Scoonews-March 2017-Digital Edition by ScooNews

Volume 1

Issue 8

Children must be taught how to think, not what to think

March 2017 IGNITING MINDS

Margaret Mead

STRAIGHT

TALK Not policies, EdStartups can transform Indian education! Dr Sanjay Parva

PRINTED AND PUBLISHED by Ravi Santlani on behalf of EduPulse Media Pvt. Ltd

Editor Dr Sanjay Parva Assistant Editor Anjana Deepak Reporter Ashima Sharma, Anuj Kr. Website Team Vaibhav Ramchandani, Pranav Sharma, Ojas Godatwar, Gaurang Mandhana Art Direction Rexsu Cherry Design CP Sharma Editorial Advisor Shobhita Rajgopal, Meenakshi Uberoi, Neeta Bali Pics Pressfoto - Freepik, Shutterstock

Founder & CEO - Ravi Santlani Vice President - Operations Vinay K Singh Vice President - PR - Vanya Bhandari Manager-Sales & Marketing - Virendra Kashyap Asst. Manager Business Development - Abhishek Tomar Asst Manager - Back Office Jaspreet Kaur

EDITORIAL OFFICE EduPulse Media Pvt Ltd, J-3, Jhalana Institutional Area, Second Floor, Jaipur 302004 India Email: editor@scoonews.com FOR ALL SALES QUERIES Virendra Kashyap +91-9953219439 Abhishek Tomar +91-9811756705 sales@scoonews.com FOR SUBSCRIPTION +91-9784447860 subscribe@scoonews.com PRINTED AT Navpack & Print, Dainik Navajyoti Building, Amrapali Circle, Vaishali Nagar, Jaipur 302021 India, www.navpacknprint.com and PUBLISHED AT EduPulse Media Pvt Ltd, J-3, Jhalana Institutional Area, Second Floor, Jaipur 302004 India Published for the month of March 2017 Total number of pages 140, including Covers

e are so conditioned to a policy mindset that we feel not much can change without having a policy revamped or a new one introduced. Policies take time to be formulated and once done; they are often fraught with flaws. It is because policies are formulated not keeping a crisis in mind, but formulated as a matter of routine once every few years. As a result of this, when policies hit the floor most of the issues identified during the initiation stage have either already undergone a transformation or evolved into new issues altogether. This impacts the implementation badly and outcome severely. Agree or not, most of the policy decisions on the Indian education sector have so far boomeranged. Agree or not again, our education sector is a dynamically changing one, even though we fail to realise it. It derives its dynamism from its cramped and grossly uneven structure. For example, 40 students in a class and 4000 in a public school, not as many in government schools, disparity between the two, and an education board that acts like a whip than a thoughtful regulator. To give you an example of the uneven structure, take the disparity between public and government schools. Where on one hand there are 40 students to a class and 4000 in a public school, there aren’t as many in government schools. Top it all with an education board that acts like a whip than a thoughtful regulator. The result is chaos and no policy has ever been formulated to address this chaos. Day in and day out this chaos increases. Part of this chaos and mismanagement is what many education startups, or EdStartups, want to address. These startups identify problems and provide solutions which, if implemented by educational institutions, have tremendous transformational potential. The best part of such startups is that they are founded by people who are either highly qualified from prestigious global universities or have been in the thick of this chaos themselves. Their frustrating experience has driven them to begin afresh and take the pain points in education sector head on. It is these people whom school heads in particular and education thought leaders in general come across, but often avoid lending a logical ear. As educators, you must have interacted with one or many of these edtech entrepreneurs where they might have rightly pointed out the problems that you are facing in day-to-day functioning of the schools; you must have also heard them telling you confidently about how quickly they can help you and how they can align your teachers with the curriculum in hand. The argument may have been further cemented with the testimonial that the same idea or technology has transformed the education system elsewhere in the world – but, still, you must only have heard them quickly and not shown further interest. Education startups seeking appointments of school heads are a very important breed of people, and somewhat eccentric too – eccentric because some of them give up their personal fortunes, wonderful jobs and quality overseas placements simply because they want to add value to the system in which the first seed of their lives was sown. The straight talk is that only hearing them is not enough; seeing their vision through is.

FIND US ON

March 2017

CONTENTS

22 COVER

50 EdStartups that will redefine the education system There aren't as many ranks as there are rankings now; an oft-repeated exercise that often leaves stakeholders bewildered and confused â&#x20AC;&#x201C; intentionally or unintentionally, that is...

18 INSPIRATION : The Man Under The Bridge

MUSINGS : Twist in education Shikshantar

A resource centre that encourages to follow your heart and learn what you love by choosing your own teachers and that learning comes from making mistakes.

84 TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

Technology Meets Reality With Augmented Reality, users are able to interact with virtual contents in the real world, and are able to distinguish between the two. Go nowhere, and be transported anywhere. What a wonderful proposition to work with. PROFILE : A DIFFERENT THOUGHT (Billionaire with a Difference)

PRINCIPALS ON BOARD Dear principals, your views matter to us. Do write in. Is holiday homework necessary for students? In what ways can children be engaged during the summer vacation? How do you think children should spend their holidays? Principals can send 150-200 word responses to editor@scoonews.com, along with their photographs. They should also mention their name, school, address and contact details.

March 2017

YOURS TRULY EXTENSIVE COVER

SCHOOL PROBLEMS

Can’t believe transition could be so rapid. I have been following your magazine since the last four issues and your last month’s cover story on EdTech’s in education could blow anyone off his feet. It seems you have brought in the who’s who of this segment under one roof. As I read through the story, it appeared that you attempted to put together many pieces of the jigsaw. Kudos to you. Being an educationist, I can understand the value of such inputs. Mohanta Mohapatra, Orissa

Schools have become a mad race for earning money rather than providing education and willingly or unwillingly schools heads become partners to this race. Parents are at the receiving end and end up doing what they are told. Parents have their own compulsions and school heads their own; primarily that of securing their positions. There are many vices that start from the school itself and no one dares to speak because of being less empowered. You have created a unbiased plat-

form and parents must be having a lot of expectations from you. They need to be provided a voice and no one can do it better than you. Best. Pushpa Pandey, UP

SONAM WANGCHUK I was happy to see your cover story on Sonam Wangchuk. That man with many feathers in his cap so well-deserves it. He has done proud to our state and I am sure there must be many more like him in other states who deserve a mention too. Request you to identify more such people who are on a quest to add value to the societies in which they live and highlight their achievements. Avtar Krishan Raina, Jammu

INTERNET OF THINGS Your IoT in education story has come in at the right time. India is now acquainted with internet far and wide but many are yet to understand the wonders Internet of Things is capable of doing. We being in a nondescript village school in remote Kerala were encouraged to organise a talk on IoT – an inspiration drawn from the story that you carried. Great service. Amon Joseph, Kerala

CBSE VS. ICSE I request you to carry a story about which board is good CBSE or ICSE. And why? Parents are often confronted with such dilemmas before making admission decisions. Such information is lacking in school system and School heads normally vouch for the board that they are themselves affiliated with. Anjali Shahane, Maharashtra

Editor: Anjali Shahane, we will be carrying this story in May issue. We also encourage parents, students, teachers and school heads to write to us at editor@scoonews.com and suggest stories that they would like to read. TALK TO US

SEND AN EMAIL: yourstruly@scoonews.com Please do not send attachments

SEND A LETTER: Letters to the Editor must include writer’s full name, address and home telephone, may be edited for purposes of clarity or space, and should be addressed to the nearest office:

JAIPUR: EduPulse Media Pvt Ltd, J-3, Jhalana Institutional Area, Second Floor Jaipur 302004 India

Please recycle this magazine and remove inserts and samples before recycling

March 2017

TRENDING House of Commons Award To Jaipur's MSMS School

House of Commons, UK, has conferred Great Place to Study award to Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Vidyalaya of Jaipur. The award was received by Ms Krishna Bhati, principal of the school, from the hands of Chairperson of Lords European External Affairs Committee and Member of Lords EU Select Committee in the last

Quality of primary public education deteriorating: HRD Minister

week of previous month. "Maharaja Sawai Man Singh Vidyalaya, Jaipur is the only school from Rajasthan along with Scindia School, Gwalior and Lovedale School, Ooty , who were awarded as legacy institutions as Great Place to Study", said Niranjan Singh, the school's administrative officer.

Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar during a recent event talked about the problems faced, reforms and solutions the education sector needs today. A few of the important points covered in his interaction were improving the connect between students and teachers, alignment of textbooks, frameworks and policies to learning outcomes, pedagogy, methodology and verification of data. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The quality of primary public education is deteriorating. People are forgetting that scientists, entrepreneurs and politicians today have all attended local schools in zila parishads. 100 per cent Right To Education is a must,â&#x20AC;? he said.

March 2017

Great Place to Study Certification is a badge of honour, earned by an institution, which has global standards and shows strong focus on managing high level student satisfaction practices in the area of learning experience, learning objective, learning outcome, life on campus and happiness quotient of students.

15-year-old Lakshya Sen attains no. 1 spot in BWF junior rankings 15-year-old Indian shuttler Lakshya Sen has overcome all the odds to claim the numero uno spot in the Junior BWF rankings. Lakshya, who is considered as one of the brightest prospects in the Indian badminton circuit, moved ahead of Chia Hao Lee of the Chinese Taipei, to attain the World no. 1 ranking. Indian badminton legend Prakash Padukone believes that Sen is better at badminton than what he was in his childhood days.

Pixar offers free online lessons in storytelling through Khan Academy Pixar, the Disney-owned animation studio is known for its ability to consistently create world-class movies with gripping storytelling alongside stunning visuals. Now, Pixar in partnership with online education provider Khan Academy will help others learn the secrets of great storytelling for free. They have created “Pixar In A Box,” and lessons are sourced from Pixar directors and story artists including Inside Out and Up director Pete Docter, Brave director Mark Andrews, Inside Out story artist Domee Shi, and Ratatouille animator Sanjay Patel. The first lesson is available now, and will introduce the learner to storytelling as well as guide them with initial creation of things like setting and character. The lessons include both videos and activities for students to complete, and provides a general basis on which to build. Pixar’s previous Khan Academy courses include topics like virtual cameras, effects and animations, but this is the first to focus on the less technical aspects of movie creation.

For street children in Indian city, school is in a shipping container To get street children in the western Indian city of Thane into school, civic officials initially forced their parents to send them to regular state schools. The kids showed up late or not at all, and dropped out quickly.

31% Of Secondary Schools In India Do Not Have Playgrounds Vijay Goel, the Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports said in the Lok Sabha that 31% of secondary schools in India do not have playgrounds. The minister was quoting from the information provided by Department of School Education & Literacy, Ministry of Human Resource Development. In his written reply to a question, the minister said, the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education under Right to Education (RTE) Act, 2009, has been enacted, making elementary education a Fundamental Right, which, inter-alia, provides for access to a playground for each school, a part time instructor for physical education in upper primary school and Supply of play material, games and sports equipment, as per requirement of the schools. Further, Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has made it mandatory for all schools affiliated to it to provide one compulsory period for sports up to 10th class and two periods in a week for 11th and 12th classes, added the minister.

So, the officials decided on “signal schools”, or small schools close to where the kids lived – on the street, near a traffic signal. Partnering a non-profit group, they opened the first such school in June last year, in a remodelled shipping container under a flyover at one of the busiest traffic signals in Thane, just outside Mumbai. This time, the kids stayed. It was a Herculean task to get the parents to send their kids to school – for them, it meant the loss of a pair of hands to earn extra money,” said deputy commissioner Manish Joshi at the Thane municipal corporation. “But they came around, and the community has also really embraced the programme. For a city with a space crunch and a migrant population on the streets, this is the best solution.” There is no official data on the number of street children in India – some charities put the figure at about a million. Most accompany their families as they migrate from rural areas to the cities in search of better prospects.

March 2017

TRENDING In Finland, Kids Learn Computer Science Without Computers In art class, kids can learn about loops by knitting, which is, after all, a sequence of stitches that sometimes vary and sometimes stay the same. Kids who are enchanted by stories can be introduced through storytelling to the foundational idea that specific outcomes require instructions in a specified order. Unlike the United States where learning to code is an isolated skill, Finnish children are taught to think of coding and programming more as tools to be explored and utilized across multiple subjects.

India's First Floating Elementary School Opens In Manipur's Loktak Lake Manipur is now home to a unique school that will be seen floating on the largest freshwater lake in the northeast, the Loktak Lake. This school aims at providing education to dropouts who became homeless during the recent evacuation of phumdis or circular floating swamps. The school opened to the locals earlier this month and was inaugurated at Langolsabi Leikai of Champu Khangpok village. The school is part of the initiative by All Loktak Lake Fisherman’s Union in association with an NGO called People Resources Development Association (PRDA).

Knowing how to use something isn’t the same as understanding how it works. And because programming can be taught in so many ways, Linda Liukas says, it can be an opportunity for kids to learn lots of related skills, such as how to collaborate, how to tell a story, and how to think creatively. Linda is the author and illustrator of Hello Ruby, a children’s picture book about the whimsical world of computers, as well as the founder of Rails Girls, a global movement to teach young women programming in over 260 cities.

