Change Makers: Young Change Makers

When youth combines with a burning desire to change the existing systems and create a better, equal tomorrow for everyone, miracles do happen. Proof of this are the many young change makers from across the country who make up the six education start-ups under the EduMentum umbrella, supported by S D Shibulal, co-founder and former CEO of Infosys, and his wife, Kumari Shibulal, through their Advaith Foundation. Their enthusiasm is infectious, their can-do attitude inspiring and their intentions noble

The current Cohort '18 during the base camp in August 2018 with SD Shibulal, co-founder, Infosys & Permanent Trustee, Advaith Foundation; and Mr. Sanjay Purohit, Strategic Advisor, EduMentum & former executive vice president, Infosys

These young cohorts from Jamui, Munger, Fatehpur Sahib, Chennai, Hyderabad, Delhi and Sonipat, are working towards making education accessible and sustainable for the less privileged. Some of them are highly qualified, having studied at the best institutes in India and the world can offer, and have given up great careers to follow their passion in changing the world of Indian education. Truly inspiring, they are role models of a kind for today’s generation.

At the recent graduation ceremony of these six units held in Bengaluru, what was more than amply evident was their energy, enthusiasm, dedication to their work and creative solutions to problems they faced as they went about making education for the less privileged more accessible and sustainable. Each startup had used unique localized solutions to handle their problems. What was even more stirring was that many of the change makers held impressive educational qualifications, coming from IITs and other reputed institutions, and had even held dream careers, but they had changed tracks to work for the less privileged. Their passion for change is a ray of hope, and one feels reassured that education is in good hands.

Loop Education Foundation

Take for example Ashish Navalakha, who studied civil engineering at IIT, Kharagpur, and later worked at Oracle for a year. “Life was easy at Oracle. But I wanted to have my skills and talent to be used better,” says Navalakha. So he decided it was a good time to take a risk as his responsibilities were few and his parents were financially secure, later he quit Oracle to join Teach for India (TFI) through the fellowship in Hyderabad. “I taught school girls of grade III and IV, handling all subjects except languages,” he says. “Then I worked on a project with a social startup which worked with rag pickers. Following that, I was at Barefoot College in Rajasthan growing plants in a desert.” Next was working with the Malala project there, following which, he was part of a project on building low cost community toilets. “Realizing that my strongest connection was with education, I came back to Hyderabad to the school where I had taught first under TFI,” he adds. He soon co-founded Loop Education Foundation. It must have not been an easy journey, but today, his parents have accepted that he is happiest in the field of education, doing the work he is doing.

His co-founder, Vikrant Varun Patro, gave up working in the corporate sector after four years with ICICI Bank. He too found his true calling in education for the less privileged in 2012, when he taught as a TFI Fellow, and then stayed back working with a low-cost private school in Hyderabad. Says Vikrant, “I felt that something should be done for community schools and community teachers.” And now, there’s no looking back, despite societal pressures. “Working in schools seemed more important to me,” he adds, as he feels a sense of satisfaction that teaching can bring. Navalakha and Vikrant co-founded Loop Education Foundation in July 2016, along with two others.

Many of the change makers held impressive educational qualifications, coming from IITs and other reputed institutions, and had even held dream careers, but they had changed tracks to work for the less privileged. Their passion for change is a ray of hope, and one feels reassured that education is in good hands

Six organizations formed the Cohort Alpha of EduMentum in 2017 - Loop Education Foundation (Hyderabad), Sanjhi Sikhiya (Punjab), Vidhya Vidhai (Chennai), Simple Education Foundation (Delhi), Samarthya (Delhi) and i-Saksham (Jamui, Bihar)

Vidhya Vidhai

Meanwhile, in Chennai, there’s Ram Prakash Krishnan, who while in college, used his creativity to convert history books into comic strips. He studied engineering from Government College of Technology, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, and worked with the United Breweries Group (UB Group). However, his passion for education saw him switch to studying MA in Education at Azim Premji University. He then co-founded Vidhya Vidhai in Chennai along with Regila Marinus Dass.

Why did he make the switch from engineering to education? He says, “I realized that I had not learnt anything at school. I had only used the method of rote learning and used it throughout the 14 years of schooling. The textbooks taught me nothing. I hated science, but joined engineering. I did not join Arts because society looks down on people who join arts. But still I was not happy with engineering. Around the third year of engineering, I started teaching using dramatics and mime in a school. I began to make comics for history text books. After engineering, I joined the UB Group at Kolkata. But I felt I must follow my passion for teaching, and joined Azim Premji University for an MA in Education. That changed my world.” Today, his parents have accepted his career choices and he says his father has complete confidence in him and his work.

