has been enthusiastic,” says Khemka.
Future plans. Khemka is positive about the future of Ark Infosolutions. “School boards are introducing courses in design, animation and other domains in which we are market leaders, so we see more collaboration opportunities in the coming years in the K-12 segment. Moreover, we have started installing robotics labs for schools. In the higher education segment, we offer Edulyst — a learning programme — for all streams of engineering in the form of modules and projects. We see an exciting future for both our companies in the emerging new education environment,” says Khemka.
Wind in your sails!
Autar Nehru (Delhi)
Teacher training missionary
AN ALUMNA OF SEVERAL Army schools countrywide and a mechanical engineering graduate of SGSITS (Shri Govindram Seksaria Institute of Technology and Science), Indore after which she persevered to be awarded with an MBA in social entrepreneurship and finance by University of Oxford, Nikita Khosla (29) is the Delhi-based director of STIR Education, a non-profit engaged in empowering school teachers to lead change in their classrooms. Currently, she is focused on empowering teachers in affordable private, government and government-aided schools to improve student learning outcomes.
Newspeg. Since commencing its mission in 2012, STIR has trained 5,200 teachers in 1,300 schools countrywide. Its latest drive is a concerted effort to build a movement of teacher changemakers who develop innovative micro-solutions (‘micro-innovations’), implement effective practices, and influence peers and policy makers. These innovations — classified under five critical areas — are introduced to teacher networks that STIR and its partner NGOs are running. “The objective is to equip all teachers in the STIR network with 3Is — innovate new solutions to solve in-school problems; implement these solutions and best practices in classrooms and influence peers to adopt these teaching-learning innovations,” explains Khosla.
Background. STIR Education’s teacher development and empowerment initiative grew out of its founder, Sharath Jeevan’s growing concern about the “global learning crisis” which indicates that over 300 million children in developing countries are in schools, but not exhibiting grade-appropriate learning outcomes.
Direct talk. “For instance, the latest ASER (Annual Status of Education Report) 2013 indicates that over half of children in class V are unable to read and comprehend class II texts. STIR believes that teachers and principals are best-positioned to address this critical challenge,” says Khosla, who worked with the Parikrma Humanity Foundation and TechMahindra prior to signing up as director of STIR Education two years ago.
Future plans. Over the next three years, STIR aims to reach 30,000 teachers in India and East Africa through its partners, NGOs and governments. “This partnership model has enabled us to keep the training cost per teacher at $120 (Rs.7,200), and cost per child at $3 (Rs.180),” says Khosla.
Fair winds!
Arun Srivastav (Delhi)
Archie ambassador
NANCU SILBEKLEIT IS CO-CEO of Archie Comic Publications Inc. (ACP, estb. 1941), the globally reputed graphic comics publishing company which apart from comic strips, also markets mobile games and perfumes under the Archie brand. Silberkleit, who visited India last year, is on a worldwide mission to sensitise children to social and environmental issues.
Newspeg. In a recently launched signature project — based on Rwanda’s war on plastic bags —intended to bring social issues into the classroom, graphic artist Batton Lash has written/illustrated a new story titled ‘Getting Drastic with Plastic’ with the objective of generating global awareness about the perils of unabated use of plastic packaging. (http://www.comixology.com/Archie-Friends-Double-Digest-31/digital-comic/45740)
History. Silberkleit — a Boston College education graduate with 25 years teaching experience as an art educator — is the inheritor of a family business founded seven decades ago in New York by the Silberkleit and Goldwater families, who each had sons — Michael and Richard. Michael whom Nancy married passed away in 2008, and 50 percent of the shareholding of Archie Comic Publications devolved upon Nancy.
Unique selling proposition. Archie comics depict the lives of a group of American teenagers set in a typical American co-ed school in a fictional suburb named Riverdale. Apart from their beguiling graphics narrating humorous anecdotes around teenage issues such as crushes, dating and pairing, at a deeper level they provide sociologists and anthropologists with insights into the value-premises, ideals and aspirations of American youth while simultaneously promoting modernisation ideals such as gender equity and egalitarianism.
Direct talk. According to Silberkleit, over 1 million Archie comic books are sold in India annually. “Under the terms of our partnership agreement with Delhi-based Variety Books, Archie comics will soon be published in Hindi. Moreover, the launch of the Archie perfume collection by the Jodhpur-based York Perfumes (India) Pvt. Ltd is an indicator of how much our brand is loved here,” says Silberkleit, who is wholly unapologetic about promoting comic books frowned upon by most teachers and academics.“Contrary to popular belief, comics are educative. They build vocabulary, critical thinking and problem solving skills,” she adds.
Future plans. Encouraged by the enduring enthusiasm for Archie comics in India which hosts the world’s largest child and teenage population, Silberkleit is scouting for Indian partners who share her belief that Archie and friends have a future in Indian cinema, television and theatre. “ACP has embraced technology and the company is leveraging it to connect with readers anywhere anytime. Right now we are working on a project to skype into Indian classrooms to enable children to read the series online. In this connection, I invite India’s educators and school leaders to share their insights and suggestions (at accidentalboss@aol.com) to transform graphic narratives into a medium for educating children and illiterate adults,” says Silberkleit.
Way to go!
Paromita Sengupta (Bangalore)
Public speaking evangelist
A GEOGRAPHY AND JOURNALISM postgraduate of Osmania University who began his career as an advertising executive with Eenadu in 1987 and A & M magazine, D. Ramachandram is the promoter-director of Solus Media (estb. 1992), a pioneer proprietary media and public relations agency in Andhra Pradesh. Ramachandram is also the promoter-managing director of Media Junction (estb. 2004), a “finishing school” which provides counselling, communication and public speaking training to students, politicians, software professionals, advocates, and the public. 
Newspeg. On February 9, Media Junction crossed a major milestone with the certification of its 7,000th public speaking graduate. “Very few colleges, institutes or even B-schools provide formal public speaking training to students. This is a conspicuous lacuna of the education system,” says Ramachandram.
History. After a five-year stint in media marketing with the Eenadu Media group and A & M, Ramachandram promoted Solus Media 22 years ago offering press conference, product launch and events management services to the large number of companies which flocked to Hyderabad in the new millennium, and transformed the company into the city’s top PR firm.
In 2004, Ramachandram promoted Media Junction after he became aware of the inability of corporate managers at all levels to communicate their ideas to small and large groups “despite their subject expertise”. Since then, he has conducted over 170 four-day (Thursday-Sunday) workshops in Andhra Pradesh (fees: Rs.7,000 per participant), certifying 7,000 corporate and other professionals.
Direct talk. “The prime benefit of well-developed public speaking skills is self-confidence, which results in amazing transformation of individuals. In Media Junction workshops, we intensively train our students, encouraging them to speak on different subjects with confidence and appropriate body language. Stand up and speak out is the message I infuse in our students to enable them to transform into good leaders with effective communication skills,” says Ramachandram.
Future plans. A social activist who plans to start an online campaign to persuade the British government to return the famous 106 karat Kohinoor diamond “stolen from Andhra Pradesh”, Ramachandram laments the poor life skills of managers at all levels in India Inc.
“This lacuna can be easily remedied and to this end we have introduced training programmes in cross-cultural life skills development, and humour in business in addition to our public speaking course. India’s business professionals need to become excellent communicators if they want to succeed in the newly emergent global marketplace,” says Ramachandram.
Right on!
Aruna Ravikumar (Hyderabad)