Because the main source of income for the locals comes through fishing, and since it's not much, the families couldn’t send their children to schools elsewhere. With this new floating facility, families can send their children to attend classes nearby. The school will accommodate 25 students and 2 teachers and teach both children and illiterate adults.

This school’s students are all grannies

The idea for opening the Shala struck Yogendra Bangar, a teacher at the Fangane Zila Parishad Primary school in Thane district last year when he found that nearly all elderly women in the village were illiterate and were unable to recite the mythological epics. The school was started on International Women’s Day last year with 28 grandmothers. It aims to educate the elderly women in the village, where farming is the dominant profession. Bangar collaborated with the Motiram Charitable Trust, which has provided a blackboard for the classroom, besides helping the women with all the necessary logistics including a pink sari uniform, a school bag, a slate and chalk pencils.

March 2017

MUSINGS

t i Tw s

education Shikshantar A resource centre that encourages to follow your heart and learn what you love by choosing your own teachers and that learning comes from making mistakes.

March 2017

A real democracy is not where you choose your leaders, a real democracy is where you can choose your own teachers.”

Anjana Deepak writeback@scoonews.com

hen we go through the regular cycle of education, what is it that we try to achieve? Starting off with school, college and then maybe a post graduate course from prestigious colleges followed by jobs at multinational companies, sitting at a desk day after day, meeting deadlines, giving presentations and then what? This is what the society expects from us. It’s a norm to follow these rules to lead a secure and a happy life. But what if this is what you didn’t want to do, or that it’s not your path and that you could be more free spirited and

unlearn what you have been taught day after day, year after year. Would you do it?

movement called Shikshantar. Both had the same vision and decided to take the road less travelled.

Shikshantar, a Jeevan Andolan (life movement) was founded to challenge the culture of schooling and institutions of thought contro in the form of a resource centre for Homeschooling/Unschooling, Gap Year, Walkouts and Self Designed Learners in 1998. Founded by Vidhi and Manish Jain who were born and raised in a cushy lifestyle with an education from the best schools and colleges and presented with the best opportunities in life and yet gave it all up to come to Udaipur India to start the

Shikshantar is a place that follows no boundaries when it came to education. It aims to teach anyone who is interested to learn. Age here is just a number. Anyone from the ages of 5-99 yrs are welcome. It teaches those who have already been through the grind of schooling to unlearn what they learnt and to take a new approach of selfdesigned learning. The founders believed that self- learning is not an individualistic or an isolated process as it involves those in the community and their surroundings to impart

March 2017

MUSINGS

learning. They are students as well as the gurus. “A real democracy is not where you choose your leaders, a real democracy is where you can choose your own teachers.” Manish and Vidhi have a 13 year old daughter Kanku who follows this form of learning. It challenges the social norms of education. Vidhi says that her daughter learns from the environment around her. The trees, plants, birds, their vegetable vendor and also their chaatwala. She helps out at the animal centre caring for sick animals. When she grows up she aspires to be a make-up artist and spends hours at a beauty salon observing what goes on there. All this has deeply connected her to the things that she is learning. Kanku has never felt bored as she explores the different sides to her city and is constantly learning . They feel that having a degree/diploma or certificates is not what is important but to do something that brings joy to you and others is. Today factory-like schooling and literacy programs are supressing many diverse forms of human learning and expression, as well as the much needed organic processes towards just and harmonious social regeneration. Schooling is actually the crisis. In the spirit of Vimukt Shiksha, they are committed to creating spaces and processes where an individual as well as communities can together and engage in a dialogue to: Generate meaningful critiques to expose and dismantle/transform existing models of education, development and progress. Reclaim control over their own learning processes and learning ecologies.

Imagine (and continually re-imagine) their own complex shared visions and practices of Swaraj. The resource centre offers guidance and coaching support helping parents de-school themselves so they can better co-learn with their children. They also connect learners with various mentors around the country who are doing constructive and creative work. They are in touch with talented artists, artisans, organic farmers, chef ’s, filmmakers, designers, healers, NGO’s, social entrepreneurs, etc. Students can also intern with Shikshantar. They have a wonderful library with a wide array of books and films in English and Hindi that will help the student delve into the depths of a subject. They also host student groups who’d like to explore this form of learning (1 day, 3 days, 5 days) where they have no exams, no classrooms, no degrees but various real environments to learn from. Various festivals are hosted throughout the year by them to embrace various cultures and traditions. Their events are posted on their Facebook page of Shikshantar Andolan. Shikshantar also provides support for those looking to become entrepreneurs by refining, networking, mentoring, and also help in crowd funding a project. Shikshantar’s ideology is based on an African proverb “It takes a village to bring up a child.” They believe that every human being is intelligent and multi-talented, and that each one of us has a unique and diverse way of learning things. Right now, people are segregated into different boxes based on their skills. There is a pre-conceived notion in the mind-set of people even

before getting to know the person. As human beings we have forgotten to ask questions outside our comfort zone. We are in a world where all the questions and answers are ready for us. Shikshantar encourages people to step outside the box and learn from people and to share their learning with others. A Marwari saying that was quoted at The TEDx Talks by Vidhi was “A real democracy is not where you choose your leaders, a real democracy is where you can choose your own teachers.” They promote dignity of labour, something that is missing among the masses. “A sweeper’s job is equally important as that of a doctor’s” was an example quoted by Vidhi. Shikshantar invites friends over to what they call a gift culture. They have been experimenting this concept where people come and impart their knowledge. They learn to cook, learn songs, music, etc. Everyone sits together and shares this experience as a family and when it’s time to leave they are not billed but are given an envelope where they are asked to donate how much ever they can. Stepping out from our comforts can prove to be difficult for a lot of us. But a lot of people are now realising that there is no end to the rat race that all of us are running in. More and more people are looking at new ways to explore themselves and unlearn what they have learnt. They find it an exhilarating experience where they are able to tap into a side of themselves they never knew existed. Do read up more on their website www.Shikshantar.org . Go ahead break the barriers and see how having an open mind will help take creativity and learning to a new level.

February 2017

INSPIRATION

The Man UNDER The Bridge

February 2017

Every three minutes, the sound of the metro train passing overhead reverberates through the school under the bridge. But that doesn’t seem to affect its students who continue to be immersed in their studies unperturbed.

Anjana Deepak writeback@scoonews.com

e have heard of many heroes. Robin Hood who stole from the rich and gave it to the poor. Spiderman who used his web to save the people of the city from peril. Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No its superman, the superhero who wore his knickers over his pants and flew around saving people. All these fictitious characters are famous for one thing, their common goal was to help people in need. But what about real life heroes. The ones that help by being completely selfless. One such man is Rajesh Kumar Sharma. A super hero in his own right. What’s his power? Well he runs a free school for New Delhi’s poorest children under a metro bridge. His biggest challenge was to convince the parents of these children to allow them to go to school instead of putting them to work to add to the family wages. Rajesh Kumar Sharma, a 45 year old man from Aligarh was forced to drop out of college during his 3rd year due to financial difficulties. A father of three and a grocery store owner decid-

I didn’t want this generation to lose out just because they are poor. He goes on to say “I could not become an engineer because of financial constraints. I had to drop out of college. Through these children I get to live my dream.”

We can’t afford private tuition as I have five daughters and two sons. The only way I can help them is by sending them to the free school. It is god’s gift to the poor like us, as even our children get the opportunity to study.

Rajesh Kumar

Kalasho Devi

ed that he would educate those who could not afford to go to school. Thus the“Free School: Under the Bridge” was born . Started in 2006, his students initially were and 10 years later still continue to be children of migrant labourers, daily wage workers from nearby slum areas and farmers. This school is an unconventional one with no chairs or tables but uses the concrete wall of a bridge for blackboards and the pillars serve as a boundary. His biggest challenge was to convince the parents of these children to allow them to go to school instead of

putting them to work to add to the family wages. Laxmi Chandra the son of a daily wage labourer from Bihar and a science graduate from a university in Bihar also teaches students mathematics and science at this school as he believes that poverty can drive children to crime. The school receives its funding from the public and non-government organisations. They receive books, uniforms, footwear and food on a regular basis. Also donated are sports equipment

February 2017

INSPIRATION

February 2017

I have been teaching here since 2011 and back home I have seen how, due to poverty, children get into all sorts of wrong things.They need guidance and that’s what we try to give them here through education, so that they can have a bright future. Laxmi Chandra

A kind word, a genuine smile, a selfless act can make a difference in someone’s day. Will today be that day? Caroline Naoroji

that the children use to play cricket, badminton, football and other games. The students make sure that their unique classroom is kept neat and tidy by sweeping it themselves every morning. The school hours are from 9am to 11am for boys and 2pm to 4pm for girls. The school maintains a record of each student who are formally registered with their name and photograph. Volunteers from surrounding areas also help in teaching these kids. The children have left their mark on the school by painting brightly coloured murals on the platform of the bridge. The school has roughly around 300 students. A student Pappu walks 2kms to school everyday and with a big smile on his face he says “I love this school. I come here for studies and to draw.” We are being taught everyday to give back to the society. What better way than to help the needy by educating them so that they can have a decent chance to lead a life of integrity and escape from the depths of poverty. There are many out there who do their bit like Rajesh Kumar Sharma and Laxmi Chandra but imagine what impact the country would have if each one of us contributed a little time or funds to those in need. Let’s do our bit and hope that more and more people will join in.

February 2017

COVER STORY

March 2017

DISRUPTION 2017

50 EdStartups that will redefine the EDUCATION SYSTEM March 2017

COVER STORY There aren't as many ranks as there are rankings now; an oft-repeated exercise that often leaves stakeholders bewildered and confused – intentionally or unintentionally, that is! But that is not to say that rankings are an exercise in futility or all rankings are fake or even all are real. The subject matter, even more, confuses those who carry out rankings or even ones who read them. That is one reason why rankings that are meant to guide stakeholders often end up misguiding them. Those, you wonder, who shouldn't be at the top are right there and the ones that should rightfully be, are not there at all. Objectivity and honesty goes for a toss. We didn’t want that to happen. This duality of rankings was bothering us at ScooNews for long, until, three months back; we decided to take a different path. The sole intention of the path taken (suggestion – dutifully compiling a list of start-ups rather than conveniently ranking them) was to raise awareness among education stakeholders, particularly school’s heads and management, about these enterprising ventures also called as education startups (EdStartups). Additionally, to shine the spotlight on how they have been changing or have the potential to change the course of Indian education if the system is willing to incorporate the novel ideas that these startups bring to the table. .

This was the genesis of Disruption 2017. The key parameter which helped us compile this list was the impact a venture is making or is likely to make on the Indian education system. Few other parameters on which the Jury evaluated the EdStartups were fulfillment of a real world need, innovativeness of the idea & the execution, user experience & interface, growth and scalability potential and sustainable business model. We didn't consider how heavily or how lightly the startup was funded; we didn't even bother to check – because being heavily funded does not necessarily mean the startup has a terrific idea. All of us at ScooNews deliberated upon how we should go about it till we finally came up with a questionnaire to be fed to known or unknown startups. Multiple channels of dissemination were used and a cut off date to respond was communicated to startups. The response was overwhelming; hundreds of replies started trickling in, from almost every corner of the country. The judges vetting the entries are the who's who of the education industry – Akhil Shahani, Director, Kaizen Private Equity and MD, The Shahani Group; Meenakshi Uberoi, Education Evangelist and Founding Director, De Pedagogics; Rachel Brujis, Head of Product, Pearson, Asia Pacific; Rishi Kapal, Global Strategist and CEO, EduGild, a Global EdTech Accelerator; Shrutidhar Paliwal, Vice President and Head, Corporate Communications and Media Relations, Aptech Limited; and Shweta Sastri, Executive Director, Canadian International School (Bangalore). After three months of painstaking research and work, when we humbly present this honest reflection of startups that are poised to disrupt the education sector, we have just one thing to say: Congratulations to all EdStartups & we wish you a great journey ahead!"