Regila came with a background in social work, having done her Bachelor of Social Work at Nirmala Niketan College of Social Work in Mumbai. “I always knew I wanted to work with children,” she says. Finally, she joined the course in MA in Education from Azim Premji University.

Simple Education Foundation

Another young team is Rahul Bhanot and Mainak Roy, who are now co-founders of Simple Education Foundation, Delhi. Both had enviable educational backgrounds. Rahul holds an MBA from the University of Nottingham, UK, followed by a master’s degree in Computer Science from Coventry University. He then became a TFI Fellow. Mainak, an engineer in electronics from SRM University and a TFI Fellow, is also an Acumen Fellow. But they took the road less travelled and made their foray into education. Today, they work in collaboration with a government school and manage it. Asked why he sought a career in the development sector, Mainak says, “Initially, I saw myself becoming a professor. After my engineering, I did not have the means to go in for higher studies. So I thought let me teach for a year, write a few papers and then try for a scholarship for my Master’s. I became a TFI Fellow. It was not a nine to five job, so it gave me the evenings free for research, etc. However, while I was teaching at the school in Delhi, one of my students Tabassum died of dengue. I myself had been treated for dengue and my father had me flown to Kolkata for treatment and I had recovered in a week. That was a shocker to me—that Tabassum had died for want of opportunity. And here I was who had believed that opportunity did exist, but it was your fault if you didn’t make use of it. That was when I realized that there were many children who had no access to opening. I wanted to change that and that’s why I decided to stay on in the field of education.” Rahul Bhanot was with him as a TFI Fellow and they started thinking about how the current education should be changed. In 2017, they operationalized Simple Education, using the holistic approach to education, taking all stakeholders like students, teachers, principals and the community into the big picture. “The idea is to partner with government schools in an immersive way and make it an excellent school,” he says.

Discussion with mentor Shashi Nair

Mentors of Cohort Alpha with Mr. SD Shibulal

I-saksham

In Bihar’s Naxal affected areas like Jamui and Munger, there is another cohort positively impacting children’s lives and giving the local youth a sense of purpose and direction in their lives through i-saksham. It comprises Shravan Kumar Jha, who is a graduate from Banaras Hindu University, and an MBA from Symbiosis International University, Pune. Shravan is also an Acumen Fellow. His like-minded co-founders are Ravi Dhanuka who is an MBA from Institute for Rural Management Anand, and Aditya Tyagi who has studied his Master of Computer Applications from Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Says Shravan, “We are PMRD (Prime Minister’s Rural Development) Fellows. We were working with the District Magistrate on facilitating MNREGA and its delivery, among other things.” Following that, they decided to work in the field of education as they had first-hand experience and understanding, starting with schools and then offering a twoyear fellowship program in leadership for the local youth. Hence, i-saksham was born.

Samartya

In yet another part of Delhi and in Sonipat, Haryana, the team of Samarthya is working on education using a different approach. The team members of Samarthya are enabling parents to be accountability and governance partners in government schools.

Like in other EduMentum cohorts, the co-founders of Samartya, Sidharth Chopra and Sahil Babbar come from well-qualified education backgrounds. Sahil Babbar got his MSc in Maths from BITS Pilani, Goa, and then went on to becoming a TFI Fellow. While teaching at a school in Delhi, Sahil realized the potential of the children studying there. He saw that all that the children needed was guidance and direction. And thus, Sahil and five co-founders started Samarthya in May 2017. Sidharth secured a B.Sc. from Punjab University, Chandigarh even as he managed an after-school program for children. Later, he became a Teach for India Fellow and taught school children for about two years.

Sanjhi Sikhiya

In Fatehpur Sahib in Punjab, seven young co-founders who wanted to bring the glory back to Punjab, set about establishing Sanjhi Sikhiya (meaning Collective Learning) in March 2017. The challenges, which this cohort faced were quite different from the others—Punjab had gradually changed: the per capita income was declining, farmer suicides were increasing, there was an exodus to Canada, New Zealand and Australia. And there was drug addiction. But the team was unfazed. “All seven co-founders had some background in education,” says Simranpreet Singh Oberoi, a Young India Fellow, working with Genpact CSR, who had run a school in Bihar. They decided the best way to handle the challenges were to work in education and they worked in schools in Fatehpur Sahib to offer children meaningful engagement and preserve Punjab’s talent. They also began a fellowship: Punjab Youth Leadership Program (PYLP). “Punjab needs youth role models,” says Simranpreet. PYLP trained them in leadership, fostering systemic education change through capacity building.

By Geetha Rao