March 2017

Dr Sanjay Parva editor@scoonews.com

n recent years, the word startup has gained an increasing popularity especially in the world of technology. It is equated with young ventures, high profile apps, and huge tech companies with their profit and revenues soaring high up in the sky. But what does startup really mean? Some define it as any new venture, some use the term to address new business models in high-tech fields while others limit the term to businesses with a high growth potential. However, the startup segment and policy makers related to it need to converge and agree on a common definition to have a constructive and enlightening conversation on the ideas contained therein. Essentially the word startup is a combination of two different words. The word “start” refers to a new beginning and “up” means something that rises you up. The blurred line got somewhat clear when Neil Blumenthal, cofounder of Warby Parker, an American brand of prescription eyeglasses expressed his views saying: “A startup is a company that works to solve a problem, where the solution is not obvious and the success is not guaranteed.” His interpretation of the term startup seems to be very rational; holding the seeds of innovation in its lap. After all, an innovative idea that serves to solve a common problem in its sector lays the foundation stone of any venture; whether it gains success or not is a different area of discussion. Moreover, an innovative idea is something difficult to arrive at; it doesn’t click to everyone at the same time. Innovation, as impressive as it might seem, is actually hard to come by. There are loads of reasons to encourage people to begin their own venture and be an entrepreneur; you get to be your own boss, set your own working schedule, and achieve personal fulfilment. However, the central reason is they have discovered a unique solution to a big problem; something which the world terms as innovation. This innovation, the discovery of a solution to a critical problem is irrespective of any particular sector. Innovations can take place in technology, real estate, travelling, education and any other sector. All the more, such

innovations mark the beginning of something new, something unique and unusual. Setting up a business that offers solutions already prevalent in the market is not making a new beginning; it’s just an expansion of something which is there already, though you are setting up your business for the first time. Such business doesn’t qualify for the crown of startup in real terms. Similarly, every innovation isn’t authorised to be called as startup. The idea might be new to the world, but, if it fails to solve the problems in the industry or create a positive impact on human lives, it doesn’t serve its purpose of being called “up”. For example, the idea of building an exoskeleton based on robotics first speculated by Miguel Nicolelis of Duke University misfired and unfortunately didn’t materialise into a reality; the reason being the absence of a practical approach and utility of the exoskeleton. The construction of an exoskeleton requires capturing of the brain signals by an EEG cap, but, these signals were found to be too weak to build an exoskeleton. Every innovation isn’t authorised to be called as startup. The idea might be new to the world, but, if it fails to solve the problems in the industry or create a positive impact on human lives, it doesn’t serve its purpose of being called “up”. So, such an idea doesn’t receive the rewards and recognition from the investors in the industry and fails to start a venture. Contrastingly, Neumann and Miguel McKelvey came up with the idea of providing co-working spaces in New York City, thus offering an economical alternative to real estate companies for freelancers and business companies. Their idea unfolded in the shape of WeWork, one of the most valuable startups in New York City. Rounding off the discussion, startup and “innovation” are two sides of the same coin. One cannot be imagined without the other. Every startup needs to have an innovative idea that creates a positive impact on human lives and changes their way of living in a favourable manner.

But, innovation without disruption is incomplete for any startup to succeed.

WHAT IS A DISRUPTION? WHAT WOULD DISRUPTION IN EDUCATION INDUSTRY MEAN? “Disruption”, a common buzzword in the corporate world was introduced by Clayton M. Christensen in 1995. The term initially referred to as something that created a “significant societal impact”, be it a new product or a new service. However, with advancing years the term has been used interchangeably with “innovation”, not realising the fact that the two terms are similar only to some extent. They differ considerably in their impact on the global economy. While innovation refers to the introduction of an entirely new concept in the market, disruption signifies the establishment of a new norm over the existing one leading to its perishment. No doubt, both innovation and disruption are makers and builders in an industry, disruption deviates a little by uprooting the previous concepts and opinions held by the humanity and changing the way of thinking and learning in day-to-day life. As quoted by its founder and Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, disruption displaces an existing market, technology or industry and produces something new in its place which is more efficient and worthwhile. Illustrating the theory of disruption, Jennifer Hyman and Jenny Fleiss, cofounders of Rent the Runway in New York disrupted the retail fashion stores bringing high-end wear within the reach of every woman. Promoted as an online store that rents out 35,000 dresses and 7,000 accessories for a sweet price, it provides an alternate to buying such high-end outfits and accessories. “Why buy when you can rent a dress for a reasonable price?” say the co-founders. Looking at the example, it can be concluded that disruption serves to fill the void in an industry by providing a

more effective and rewarding solution in place of the existing one. Yet, another enterprise jumping in to fill the void is the mobile wallet brand Paytm. While the country was struck by panic after the demonetization drive by the Indian government, the brand jumped in to take care of the cash transactions of the citizens of the country. Had these services of mobile-wallet not taken over the Indian economy, it would have been impossible to pay your coffee bill at the metros or buy your daily grocery items. By disrupting the concept of cash payment and providing the facility of paying through your mobile phones, these services endeavoured to solve the monetary issues of the citizens in times of financial dearth. Disruption serves to fill the void in an industry by providing a more effective and rewarding solution in place of the existing one. The education industry is one such segment that longs for a disruptive innovation. Though with advancing years, the theory of open classrooms has shifted to learning through online resources, the change has not been disruptive. The cost of education remains considerably high and the online education reflects more of a traditional model rather than a disruptive change. Disruptive innovations are not breakthrough technologies to improve the product’s quality; rather innovations to make products and services more accessible and affordable, thereby making them available to a much larger segment of the population. In the light of the above description, a major disruption in the education sector will be to make high-quality education accessible to all the students irrespective of their economic status. Plus, the theory of Christensen must be utilised to tailor the education system according to the needs of the student. An online learning module tailored to the learning capacity of the student serves to follow the rules of disruptive innovation and achieve the goal of personalised learning. Moreover, disruptive innovation offers a path to the education reformists to bring about the change with minimal political resistance, dissociating from

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COVER STORY those political leaders who favour the existing educational policies. For a better understanding of the utility of disruptive technology in education, it’s essential to first know how education has changed from the previous times.

EDUCATION: THEN AND NOW Education has evolved considerably from the preliterate cavemen writing on the cave walls to students receiving education in open classrooms with blackboards. But, what is lost with the changing times is the real purpose of education. The debate regarding the purpose of education is never ending. Is it to learn to think? Is it to acquire knowledge –reading, writing and arithmetic? Is it to learn to be a productive citizen of the country or entirely something else? The controversies surrounding the topic and concern about the students of the district made the superintendent of New Jersey school district send letters to the parents condemning the current approach towards education. He was concerned that pressurising students to take up multiple advanced classes, pushing them into extra-curricular activities, and setting high expectations to score good grades was producing an undue amount of stress and creating mental health crisis amongst them. Is this what is meant to be achieved through education? Education is meant to draw out the overall best in a child – body, mind, and spirit, as illustrated by Mahatma Gandhi. But, are today’s schools serving this purpose? In ancient times, the facilities of classrooms and technology weren’t available to the students, yet, they were far more capable physically, mentally and spiritually than today’s youth. The foremost reason for this advanced level of competence was the way education was delivered. . The current factory model of schools didn’t prevail in those times, nor was an undue emphasis laid on the scores obtained by the students. Emphasis was laid more on learning rather than mugging up and scoring grades in the examination. There were no official schools like the ones there are today, the students were expected to attend

“Gurukuls” in their city and reside with their teachers till the training period was completed.

students who are falling behind get more attention from the teachers and achievement gaps are minimised.

Moreover, training was not only limited to academics but also spiritual lessons and sports activities were an integral part of the training program. Going to the school nowadays isn’t like it used to be. Transcending from “gurukuls”, early schools were established and their main objective was to provide an opportunity to learn.

By comparing the education system of the past and present, it shouldn’t be construed that there is a wish to point fingers at the school’s curriculum and what they teach; but, intention must be to propose a change in the way of teaching followed nowadays. Changing the way of delivering the knowledge and making it personalised rather than standardised is the need of the hour.

The current factory model of schools didn’t prevail at those times, nor was an undue emphasis laid on the scores obtained by the students. Emphasis was laid more on learning rather than mugging up and scoring grades in the examination. This was in the 1950s when formal education started from the level of first grade and kindergarten didn’t even exist . If the child couldn’t read or know how to hold a pen or the pencil, it was taught at the centres of education. Learning beyond books was encouraged in this era and students were selfreliant and curious to know. Nevertheless, times changed and education is reduced to just reading, writing and arithmetic. Inculcating the habit of learning has vanished from modern day schools. Technology and modernization have offered a lot to the current generation, but, they have been transformed into puppets of the standardised system of education. Standardisation indeed is necessary to make the system work as a whole; however, the process doesn’t cater to the individual learning needs of the child. No two individuals are alike, neither their learning needs and nor their pace of learning. So, how could people expect to teach in a standardised way assuming that all the students will grasp the meaning of what is being taught? Yes, an independent tutor for each student doesn’t seem feasible, but the teaching module can be customised according to the needs of the student. This idea is not far from reality as there are schools in Chugach, Alaska and elsewhere, where students move on to a new concept only upon mastering an old one. Plus, there exists the notion of a minimum pace so that the

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This is where disruptive innovation comes into being and strives to achieve the real purpose of education.

ENTRY OF STARTUPS IN EDUCATION: A VERY BOLD STEP Sonali Mathur, 22 year-old student in Lucknow was frustrated with her neighbourhood coaching classes. She was preparing for a bank examination and her tutor was unable to give her a personalised attention and guidance. She is not the only one to complain; such grievances are common from other students who feel that teaching must be a two-way process rather than the current ‘one-way’ approach. Though students are encouraged to ask doubts and clear their misconceptions if any by raising questions in the classroom, the method is not very effective for all. Teaching in a classroom is not oriented according to the personalised needs of every student; those who are academically brilliant are able to grasp the concept easily, but, weaker students lag behind. They don’t even have the courage to raise their doubts in the class as they fear to become a mockery for their peers. Coming to their aid is the EdStartup Vedantu that conceptualises the power of personalised learning in education. An online tutoring company co-founded by Vamsi Krishna, it serves to provide courses for learning according to the needs, pace and aptitude of the student. Moreover, the student can interact with the teacher online without fearing mockery from class colleagues. As quoted by the co-founder, “The current education system is teacher-cen-

tric and whatever learning happens, it’s one-way.” The urge to change the norm was the basic motivation behind Vedantu. Teaching in a classroom is not oriented according to the personalised needs of every student; those who are academically brilliant are able to grasp the concept easily, but, weaker students lag behind. Yet another startup in the line-up is Delhi-based ToT Smart Education that offers personalised education to all, irrespective of their socio-economic status. It is aligned with the prescribed board curriculum and includes physical textbooks and mobile app for gamebased learning (Pedron) along with a performance monitor. The services offered by the EdStartup are in blended arrangement with the schools. The data collected by these EdStartup platforms over the years drives constant improvements in making education accessible and affordable to all. Students get to choose what they want to learn and how, as the content of these educational platforms is engineered to their personal choice. By offering various learning ways through digital ads, whiteboards, video and audio lessons, it strives to help students, even the weaker ones to grasp the concept in a better way. What’s more, you can have a live interaction with the teachers and clear your doubts at your desired time. The platforms offer an opportunity to analyse your strengths and weaknesses and learn at your own pace. All said and done, the entry of EdStartups in education is still in its primordial form, but they are taking a bold step and setting the stage for a disruptive innovation in the education industry. Just changing the face of education and learning in schools is not their aim; rather changing the mindset of teachers, students and parents on how they view the learning process. “Knowledge was previously confined to the classrooms and teachers, however, EdStartup companies have transformed learning from a teacher-centric model to a learner-centric model. It won’t be a surprise if these companies take over the modern school and universities as full-time educational institutes”, says the head of education at

KPMG, Mr Narayanan Ramaswamy.

ROLE OF SCHOOLS IN THE DEMISE OF EDSTARTUPS Though education startups have set out to disrupt the education sector and change the face of the current scenario, being an EdStartup is not that easy. Despite receiving funds of more than $100 million, EdStartups like Knewton, Coursera, Udemy, and Duolingo are still on the verge of delivering a profitable outcome from their investments. There are no loopholes in their innovation, neither a lack of diligence on their part, but still they are far away from becoming profitable. Rakshit Kejriwal, Lakshmi Dasaka, and Chaitanya Chitta experienced the failure first hand. They had to shut down their EdStartup SmartOn this year. It’s not that these people were not well qualified; Rakshit was an MBA from Columbia Business School, Chaitanya was the director at KPMG, and Lakshmi held a master’s degree from Cornell University. Moreover, their startup offered courses in hot domains like e-commerce, digital marketing, growth hacking and so on. Columbia University and KPMG were their partners. Plus, they received angel funding and a seat at the prestigious Kaplan TechStars accelerator program. And yet, it was all over in just 21 months. The reason quoted by Chaitanya for the failure during his Tech in Asia interview was the long sales cycle involved, sometimes taking up to six months to acquire a new client. Adding on, he says, “You are dependent on the whims and fancies of the owners of these educational institutions, plus lack of enough interest from the Indian consumer market. The sectors that we were addressing – design, e-commerce, data, and so on – are still in the zone of emergence.” The data shows that these EdStartups are not dying a natural death; they are forced to shut down at the expense of their consumers andthe school administrators who fail to understand their innovation.

THEY DREAMED IT, AND DID IT! While this story is about educational startups which are likely to make an impact this year, there are four startups that deserve a special mention - BYJU's, Toppr, Vedantu and Embibe. They have already created a profound impact on students and teachers alike. BYJU's, for example, is a learning app and has resulted in a revolutionary way to learn. It helps students right from class 4 to class 12 and even supports in CAT, IAS, GMAT, GRE, JEE and NEET preparations. Toppr is backed by smart evaluation algorithms and has the largest community of subject matter experts. It caters to students from classes 8 to 12 and provides comprehensive study materials for CBSE, ICSE, state boards, JEE and NEET. Vedantu has, by far, been one of the most effective platforms for live online tutoring and provides test preparation support for IIT JEE, CBSE, ICSE and NTSE. Embibe introduced score improvement system and used analytics for improvement recommendations. Embibe has several success stories to boast of.

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COVER STORY Yet another startup, that started with a bang offering computer education in schools and expanded the use of technology to all the subjects is now on the verge of bankruptcy. The reason is the same, longer sales cycle and not receiving payments up to six months disrupting the cash flow cycle. The data shows that these EdStartups are not dying a natural death; they are forced to shut down at the expense of their consumers andthe school administrators who fail to understand their innovation. Moreover, it’s very difficult to work with the School/College principals as they either fail to devote time for meeting the EdStartup entrepreneurs or are not equipped for taking decisions regarding the commercial transactions. They depend on the management trustees for their final approval who then want to gain profit from these EdStartup companies by buying their products for free. Even if the school management takes the decision to utilise the services of EdStartups, they look forward to the parents of children to bear their cost. So, everything is not in the hands of the school administration. Also, the school administration is not the end-user of the products and services offered by the EdStartups. It’s ultimately the teachers and the students who are going to use it, but, they are not the decision makers. Decision makers are those who will never use the product and therefore are ignorant of its benefits. Teachers, the next in the line of stakeholders also lack the motivation to inculcate personalised learning in schools and leverage the services of the EdStartup companies as teaching is not a high paid profession in many countries. On an average, even a wellqualified teacher earns 10,000-20,000 INR in schools barring few exceptions like Government colleges and renowned private schools. They lack the authority which enables them to spend money upon their classrooms and careers, as researched by the owner of the EdStartup The Knack. Some teachers are unable to grasp the concept of learning and performance in terms of ‘data’. They debate regarding the utility of numeric grading system to assess learning in students. Such failure leads to the slow adoption

of the analytical tools offered by these EdStartup companies. Revealing his experiences further, he said that teachers are very busy , either firing someone or escaping from getting fired. Plus, they do not want technology solutions for their everyday problems. It’s common to find teachers updating tech reforms and using technical terms on their social media accounts, but it’s all a peep show. Engagement in such activities on their part is partly an attempt to boast in public and amongst the school administrators and partly to feel proud of themselves as a “technology committee member” of the school. However, when it comes to making an effort to use technology in their day-today teaching, they step back from such a change. Teachers are very busyin schools, either firing someone or escaping from getting fired. Plus, they do not want technology solutions for their everyday problems. “EdStartups have the potential to truly transform the world of education over the next several years,” says Slava Orishechko of Unplag.com, a plagiarism detecting software. This is what makes them exciting and challenging at the same time. They are bound to offer a great product that would benefit the students, teachers, and the school administration at the same time. Yet, the traditional method of teaching is so deeply imbibed in the minds of teachers that they resist making any change therein. Moreover, the teaching staff at the school is not tech-savvy. Therefore, they feel hesitant to adapt to the changing situations. School and universities are not tech-driven organisations, so it seems difficult for them to make the change. Besides, an involvement of technology in education is perceived as a threat to their own jobs by the teachers resulting in increased resistance in accepting the services of EdStartups. Talking further about the monetary investments by the school authorities, they are not ready to invest in a project unless it offers a strong value proposition and a comprehensive solution to the problems in the sector. Even if the startup is offering such innovative solutions, the schools are always low on their budget to afford them.

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Apart from the schools, the successful selling of a product also depends upon the marketing professional of the startup. It’s important to not only focus on sales but, build a lasting relationship with the schools. The schools must perceive you as someone offering solutions to their problems and not just selling their product. Though the market is overcrowded with EdStartup solutions; many startups fail to even fix a meeting with the school administration.

EDUCATION STARTUPS THAT SHUT DOWN IN 2016 AND WHY DID THEY DO SO? EdStartups are one domain that put investors in a dilemma; though their potential is huge, the long sales cycle associated with their product, slow pace of adoption by the school authorities and other stakeholders, and lack of patience on the part of the entrepreneurs put their existence at stake. A case in study is the Delhi-based startup iProf Learning Solutions, one of the earliest test preparation startups in the country for the preparation of college entrance exams. It earned funding of $15 million in seven years but had to wind up this year. The reasons for shutting down its operations are not clear yet, but Sanjay Purohit, founder and CEO of the company had left six months prior to its closing. The news of the closure of this Norway ventures backed startup came as a big surprise because the company was in talks with its investors to raise $20 million for the next series of funding. Another EdStartup Purple Squirrel Eduventures that connected students with industry partners for field visits, workshops and live experiences in learning shut down in the early part of the year. Though the company had managed $2million in funding through Matrix and India quotient but was forced to shut down its operations due to the dipping sales numbers and increasing cash burn rate. Aditya Gandhi and Sahiba Dhandhania, the mental force behind the startup wanted to focus on learning by students and start a company that will take them for industrial visits to

gain hands-on experience in learning. The long term vision behind the establishment of Purple Squirrel Eduventures in Mumbai in 2013 was to recruit these students in those industries and get a commission for headhunting. However, their proposals were not received readily by the college students and they managed to lure only a few clients. Despite all, the company managed to make Rs 3 crore in March 2015 and received funds of Rs 12 crore from the investors. The company was under pressure to achieve the target of Rs 30 crore in 2015-16. In order to get more students on board, it started to take students to tourism destinations and came in competition with travel agencies. To stay in the competition, the company had to burn its own cash, margins started to disappear and the sales number declined. The investors pulled their hands from the venture and the company was in a monetary loss. Despite their best efforts of getting investors and building ties with reputed colleges, the company was heading to a place where they were losing staff and had no way to make money. It was March, the exam season and no industrial visit was possible. There was no way to generate a sale an d in April the two founders decided to call off the company. Smart On and The Knack are other startups that met the same consequences and wound up in the later part of the year. EdStartups are confronted with two major challenges: finding ways to monetise their project in a space where everyone is used to consuming the free stuff available online and secondly to build products and services that make them stand out from their competitors. According to the data published by venture capitals analytics firm Tracxn, India accounted for only 3.4 percent of the total global investment in EdStartups last year, China being the dominant country to invest in the domain. Despite the growing trend of online education and EdStartups entering the scenario, the biggest concern of the entrepreneurs is monetization of their project. The B2B startups have to cope with the long sales cycle associated while dealing with schools and universities and the generally cold response from them.

On the other hand, B2C startups are worried about persuading and acquiring clients who are in the habit of consuming free material available on the internet. With the market flooded with online solutions, it’s tricky to strike a balance between innovations and persuade your consumers to at least have a look at your product. The test preparation startup Embibe initially partnered with training firms to earn its revenue, but, had to shift to the B2C model to sell its product directly to the consumers. The subscription rate was slow and the company was forced to make its product available for free. Sid Talwar who successfully had an exit as an EdStartup entrepreneur before becoming a venture capitalist gives some insights into the truth of EdStartup business. As per his opinion, education in India is a vast field and much of it is regulated by the government, making it more difficult for the EdStartups to break into. Therefore, the majority of the startups target the highly competitive medical and engineering entrance tests to offer services like tutors and study material; leaving behind primary and secondary education in the hands of traditional schools and teachers. Online test preparation portals can help, but the concern about monetization and funding remains the same. Plus, foreign players are not much interested in investing in education technology in India. There is no comparable international business in the education domain to evaluate the early stage EdStartups. Majority of the startups target the highly competitive medical and engineering entrance tests to offer services like tutors and study material; leaving behind primary and secondary education at the expense of traditional schools and teachers. All the more, the long transaction cycle associated with EdStartups makes the situation graver. “E-commerce transactions in comparison run on a shorter cycle. The consumers visit the shopping site and decide to buy or leave the product. The result is immediate. However, education is a different domain and needs to undergo a longer cycle of learning, testing, and then validating the effectiveness of the product”, says Sid.

Unlike e-commerce transaction that requires hours or days to validate the product, education technology can take months to years for the same. But Sid Talwar believes the investment will pick up in this space eventually. “Technology is severely underrepresented in education right now. But you can’t even do away with technology, can’t create an educated population without technology.” The responsibility lies on the government to introduce reforms and invest in the sector. Hopefully, then the venture capitalists will also view the opportunity and invest in a sector so vital for the startups and disruption in education.

WHAT THE GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO AND WHAT IS IT DOING WRONG? The Finance Minister, Mr Arun Jaitley announced the Union Budget on 1 Feb 2017. The education sector has been allocated a fund of Rs 500 crore to promote entrepreneurship amongst SC/ST, a plan to make 10 public and 10 private schools as world-class, and to set up 62 navodaya vidyalayas to provide quality education. Indeed, a great step towards future, but, is just providing finances sufficient to change the face of the Indian education system; to be precise bring about disruption in the field of education? Moreover, just announcing the funds doesn’t mean they are actually being released. Some schools still face the inadequacy of infrastructure and shortage of teachers. Many new schools are being set up, notebooks and stationary are being distributed, midday school meal is also offered in some, but, what about the child’s ability to learn, to achieve success in his life. Recruiting more number of teachers in primary schools can ensure schooling for all, but not learning for all. This is so because the teachers who are recruited are not well qualified according to their job profile. The top performing countries in education hire teachers from the top universities, but, the scenario here is entirely different. “If you can’t find any other job, become a teacher.” This is the notion carried by

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COVER STORY many people across the country. To add to the situation, the government doesn’t focus on the professional development and continuous training of the teachers to upgrade their knowledge in the subject. This leads to stagnation in their professional growth and learning. Where the teacher himself can’t learn and grow, how will he make his students learn? Yet another less visible, but, a debilitating challenge that plagues the Indian classrooms is the encouragement of rote learning. An undue emphasis is laid on the scores and grades obtained by the student, rather on his learning. This rote memorization leads to behavioural changes that promote cramming of lessons and not life-long understanding. Plus, standardised tests are used to determine the child’s capability, without which his aptitude is not recognised. As there is a dearth of qualified teachers in the school, the encouragement of rote learning further demotivates them to put efforts into the child’s learning process. Moreover, the curriculum and the syllabus is set by the government authorities who are biased to include lessons based on their political, social, and religious interests. Where the teacher himself can’t learn and grow, how will he make his students learn? Yet another less visible, but, a debilitating challenge that plagues the Indian classrooms is the encouragement of rote learning. Revealing the reality of school textbooks, India Today reported a factual error in the textbooks of NCERT. The history books of class VI have no mention of Islam and Sikhism as religions of the country, plus, the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by Nathuram Godse was completely abolished. Shockingly, NCERT is not apologetic about the errors and maintains that books were published under political pressure. The belief held by education planners and the government that each student learns at the same pace deepens the problem further. Imagine the situation of the teacher teaching in the fifth standard. She is ought to cover the syllabus laid out in the textbooks by the end of the year, but, how should she teach? What about the students who are lacking in skills to learn a particu-

lar concept? Indian school system is structured to just complete the curriculum for each year and not provide extra help to those who are not heading forward at the expected pace or those falling behind. Such students without the necessary learning support tend to drop out from the school adding to the illiterate population of the country. Besides quality, it’s the inequity of education that plagues our education sector. Higher education or quality education is available to only those who can afford it, unlike South-east Asian countries where education is centralised. To bring about change and enable the country to reach its national goal of growth and equity, the decision-makers in education need to place children’s learning at the centre stage before designing any policies and curriculum for the schools. The prevailing belief of improving the infrastructure, increasing the input, and tightening the system will bring about the desired change is obsolete. Apart from infrastructure, each state government must set its learning goals and work towards its achievement. The students must be grouped on the basis of their learning ability instead of their grades and support must be provided to help them achieve their desired pace of learning. Indian school system is structured to just complete the curriculum for each year and not provide extra help to those who are not heading forward at the expected pace or those falling behind. Standing in support of the new way of teaching, the Punjab government implemented a state-wide programme to improve basic learning outcomes in its students. Two hours during the school day were set aside for this purpose and children from standard one to five were grouped by their learning level. The existing teachers were assigned to these groups. Teachers were trained to use appropriate methods and materials to inculcate learning in each group. As each child progressed, he was promoted into the next group. The programme delivered the desired result within six months as compared to the traditional methods of teaching employed since years.

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Setting of clear goals, proper training and mentoring of teachers and periodic assessment helped to achieve these results. Besides, the fund released by the government should be spent on appropriate and periodic training of the teachers to make them well versed in modern ways of teaching, especially the use of technology in teaching. Rather than spending on traditional textbooks, the government must lay emphasis on modern day tools for class discussions, homework, and student-teacher interaction. But, keep in mind the technology introduced must be child oriented and not teacher oriented otherwise he is bound to lose interest in the same. A child is inquisitive with an open mind to explore things and learn. Giving him an open environment and a choice on how he wants to learn will have magical outcomes. Rohit Prakash at iDream education experimented to understand how a tablet-based interactive learning can provide one-to-one learning solutions for the government schools. Fortunately, his experiment was successful and revealed a major shift in the learning outcome of children within 23 months. Since teachers are the ones that can make a huge difference to the child’s learning capacity, provisions must be made to employ well qualified and trained teachers rather than those with more years of experience. To achieve equity in education, two dimensions need to be considered. One is fairness which means that the person’s socio-economic status, gender or ethnic origin must not create an obstacle in attaining his education potential. The second is inclusion, to ensure a minimum standard of education for all. Designing the education system as per the child’s interests, ending the practice of inequity in and out of the schools and equal allocation of resources can help overcome educational inequality. The aforesaid changes can’t be made at the school level alone unless the central and the state government join hands and work together in the direction of providing quality education to all. And technology, in today’s world, must be at the centre of all changes expected by the education sector. The sooner policy makers, thought leaders, educationists and school heads realise this, better it will be.

Panel of Judges

50 EdStartups That Will Redefine The Education System (Alphabetical Order) • 3Dexter

• Innolat

• Mindler

• QtPi

• 4SLearning

• insightGURU

• Myly

• Report Bee Edusys

• AlmaMapper Technologies

• iTeach Fellowship

• myperfectice

• Simulanis

• Avagmah

• Kidobotikz

• Nayi Disha Studios

• Sirena Technologies

• Avishkaar Box

• Kitki

• NCR Eduservices

• Skidos Labs

• Callido Learning

• Konverv

• Neev Finance

• SRJNA

• Clap Global

• Learning360Edge

• Nischals

• StudyMarvel

• CollegeSearch

• LearnOn Technology

• Paratus Knowledge Ventures

• Walnut Knowledge Solutions

• Creya Learning

• Learnyst

• People First Leadership

• Wiksate Solutions

• Dinasim Learning

• Math Adventures

• Academy

• Wonderslate Technologies

• Eduisfun Technologies

• Math Buddy

• Phi Education

• Flinnt

• mGuru

• Phyzok

• Impartus Innovations

• Mindbox

• Plancess

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COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

4S Learning

Founder(s)

Buddha Dev Burman (MCA) & Rohini Gahlaut (B.Ed)

Solution Statement

Lack of infrastructure for the school and scarcity of trained teachers in villages are the major hurdles in the progress of rural youth. The platform endeavors to make them literate and develop their skills so that they are at par with their urban counterparts. The solution is provided in the form of a 4SL box that helps to create digital classrooms anywhere in the country. The solution overcomes the need for electricity, internet or even buildings for classrooms.

Achievements & Milestones

The startup has won 5 accolades and recognition from top industries like Digital India and EdTech Awards for their innovative solution to improve the literacy rate in the Indian villages. They have also carried out 5 pilot studies.

Website Address

www.4slearning.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

3Dexter

Founder(s)

Shantanu Kwatra, Nikunj Singhal, Parth Batra, Naman Singhal, Raunak Singhi, Smarth Vasdev & Raghav Sareen (B.Tech and B.Com graduates)

Solution Statement

3Dexter is an education company that utilizes 3D printing technology in integration with electronics, IoT, and Arduino to provide students with learning through experience.They have created a curriculum in sync with leading boards like CBSE, ICSE and IB and cover more than 250 concepts for classes 3rd-12th. The solution has been designed with the help of education experts and enhances the creativity, problem-solving, imaginative and critical thinking skills in students.

Achievements & Milestones

The startup is amongst the top 42 companies in the domain of Indian technology and innovation. They have manufactured their own 3D printer prototypes and have succeeded in taking their robust curriculum of 20 iterations to 25 Indian schools in the first year. They have raised $ 150,000 from Angel Network.

Website Address

www.3dexter.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Alma Mapper Technologies

Founder(s)

Chandra Sharma (B.Tech, MBA)

Solution Statement

It is an eco-system platform that serves as a bridge between the students and the universities as well as top companies looking to hire them. It provides a platform for students to share their knowledge with their peers and teachers in other universities. It builds an online network of students, teachers and universities where they can share notes, events and videos amongst themselves.

Achievements & Milestones

Launched in August 2014, the platform has currently more than 700,000 registered students and 200 partner colleges across India. Moreover, about 20 companies are using the platform to hire the best talent. Their mobile app launched in December 2015 has 30,000 downloads till date.

Website Address

www.almamapper.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Avagmah

Founder(s)

Karthik KS (NIT Kurukshetra), Sankar Bora (NIT Calicut) and Prasad G Palla (IIT Kanpur, IIM Bangalore)

Solution Statement

The platform strives to solve the fundamental issues of access, quality, and equity of higher education in India. It creates a platform that enables universities to deliver their academic program online in addition to the traditional lectures delivered in classrooms. It is a connecting platform between globally qualified teaching faculty and students across the country offering an opportunity to deliver and attend classes from anywhere by just using the internet.

Achievements & Milestones

The major achievement of the platform is its personalized study plan that schedules learning items across various subjects according to the individual studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s progress and learning time. Its collaborative learning divides the enrolled students into groups where each group can work on its assignments directly on the platform.

Website Address

www.avagmah.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

Startup Name

Avishkaar Box

Founder(s)

Tarun Bhalla (MBA, University of Washington) & Farial Sabrina (BS, University of Delhi)

Solution Statement

The startup strives to build learning solutions based on software tools like game-based solutions and virtual 3D worlds in the domain of Science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The aim behind such solutions is to provide modern day students with tools that can engage them in the learning process and provide them with an immersive learning experience.

Achievements & Milestones

They have launched the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first personal robot called ROBBY and the most popular robotics kit LITE. Soon, they will be launching the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first socially responsive robotic series called SR Series.

Website Address

#DISRUPTION2017

:www.avishkaarbox.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Callido Learning

Founder(s)

Madhu Agrawal (Hons in Law and Business), Sriram Subramanian (Masters from Imperial College London) and Chinmaya Kulkarni (Brown University)

Solution Statement

It is an online platform that delivers a personalized learning program to each student where he can learn and develop his critical thinking and application skills. It not only benefits the students but also schools get valuable insights and data on each of their students. The teachers get students who are more focused and engaged and can learn ways to teach better in the classroom. Moreover, the solution is schoolfriendly, aligns with all curricula, time and cost-efficient.

Achievements & Milestones

Callido Learning launched their first product in August 2015 for students in Year 11. Within a year, they have quadrupled their content to serve students in grades 6-12. They have launched a unique skill assessment platform to gauge the studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s skill at every age and help him/her improve over time.

Website Address

www.callidolearning.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Clap Global

Founder(s)

Aarti Chhabria (Business Management) & Shirin Johari (Mass Media)

Solution Statement

The platform is a connecting link between international travelers and local students. The travelers get to visit the schools in the local area, witness the life of people in a foreign land and have a conversation about their culture with the students. On the other hand, students get to know about diverse cultures directly from the mouth of the travelers. They learn about various cultures beyond their textbooks which help them lose their cultural prejudices and grow with higher cultural intelligence.

Achievements & Milestones

They have successfully launched their online and offline product, The Clap Kit within a year. Currently, 180 travelers from 62 countries are using their platform to have talks with more than 6000 children in Mumbai and Santiago. Several top companies like Amnesty International have partnered with the startup. It has managed to close its pre-series A funding of $6, 70,000.

Website Address

www.clapglobal.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

CollegeSearch (Incorporated as AM Edumedia Pvt Ltd)

Founder(s)

Anirudh Motwani (B.Tech, Computer Science ) & Parul Bansal (Maths Hons & MBA Finance)

Solution Statement

It is the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s largest education platform that helps students choose and apply to their desired college. The enlisted colleges are sorted out on the basis of various factors to provide students with relevant results. It also allows students to compare colleges and have access to the reviews of the alumni.

Achievements & Milestones

The startup has evolved from just an information repository to a full-fledged platform; the largest processor of online college applications. They have launched the first Admission management software for colleges called CLAY which has been chosen as one of the top software products in the country by NASSCOM.

Website Address

www.collegesearch.in

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Creya Learning & Research Pvt Ltd

Founder(s)

Venky Datla (BE, MBA), Praveen V(BE) & Hari K Verma(BE & MBA)

Solution Statement

Creya is an education platform focusing on preparing our children and making them competent enough to thrive in the modern day world through its learning solution. It is a pioneer in studiobased learning model where the students not only learn but are able to apply their knowledge in solving their real-life problems. The platform equips children with the necessary skills and attitude required in the modern dynamic world.

Achievements & Milestones

They have introduced the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first integrative STEM program in collaboration with Digital Media. Their studio-based learning model is currently working in over 7500 schools around the globe. These schools have reported marked improvement in students and teachers motivation and capability within 10 months of their implementation.

Website Address

www.creyalearning.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Dinasim Learning

Founder(s)

Divesh Bathija (MSc Investment and Risk Finance)

Solution Statement

Dinamism Learning tries to convert the traditional and stereotype Mathâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s classroom into a gaming zone. This way it helps the students to grasp the core concepts of the subject using the subconscious method of learning.

Achievements & Milestones

Till date, they have worked with more than 28,000 students and trained 500 teachers in India and Nepal within a time period of 5 years.

Website Address

www.dinasimlearning.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Eduisfun Technologies

Founder(s)

Jatin Solanki (BE-IIT Bombay)

Solution Statement

As the name suggests, Eduisfun is about making education fun and interesting for the students through the mode of games. The teachers can understand the weak areas of each student and the class in general and modify their teaching methods accordingly. The color-coded reports created by the app help parents to track the progress of their child.

Achievements & Milestones

Many students have acknowledged the utility of the app in clearing their concepts about a subject, making learning and reading fun with the ability to grasp the concept in much lesser time than reading from textbooks.

Website Address

www.eduisfun.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Flinnt

Founder(s)

Harish Iyer, Tarak Yagnik, Harin Desai & Dhinal Rajguru

Solution Statement

Flinnt is a social learning platform where learners can choose to learn their desired course offered by schools, graduate and post-graduate institutions, subject matter experts, content providers, publishers, and coaching centres.

Achievements & Milestones

The platform runs across the web as well as android and iOS mobile phones and endeavors to update their content to keep it intelligent and user-friendly.

Website Address

www.flinnt.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Innolat

Founder(s)

Tushar Vadera (B.E., PGDBA)

Solution Statement

Employability is a big problem among graduates residing in the non-metro cities. With a passion to educate and solve the issue, Innolat attempts to provide a cloud based personalized learning program iLrnn to the students. Through its collaborative learning program, it helps in the holistic development of the student and raises his chances of employment in the leading industries.

Achievements & Milestones

Since the inauguration of their technology platform in June 2016, every month they are upgrading and deploying new modules. Currently, they have over 300 paid users. Moreover, their Android app will be live soon.

Website Address

www.innolat.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Impartus Innovations

Founder(s)

Amit Mahensaria, Alok Choudhary, Manish Kumar (IIT and IIM Alumni)

Solution Statement

Impartus aims to improve the learning outcomes for todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s millennial students who are entrapped in traditional one-way teaching in the classrooms. Their video-based learning platform helps each student learn at his own pace. Equipped with features like book marking, taking video notes and cloud based software enables students to revise their concepts anytime and from any place. Moreover, teachers can use the learning models offered by the platform to improve their teaching skills and promote higher student engagement.

Achievements & Milestones

The flagship product of the venture is receiving a hearty welcome and encouraging response from students and educators alike. The key features acknowledged by them are video conferencing with multi-view streaming, in-video search and quizzes, and student discussion forum.

Website Address

www.impartus.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

InsightGURU

Founder(s)

Jangoo Dalal, Srinivasan HP, Joachim Carvolha

Solution Statement

Assessment of the studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s capacity to learn and designing methods to improve their learning experience is time consuming. This domain of education is handled by InsightGURU, a simple and flexible platform to gain insight into the studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s arena within minutes.

Achievements & Milestones

The product was launched by the startup in the middle of the year 2015. The first commercial pilot of the product was conducted in 2016. Middle of the year 2016 saw the commercial release of their product in the market.

Website Address

www.insightguru.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Konverv

Founder(s)

Kunal Sehgal

Solution Statement

Konverv is a SaaS company that provides the best school-parent communication platform. Schools can keep the parents informed about all the latest events in the school and send reminders for the school fees. All the data about the students and educators can be maintained online and accessed as per the schoolâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s need. In short, it brings an end to all paperwork by the school authorities.

Achievements & Milestones

The company is happy to boast about their 100 happy users so far.

Website Address

www.konverv.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

iTeach Fellowship

Founder(s)

Prashant Mehrishi (MBA)

Solution Statement

Low income schools in our country are the worst affected by the dearth of qualified teachers. iTeachFellowship strives to bridge this gap by providing High Quality teachers to High need schools. Their one-year paid program helps young graduates to find meaningful teaching jobs in a single recruitment process and also get trained in the practical aspects of the job.

Achievements & Milestones

The startup is stepping the ladder of success since last 3 years gradually but surely. They provided training to 75 teachers in the year 2014-15, pivoted and launched the fellowship program for 12 fresh teachers in 2015-16 and 37 fresh teachers in the current year.

Website Address

www.iteach.co.in

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Kidobotikz

Founder(s)

Sneha Priya & Pranavan

Solution Statement

Kidobotikz is a Robotic training Institute that conducts robotic classes for enthusiastic school students. Its robotic kit aims at providing a practical learning experience to the budding engineers in all fields related to engineering â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Electronics, Mechanics, Programming and algorithm. All the more, students can interact with specially appointed faculty at the institute and enhance their practical engineering skills by participating in various robotic events.

Achievements & Milestones

They have received more than 1000 orders for their product within a span of just 6 months. The orders amount to the revenue of INR 1 crore.

Website Address

www.kidobotikz.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Kitki

Founder(s)

Pramod Ponnaluri (BITS Pilani Alumni)

Solution Statement

The introduction of high quality board games is an attempt by Kitki to change a studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s perspective towards learning. Learning, which is made boring by the schools and textbooks, seems fascinating through these games. Engaging in these games helps kids to enjoy and develop a curiosity to learn by themselves.

Achievements & Milestones

Winner of several awards, Kitki has been successful in their crowdfunding campaign and received backup funding from 15 countries. Starting from the previous year, their gross sale has crossed Rs. 1 crore.

Website Address

www.kitki.in

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Learning360Edge

Founder(s)

Avinash Aggarwal

Solution Statement

Parents are usually confronted with a challenge of giving personalized attention to their child and inculcating the habit of self study in him; more so in the subjects of Maths and English. Learning360Edge is a personalised learning program for classes 1-5 in Maths and English. The program focuses on improving the basic concepts of students in these subjects and enhances their thinking skills.

Achievements & Milestones

The satisfaction of the parents with their product is demonstrated in more than 100 registrations within 5 months and more than 75% customers renewing their subscription.

Website Address

www.learning360.net

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

LearnOn Technology Solutions

Founder(s)

Sameer Ahmad & Sumesh S

Solution Statement

LearnOnTechnology Solutions came into being with a vision to equip educators with modern technology that helps to give individual attention to each student in the class and help him unlock his hidden talent. Using these technology solutions educators can personalize or differentiate their teaching methods without disrupting the existing culture in schools.

Achievements & Milestones

All the 3 technology solutions offered by the company have paying and satisfied customers.

Website Address

www.learnonsolutions.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Learnyst

Founder(s)

Shankar Mahesh & Shivaranjan Kumar (MS Computer Science)

Solution Statement

Learnyst is a startup to empower training institutes and help them scale their teaching business. It provides these institutes with power branded apps to create their own website upload their courses and sell them to a wide network of students online.

Achievements & Milestones

Within a year of its launch, the startup has succeeded in providing branded mobile apps to its customers besides apps on the web.

Website Address

www.learnyst.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Math Adventures

Founder(s)

Vidya Jayaraman & Ashok Nair

Solution Statement

Maths is one subject that sends shivers down the back in every student. Math Adventures aims to relieve this fear and make the subject interesting for students through innovating learning solutions like videos, activity workbook and tablet based app. The mission behind this endeavor is to strengthen the fundamental concepts of Maths in every student from primary to standard 8.

Achievements & Milestones

Their achievements lie in the completion of Math Master Activity Book and Videos in June 2015 and the Math Master Question Bank App in June 2016.

Website Address

www.mathadventures.in

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Math Buddy / Concept Learning Technologies Pvt Ltd

Founder(s)

Bharathy & Kannan Bhardwaj

Solution Statement

The startup is a buddy striving to crack the Maths phobia in students and help them grasp the fundamental concepts of the subject. They provide solutions like hands-on activities to explore and learn the concept with understanding. Through the virtual interactive platform, they aim to help the students visualize and understand the concepts and thereby disrupt the traditional method of teaching followed in schools.

Achievements & Milestones

The company started off in 2010 with just an online solution to the problem. Now, it provides offline software for schools with no access to the internet, hands-on Maths lab instruments, online Maths Olympiad, and apps for tablets and mobiles.

Website Address

www.mathbuddyonline.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Mindler

Founder(s)

Prateek Bhargava & Prikshit Dhanda

Solution Statement

Mindler is a technology enabled eco-system for career planning & development for students. It leverages technology, research, machine learning and algorithms to minimize the human bias in career decision making process. Mindler's platform is based on the world's largest research on modern career avenues and provides a 360 degree approach towards career decision making.

Achievements & Milestones

Mindler makes scientific career guidance affordable and accessible for millions of students across the country by leveraging the power of technology. Mindler has impacted over 20,000 students through its assessments and over 40,000 students through career advisory services. Mindler went live in April 2016 and has over 3000 paid users. The customer acquisition growth rate is 107% CMGR in last 3 months.

Website Address

www.mindler.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

mGuru

Founder(s)

Adam Khorakiwala (BA Stanford University)

Solution Statement

Seeing the poor education outcomes in Indian primary schools, mGuru came up with a mobile learning app for K-5 students in the subjects of English and Maths. The mobile apps offered, provide children with engaging and interactive ways to enhance their basic literacy and numeracy skills, thus improving the learning outcome at a large scale.

Achievements & Milestones

mGuru English app was launched in August 2016 followed by report cards and SMS notifications in November 2016. The current month saw the introduction of videos in their mobile app.

Website Address

www.mguru.co.in

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

MINDBOX - Evolving Education

Founder(s)

Rishi Khemka (MBA â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Finance)

Solution Statement

In future, there would be severe competition in industry, and almost all industries would be using the same technology, so the only thing which will make difference is DESIGN. The ones who are creative problem solvers and are able to DESIGN something original would lead the industry. MindBox aims to solve this by empowering children through Creative Thinking as Subject, Visual Communication as Language and Technology as Tool.

Achievements & Milestones

This Noida based startup focusses on Creative Education using Technology as a Tool and has partnerships with industrial technology leaders like Autodesk, Unity, SketchUp, Corel, Makerbot, VEX Robotics. More than 15000 students have completed MindBox programs.

Website Address

www.mindbox.in

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

myly - Educommerce Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Founder(s)

Gaurav Mundra & Madhup Bansal (B.E., MBA)

Solution Statement

Myly has been created with the aim to reduce and remove Inefficiency & high cost of communicating via school diary and SMS. Based upon constant research and user feedback, Myly has evolved into a complete Modular product for school management with role-based access to school staff, dedicated a/c management and priced on annual subscription.

Achievements & Milestones

This startup offers a communication and School Management solution to over 500 schools and other educational institutions connecting over 1,50,000 users. They launched their Parent App in 2015 and since have gone on to provide Teacher App and GPS tracking as a part of their offerings.

Website Address

www.mylyapp.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

myperfectice

Founder(s)

Rajeev Kumar (B.Tech)

Solution Statement

Myperfectice fulfills need for a deeper and wider metrics for personalized learning (To overcome the real challenge of need/requirement based service), create a unique and high value ecosystem to connect Students, Parents, Teachers, Institutes and Publishers and provide learning solutions accordingly.

Achievements & Milestones

This Chicago based startup focusses on using assessments and analytics to help tailor personalized solutions. They currently cater to USA and the India education market and have integrated Khan Academy content as well.

Website Address

:www.myperfectice.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Nayi Disha Studios Pvt. Ltd.

Founder(s)

Kartik Aneja (BITS Pilani)

Solution Statement

The games developed by Nayi Disha completely disrupt the sedentary nature of technology. They are movement based games that require children to be physically active. No keyboard or mouse is required, whatever the child does physically, the games respond and react to that.

Achievements & Milestones

This startup focusses on children aged 2-6 years to address both kinaesthetic learners, as well as help children develop their grossmotor and fine-motor skills. They have worked with more than a hundred schools across the country including popular groups like Podar, GD Goenka and Ryan, and almost 50,000 families around the world.

Website Address

www.nayidishastudios.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

NCR Eduservices Pvt. Ltd.

Founder(s)

Amit Gupta (MCA)

Solution Statement

Helping Schools, Colleges & elearning companies around the world to find great teachers is what this startup fulfills! NCR Eduservices claims to be a one stop solution for education domain recruitment and outsourcing services.

Achievements & Milestones

NCR Eduservices is an ISO 9001:2000 certified Education Outsourcing Company, with group of 20,000+ Online Tutors, teachers and trainers. They are working with 250+ education and tutoring companies in India, Nepal, Japan, US, UK, UAE and Australia.

Website Address

www.ncreduservices.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Neev Finance

Founder(s)

Rishi Kedia, Amit Jaiswal, Nikhil Saraf, Samir Agarwal, Kavita Agarwal

Solution Statement

This unique startup is enhancing school access for parents and students who cannot afford high fees through Education loan for paying quarterly /annual / half yearly School Fees and repay them in easy monthly installments. There are more than 4 lakhs private unaided schools in India wherein school fee affordability is an issue for a significantly large population as schools nowadays collect fees either Quarterly, Half yearly or Annually.

Achievements & Milestones

In their 1st Year of Operations, Neev Finance has onboarded more than 500 customers and tied up with more than 100 Schools in six cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Kolkata, and Hyderabad.

Website Address

www.neevfinance.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Nischals

Founder(s)

Nischal Narayanam

Solution Statement

Nischal has developed interactive labs on Math, Physics, Chemistry and Biology to make any child understand practically every concept learnt in school. These labs are unique and one of its kind in the Indian market.

Achievements & Milestones

This company was founded by Nischal Narayanam when he was just 15 years old. He is the youngest CA of the country and a double Guinness world record holder. Nischals is empaneled by NCERT & has supplied their solutions to around 200,000 schools across India from J&K to A&N islands.

Website Address

www.nischalsworld.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Paratus Knowledge Ventures

Founder(s)

Bhargavi AR, Amol Patkar & Ankur Vohra (FMS, IIM-Calcutta & IIM- Ahmedabad)

Solution Statement

Fundamentor is a structured learning program that uses an efficient combination of Age, Platform, Duration, Delivery and Feedback to make aptitude development fun and rewarding for the students. The program is time and cost effective; so it poses no extra burden for schools, parents and students.

Achievements & Milestones

This Bangalore based startup has 3800 subscribers along with 7 schools and 5 ngoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s as their clients.

Website Address

www.fundamentor.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

People First Leadership Academy

Founder(s)

Varada Murthy K.S. & Naleenakshi VM (PG - HR)

Solution Statement

This Bangalore based startup focuses on Teacher Training and Parenting with the aim to help people unleash their true potential through life transforming Personal Excellence Programs and motivate them to be successful in School, College and Life.

Achievements & Milestones

PFLA has successfully completed 18 batches of certification programs for Teachers and helped them to find a job in major Schools in Bengaluru and outside. They intend to scale up via the Franchising Model. PFLA is an Award Winning (Future of India Award for Business Excellence Achievement under Quality in Leadership Excellence) Academy.

Website Address

www.pfla.in

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Phi Education Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Founder(s)

Zainul Abedin Abbasi (IIT Kharagpur)

Solution Statement

Phi Education is leveraging inhouse design and development of Robotics for STEM "learn by doing". Phi provides a hands-on and project based teaching-learning ecosystem to educators and learners ranging from K-12 to UG, PG, & working professionals.

Achievements & Milestones

Phi Education have been successful in partnering with a reputed University in West Bengal and many engineering colleges in Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Chhatisgarh and New Delhi for their hands-on learning products and projects.

Website Address

www.phi-education.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Phyzok

Founder(s)

Lohit Sahu (BITS Pilani)

Solution Statement

Phyzok works with the cognitive behavioural data of every student and personalizes the content delivery at two places: home and classrooms. They had also created 200 hours of IIT JEE content for Ministry of HRD and CBSE in 2014 for their flagship initiative named UDAAN to empower under privileged girl children to write IIT JEE.

Achievements & Milestones

Phyzok has signed up 5000 paying students in last two months and the target is to signup 15000 students / 30 schools by the end of March 2017. In 2014, out of 300 underprivileged girls who were registered in UDAAN, 143 cleared IIT JEE mains with 5 months of preparation.

Website Address

www.phyzok.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Plancess EduSolutions Pvt. Ltd.

Founder(s)

Nitesh Salvi (IIT - Bombay)

Solution Statement

Plancess is committed to democratize education by offering top quality learning solutions at less than 1/10th of the equivalent investment made by a student for coaching. Plancess offers comprehensive solutions for preparation in the form of high definition Video Lectures, expert designed Books and rigorous Test Series which cover every concept of the respective entrance examinations.

Achievements & Milestones

Plancess Solutions boasts of 25000+ students & 50+ Institutions as their clients. Plancess EduSolutions Pvt. Ltd. is today considered one of India's leading companies for entrance test preparation. Plancess' products are designed and developed in consultation with experts and top rankers in the respective entrance examinations.

Website Address

www.plancess.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

QtPi Pvt. Ltd.

Founder(s)

Robotics & Hardware

Solution Statement

QtPi is a robotic company that endeavours to enhance creativity and engineering skills in young students at the grassroots level. They believe that learning in science and technology must be based on problem solving rather than cramming from textbooks. With this belief, they have built kids-friendly robotic kit consisting of Arduino based main board, sensors, actuators, building blocks and a mobile app. Using their kit, an infinite variety of robots can be built boosting the imagination power of kids.

Achievements & Milestones

QtPi has trained about 200 students till date and is in the process of setting up its first experience Zone in Electronic city, Bangalore. The QtPi team consists of industry veterans from Microsoft, Yahoo, Oracle, Tech Mahindra with Software and mechatronics background.

Website Address

www.qtpi.in

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Report Bee Edusys Pvt. Ltd.

Founder(s)

Anantharaman Mani (BE, MBA)

Solution Statement

Report Bee is an education data analytics company formulated to provide deeper insight into the students and administrative data and thus help schools and educators to reform their and others lives. The product offered by the venture leverages the benefits of Humanities, Statistics, and Computer Science to compile all data and drive the educational institutes to base their decisions on them.

Achievements & Milestones

Report Bee is working with 800+ Schools and is backed by Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. (Currently, their product is amongst the highest used by teachers please relook. Context for sentence missing). They were nominated in the top 3 innovative K-12 products in Asia by BETT, the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading education technology event.

Website Address

www.reportbee.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Robolab Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Founder(s)

Amol Gulhane (B Tech) & Pratik Deshmukh (B Tech)

Solution Statement

Robolab is a venture founded to provide students with a platform where they can learn technology in a practical and activity based manner and implement concepts that have been learned as well. It endeavors to empower common masses with latest technology via Hardware, Software, AI, Robotics, Automations & IoT and make them competitive like their counterparts in industrialized countries.

Achievements & Milestones

Robolab was awarded with Startup of the Year award under future education category at the World startup Expo 2016. Many prestigious newspapers like The Times of India, Dainik Jagran, DNA, Amar Ujala and others have written about Robolab. Robolab has 12 clients in 7 States in India and is completely bootstrapped. They are also offering technical solutions to the Indian military.

Website Address

www.robolab.in

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Schoolguru Eduserve Pvt. Ltd.

Founder(s)

Shantanu Rooj

Solution Statement

The venture is a platform that enables Universities to create and manage their Digital Learning programs. As a part of the platform, they provide technical assistance, content, assessment and skilled workforce to their customers.

Achievements & Milestones

SchoolGuru has 18 universities in India as their clients and are serving about 1,50,000 students across 50 programs. Launching the Hybrid app and Alumni management system have been their major accomplishments.

Website Address

www.schoolguru.in

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Simulanis

Founder(s)

Raman Talwar

Solution Statement

Simulanis has developed Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) applications with a view to bridge the skillsgap between industry demands and engineering education curriculum, intended for students, under-graduates, graduates and professionals, revolving around the K-12, Higher Education (Engineering) and Vocational segments.

Achievements & Milestones

One of their biggest milestones is the accomplishment of their set target till date. The year 2015 saw many accomplishments by Simulanis like integration with VR hardware, winning the first paying client, and developing and selling the consumer version of their flagship AR technology application. Currently, they have succeeded in integrating their applications with some of the finest AR-VR hardware provided by their partners.

Website Address

www.simulanis.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Sirena Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Founder(s)

Hariharan Bojan (B.E.)

Solution Statement

Sirena Technologies are the Game changers in the sector of education. They endeavour to revolutionize the methods of teaching in schools by introducing Robotics as a way of learning. Robotics, they believe must not be taken up only as an extra-curricular activity but to make students understand and grasp the core concepts of the subject.

Achievements & Milestones

SIRENA Tech has built the first of its kind Humanoid "Nino", whose design and development is done out of Bangalore which brings unique value proposition for the technical institutions & schools providing them an opportunity to do research, learn & contribute. Currently, they are deploying their products in about 100 schools and plan to engage 1000 schools in the coming year. They train school teachers who are â&#x20AC;&#x153;Sirenaâ&#x20AC;? certified to teach robotics in schools across India.

Website Address

www.sirenatech.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Skidos Labs

Founder(s)

Aditya Prakash (MBA - ISB)

Solution Statement

Skidos Labs strives to make learning fun and a part of their daily routine for children. Learning doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t require any extra effort on the part of a child, his usual play games can be transformed in to a learning tool. This has been made possible by Skidos labs who build software to transform fun mobile games into learning apps for children.

Achievements & Milestones

Skidos is a startup with the sole focus on Game Based Learning and currently have 7 Games online. Till date, they have 250,000 users on board and are earning profits since the beginning of the year 2017.

Website Address

www.skidos.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

SRJNA (Elation Edtech Pvt. Ltd.)

Founder(s)

Sharad Bansal, Vivek Patha, Om Prakash, Kapil Arya (All IIT & XLRI Alumuni)

Solution Statement

SRJNA is different from other edtech companies who build solutions and services for students. Teachers are equally important in driving a change in the sector of education but they are confronted with challenges of time constraints and depleted motivation. Elation Edtech solves these issues by providing teaching aids and curriculum based content to the teachers to save time and boost their motivation for effective delivery of lectures in the class.

Achievements & Milestones

The first achievement is mapping of NCERT K-10 curriculum for Science and Maths with their teaching aids and services. Next is the association with San Franciscoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Tinkering Labs to introduce tinkering kits for the first time in India.

Website Address

www.srjna.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

StudyMarvel

Founder(s)

Yash Bodane (PGDM), Soma Sharma (B.Tech) and Mayank Lambhate (B.Tech)

Solution Statement

Study Marvel is an Augmented Reality based startup that develops products for the education and Print Media sectors. It aims to provide students with hand-on and practical training in the subject. They endeavor to build immersive content for the students and increase their retention power by enabling them to engage, act and learn in the process.

Achievements & Milestones

They have several awards to their credit, major being the AR/VR summit in 2016. They successfully launched Immersive Chemistry at VG Gujarat startup summit. They were one of the semi-finalists at IIT Kharagpur flagship event held in January 2017.

Website Address

www.studymarvel.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Walnut Knowledge Solutions

Founder(s)

Raghav Chakravarthy & Sachin Ravi

Solution Statement

Walnut Knowledge Solutions offers solutions in the form of contextual questions and stories to arouse curiosity in children about their surroundings as well as their career interests helping them take better decisions.

Achievements & Milestones

Walnut’s offline quizzing product called ‘QuizShala’, that has been running for the past 2-and-a-half years in schools in Bengaluru, having engaged over 12000 children. They have created over 15,000 questions on a variety of topics making content which is accessible, informative and competitive.

Website Address

www.walnuts.co.in

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Wiksate Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Founder(s)

Girish Gopalakrishnan(BE- NITT, MS -Bristol, UK), Sudhakshina Girish (BE- Pune Univ.), Prof. Suryanarayan Srinivaasan (PHD, IISc)

Solution Statement

Wikstate is an informal learning platform that utilizes technology to facilitate engagement amongst students in informal learning and analyse their educational experience. On offer is a suite of solutions to make learning intelligent and to cater to Corporates, Educational Institutes, Recruiters and Individuals.

Achievements & Milestones

The first commercial version of the product was sold in November 2014. Since then, they have introduced many new versions and features in their product. Recently, they created a segmentation of their product which was launched with 7 unique offerings to be packaged as per the clientâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s needs.

Website Address

www.wiksate.com

March 2017

COVER STORY

#DISRUPTION2017

Startup Name

Wonderslate Technologies

Founder(s)

Anand Achyut (B.E.)

Solution Statement

Wonderslate is a one stop solution for publishers that attempts to deliver digitally published educational content via its educational deliverance operating system Wonderpublish. The platform converts the educational content available from various resources into digital smart books and sells them online to enhance the learning experience of the students. Being well supported by all analytical tools, the technology can be utilized by the publisher to generate revenue through his digital content.

Achievements & Milestones

The company was incorporated in October 2015 while the first round of seed funding came in January 2016. Beta launch of Wonderslate took place in March 2016 with Wonderpublish launched in December 2016. Current month has seen many major publishers signing on the platform. The launch of Books Mojo is due in May 2017.

Website Address

www.wonderpublish.com

March 2017

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS

Technology Meets

Reality

March 2017

Anjana Deepak writeback@scoonews.com

he world is on a mission to keep up with the pace of development. The human race has always been and will continue to be on the look-out for something bigger and better. One such area that has seen a meteoric rise is technology. Things that we only imagined till about a decade ago are now a reality including Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR), but what is it that we mean by these?

VIRTUAL REALITY (VR)

With Augmented Reality, users are able to interact with virtual contents in the real world, and are able to distinguish between the two. Go nowhere, and be transported anywhere. What a wonderful proposition to work with.

Virtual Reality is the creation of a virtual world in which users can interact with the virtual surroundings in real time. It is designed in such a way that a user cannot tell the difference between what is real and what is not. Virtual Reality is usually achieved by wearing a VR helmet or goggles similar to the Oculus Rift.

AUGUMENTED REALITY (AR) The merging of virtual reality with real life is Augmented Reality. Developers can create a character or an image within an application that will blend in with the real world. In the case of AR, people are able to interact and distinguish between virtual contents and the real world. Augmented Reality devices usually use some sort of geo location, such as GPS data of a userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s device. It super imposes graphics, audio and other sensory enhancements over a real world environment in real time. This helps the userâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s immediate surroundings to be seamlessly integrated in the app in a way that makes it more personal.

March 2017

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS Emraan Kureshi Founder & MD, Active Media Innovations says “The Planet is on the evolution stage, technology is evolving with new trends and user experiences. The education industry is evolving with engaging new trends for students Black boards -have become interactive white boards

VIRTUAL REALITY AND AUGMENTED REALITY IN EDUCATION

Work books have become applications. Benches have transformed to digital desks (touch screens tables) Classroom teaching changed to Virtual teaching Since the evolution of digital media in the education systems, we have seen a great trend changing now to AR & VR. When a VR head gear is worn, the immersion happens in the digital world most importantly it controls the sensory parts of the human body (eyes and ears) that triggers the communication to the mind. The mind is the most receptive

3 MAIN CATEGORIES OF AUGMENTED REALITY TOOLS Augmented Reality 3D Viewers uses life size 3D models in your environment with or without the use of trackers. Trackers are simple devices that can be attached to the 3D models of the AR. Augmented Reality Browsers uses your camera display with contextual information. For example, you can point your smartphone at a building and it will display the history and its estimated value. Augmented Reality Games utilizes the actual surroundings the user is in and creates an immersive gaming experience. The biggest game to-date that uses augmented reality is none other than Pokémon Go. A game where the player needs to move about his surroundings to find a Pokémon. Augmented Reality devices like the

smart phone and tablets act like a magic mirror where the viewer can see holograms and can manipulate 3D models. Hundreds of AR apps are available on iPhone, iPad and Android. PC’s and connected TV Players can also use AR by using a webcam. The contents are then relayed to the screen. Like the PlayStation Move and the Xbox Kinect. Head mounted displays, glasses and lenses are also used to make AR more lifelike by being an active part of the entire user’s field of view. For example we have seen how Ironman interacts with Jarvis, which is uber cool. As we know digital interaction has been around for a while now, through the use of computers and the internet. But now the face of this digital interaction is changing. VR and AR are now being implemented into primary and secondary education. Let’s say for example, for teaching students about the Egyptian temples, these monuments can be recreated in a 3D environment where the students can be surrounded by this environment without having to leave the classroom. How

March 2017

when a FOCUSED communication is playing directly one inch away from your eyes. Internationally in European & American countries VR coaching has started, where a student need not come to a classroom if he/she missed class, the class can be directly streamed on a VR app. With the VR gear the immersion directly happens through recorded or streamed content. A very visual and interactive technology ‘Augmented Reality’ has also emerged, where the content of text books transforms to AR content just by placing a TAB on it. The inbuilt AR marker in the text books make the communication more informative and easy to understand with its 3D effects and animations. The trend of futuristic education is TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATION WITH EDUCATION...soon in India we will see a transformation in the education system where AR will be used and VR will be integrated to make education more interesting, informative and interactive.”

about diving into the ocean and observing the flora and fauna found under the sea or watch a heart beating right in the middle of your classroom? That’s the kind of immersive and interactive education AR and VR can offer in the world of education. This is no more science fiction but can be entirely done with the appropriate devices. VR, though, initially developed for the gaming industry, today has a huge potential in education and training How about diving into the ocean and getting a lesson about the flora and fauna found under the sea or watch a heart beating right in the middle of your classroom? InMediaStudio has created the Immersive Worlds Project which promotes the method of immersive learning. The teacher activates scenarios on a tablet and through virtual reality glasses a student can immerse themselves in a sea bed environment to learn about marine biology. There are no textbooks used as the learning comes from being taken through the

Emraan Kureshi MD, Active Media Innovations

ocean environment. There is no better way than actually being surrounded in the environment youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re learning about. The teacher can also monitor what a student is seeing as it appears on the tablet. This ensures that the student takes away immense learning and the right questions can be asked and mistakes can be corrected. Meanwhile, Alchemy VR is creating an immersive educational experience in the form of a narrative on various topics where the user will get to see and experience myriad things. One such example is exploring the Great Barrier Reef. What makes Alchemy VR standout in this space is their partnerships which contribute to the high level of content they produce. Alchemy VR has partnered with Samsung, Google Expeditions, Sony, HTC, the Natural History Museum in London, and the Australian Museum in Sydney. They have made several projects for Google Expeditions which will soon release experiences on pyramids and the human body. Nearpod is an organization that

merges VR and AR technology with traditional lessons in a classroom for an immersive technology driven approach to learning. It utilizes 360 degree photos and videos in lesson plans. There are also options where students answer questions by typing into their laptop or tablet. Nearpod VR is giving us an idea of what the future of classrooms will look like. Curiscope is a start-up company focusing on VR in education , they have developed a Virtual Tee which is already turning heads. It works with one person wearing the t-shirt while another person with a smartphone launching the app and helps in learning about the human body in a remarkable way. This is a unique way to utilize AR in education and it is surely a sign of good things to come from Curiscope. More and more teachers, researchers and developers are contributing their ideas and inventions to create more interactive learning environments, resulting in some of the most creative, engaging experiences imaginable. Some examples of Augmented Reality

used to enhance education are: Augmented Reality Development Lab seeks to design projects that entertain as well as educate and are affiliated to companies such as Google, Microsoft and Logitech. Their goal is for classrooms to be able to purchase their user kits that come at different price levels and involves them in creating interactive, three dimensional objects for educational purposes. New Horizon helps some Japanese students and adults in learning and reviewing English lessons through first generation of augmented reality textbooks, courtesy, the publisher Tokyo Shoseki, for the New Horizon class. It is an app that uses the camera of the smartphone to present animated character conversations when aligned with certain sections of pages. Mentira in Albuquerque fuses fact and fiction, fantasy characters and real people to learn Spanish in the first AR language learning game. It intentionally mimics the structure of a historical murder mystery novel which allows for

March 2017

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS deeper more effective engagement with native speakers than many classroom lessons. Sky Map and Star Walk is available on mobile devices. It seems deceptively simple but packs a major punch of education via an AR approach. It requires the device to be pointed to the sky and will name the visible stars, planets and constellations and will also pop up additional astronomical information.

HELPING KIDS LEARN DIFFERENTLY Kids are some of the earliest adopters of technology. They are the ones who are into cool gadgets and apps. Developers are now looking to find the best possible ways to combine technology with traditional toys. There are several companies that are presently working on finding the perfect marriage between these two. With kids involved in technology there is a huge market for AR and VR, be it in play or education. SwapBots is an organization that fuses

traditional play with technology. A perfect example of a union between a traditional toy and AR technology is SwapBots, which are toys that kids can collect, customize, and battle with other swapbots using their smartphones. The other major advantage of this product is that it’s not too heavy on the pockets of parents which is an important factor for companies to consider while targeting kids. Developers are now looking to find the best possible ways to combine technology with traditional toys. Osmo is a projector which gets mounted at the top of an iPad and placed in a base so its standing upright and can see what is in front of it. Once you have this set up there are several things that you can do including games that involve shapes, basic coding, words, numbers, drawing and more. One such example of these games is called Newton, where balls fall from the top of the screen and the kids have to direct it into targets. It is accomplished by drawing various shapes to direct the balls into the targets. Osmo is a creative way to engage kids in educational play while combining technology. These are just a few examples. There are numerous other companies which have come out with different apps and games that are dedicated to various fields.

INDUSTRIES THAT ARE EMBRACING AR AND VR Education: Google announced the release of Expeditions, a virtual reality platform built for classrooms. Healthcare: Snow World, a VR experience helps burn victim’s deal with rehabilitation and wound care by distracting them with an immersive, snowy environment featuring snowball throwing penguins.

The future of education needs Greater Level of Engagement Exploratory discovery, experience-based, fun, awakens curiosity for learning. It helps one to remember longer, decide better and learn faster. Sridhar Sunkad, MD EON Reality Pte Ltd

Journalism: In late 2015, the New York Times, Outside Magazine and other publications embraced 360- Degree Videos to tell journalistic stories. Movie Industry: Major motion pictures like Star Wars, Jurassic World, Insurgent, The Avengers: Age of Ultron and others have released VR experiences to generate interest, excitement and a strong brand association.

March 2017

Automotive: Ford Motor Co. uses virtual reality to design cars before making an actual physical prototype. In Ford’s Immersion Lab, designers can use an Oculus Rift to walk around the car and even sit inside the vehicle to get an early idea of the customer experience. Retail: Augmented Reality app MODIFACE offers what it calls a Mirror. Users can look into a tablet and use to change the colour of their eyes and make-up. MODIFACE also has other apps that let you try different hairstyles, hair colour, nail colour or wedding dresses. The app is a dream come true for women who can now make informed choices before buying a product. A world of career opportunities is opening up as the industry continues to expand. Potential positions for job seekers might include UX/UI Designers, Unity Developers, 3D Modellers, Animators, Project Managers and Videographers. People who are interested in a career in this field need to be up to date on the trends- following social media conversations, attending webinars and conferences and by participating in online communities. VR entered the market for consumers in 2013 with the launch of the Oculus Rift Development Kit. The year 2016 brought consumers a new range of VR devices such as HTC Vive and Sony PlayStation VR. The industry is estimated to sell 500 million VR headsets in less than 10 years and has a very promising future ahead. Going by the VR market and the demand for it, it is expected to grow by the billions by the year 2020 reaching an estimated worth of $30 billion . Combined, both AR and VR have the potential to reap a market revenue of $150 billion.

VIRTUAL REALITY VS. AUGMENTED REALITY Though VR is always going to enclose your eyes and ears with lenses, displays and headphones , AR will be neatly tucked into the sides of your eyewear. AR glasses will cause etiquette problems as they 'disappear' whereas VR will go the other way with us very clearly 'plugging in' to a virtual world for a session. With pass-through cameras there could even be some kind of hybrid wearable that offers both. AR specs are lighter, more comfortable and are

Apple CEO Tim Cook seems to be a much bigger fan of augmented reality than virtual reality. "My own view is that augmented reality is the larger of the two, probably by far, because this gives the capability for both of us to sit and be very present talking to each other, but also have other things visually for both of us to see," Cook said. "Maybe it's something we're talking about, maybe it's someone else here that is not here, present, but could be made to appear to be present with us. So there's a lot of really cool things there."

more likely to be wireless than the VR headsets. As for price, it's all a bit of a muddle. Oculus Rift is $599, HTC Vive is $200 or more (but includes controllers), PS VR will be $399, Google Glass was $1,500 the HoloLensdev kit is a whopping $3,000. But you can also pick up mobile VR headsets for less than $10. Both AR and VR are said to be the future of training medical students as they are poised to replace textbooks. Microsoft has partnered with universities in the US and released a video to show how AR can teach anatomy. And in museums and education. â&#x20AC;&#x201C; What is this? Samsung is trialling both VR and AR in projects such as First Life at the Natural History Museum and Parthenon sculptures and Bronze Age exhibitions at the British Museum.

Samsung sees both AR and VR as emerging technologyies - not competing options but as different tools available for use depending on the subject matter and size of the group. The AR usage in industry is offering huge benefits by way of heads up display that keeps hands free and handy information in the users line of sight including NASA engineers and astronauts, construction and factory workers and airline customer service staff. We've also recently seen Google Glass pivot with a quiet comeback with plans to distribute the smart specs to companies and enterprises depending on their specific needs. That's key because often wearableâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most useful asset is their ability to be extremely specific to a person, place or situation in terms of design, size, safety and content.

March 2017

TECHNOLOGY FOCUS FUTURE OF VIRTUAL REALITY AND AUGMENTED REALITY The AR and VR technology has weaved itself into the education, industrial and even military sectors. There might be differences between the two technologies but both are being embraced with open arms across fields due to the ease with which tasks can be performed or learnt which was not possible a few years before. Educators have been using VR games not only as a source of fun but also to make a substantial difference in learning. Students need encouragement and inspiration to explore their capabilities. VR will eventually imbibe a desire for exploration more toward intellect and away from play. “The world of reality has its limits; the world of imagination is boundless” said Jean-Jacques Rousseau, speaking in the 18th century. Students need encouragement and inspiration to explore their capabilities. The potential for Virtual and Augmented reality paired with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance learning offers abundant possibilities. Augmented Reality applications can help students to see learning objects in 3D and guide them in understanding difficult concepts. AR visualizations will become integral part of the learning process. In the near future, AR glasses will make this process even more seamless as visualizations will require only a voice command or tap on our eyewear. “VR/AR holds immense potential to revamp the education system by means of offering multiple benefits and opportunities to the traditional classroom learning. It would not be hyperbola to say, VR is the next step to democratization of the knowledge. With VR Classroom setting, the rights to avail knowledge by all according to preference rather than force, clearly evidence the same. With creation of optimum VR contents, competent structuring and greater accessibility of VR hardware devices, the integration of VR in the education field seems to mark a breakthrough in the future. VR/AR promises enhanced engagement, visibility, high-

Ford Motor Co. uses virtual reality to design cars before it makes a physical prototype. In Ford’s Immersion Lab, Designers can use an Oculus Rift to walk around the car and even sit inside the vehicle to get an early idea of the customer experience.

the man who spent $2 billion of Facebook's money on Luckey's VR Company Oculus, is enamoured. "We're working on VR because I think it's the next major computing and communication platform after phones," he said, "we'll have the power to share our full sensory and emotional experience with people whenever we'd like. Mark Zuckerberg

er retention, and focus. The application of best-in breed VR technology to the education field would attract even the most unresponsive users, making the traditional education system more alive, immersive and relevant. What emerges out of this analysis is, with VR/AR uniquely positioned, the education goes from abstract to innate in a blink of an eye. VR/AR shaping the future of education in a way, every student would avail the opportunities they had never met in traditional classroom settings.” Ankush Sharama, is the CEO of Yeppar, a startup focused on augmented and virtual reality solutions. The startup has fittingly restyled the manner in which people interact with print media like, newspapers, magazines, product catalogue etc… Virtual Reality will make the world’s best museums or marine life at the bot-

tom of the ocean instantly accessible. In addition, the use of hand controllers in VR will help student’s master practical skills through visual and haptic feedback. Virtual Reality and simulation environments will integrate experiential learning across the disciplines. As the technology improves, students will receive immediate feedback on their performance. Embedding game dynamics in educational experiences will allow students to master skills and progress at their own pace. AI engines and eye-tracking software will transform how students interact with immersive environments. With a simple scan, students will be able to access augmented models representing anything from a part of the human anatomy to a famous monument to a molecule. Also, students can access websites directly from the AR app. For example after scanning a photo linked with a 3D model of the Eiffel tower and viewing the augmented Eiffel tower, students can go directly to a web page with more information on the famous monument. This experience creates a complete learning cycle and students will be able to retain knowledge for a longer period of time. Mark Zuckerberg says “I think people tend to be worried about every new technology that comes along. Critics worry that if we spend time paying attention to that new kind of media or technology instead of talking to each other that is somehow isolating. But humans are fundamentally social. So I think in reality, if a technology doesn’t actually help us socially understand each other better, it isn’t going to catch on and succeed. You could probably go all the way back to the first books. I bet people said ‘why should you read when you could talk to other people?’ The point of reading is that you get to deeply immerse yourself in a person’s perspective. Right? Same thing with newspapers or phones or TVs. Soon it will be VR, I bet.” As we say time and tide waits for no one, technology is here to stay and will continue to progress in leaps and bounds. AR and VR it allows its users to immerse themselves into environments today. This will only improve the understanding of these environments and concepts and will result in better outcomes with fewer mistakes.

March 2017

PROFILE

A DIFFERENT THOUGHT (Billionaire with a Difference)

March 2017

When you have an abundant supply of money what would you do? Would you go on an expensive world holiday? Buy the fanciest things that money can buy? Or just donate 99% of it to the needy? Manoj Bhargava an entrepreneur and philanthropist did just that. Can’t believe it? Read on……

March 2017

PROFILE Anjana Deepak writeback@scoonews.com

hen you have an abundant supply of money what would you do? Would you go on an expensive world holiday? Buy the fanciest things that money can buy? Or just donate 99% of it to the needy? Manoj Bhargava an entrepreneur and philanthropist did just that. Can’t believe it? Read on…… Manoj Bhargava, born in Lucknow and now a citizen of the United States of America is the founder and CEO of Innovations Ventures LLC (dba Living Essentials LLC), the company was known for creating the 5 hour energy drink that took the market by storm. He made his fortune from this and was included in the billionaires list. In 2015 he pledged to give 99% of his wealth to the needy. He founded the Billions in Change Movement promoting changes to humanity through ground breaking ideas and inventions.

THEIR MISSION Billions in Change Movement’s mission is “The time for raising awareness is over. It is time to implement solutions to the most important global problems- water, energy and health.

WHAT MAKES HIM DIFFERENT? When we do charity in any size or form it helps the less fortunate to sustain themselves for a short period of time. What Manoj Bhargava decided to do for them was not give away his wealth but to use it to provide and sustain the very basics of human life. He says that every person needs electricity, clean drinking water and health care and this automatically takes the people out of poverty. This elevated human resource can now focus on making a living and fending for themselves. At his Stage 2 Innovations office he hopes to bring a hybrid bicycle with an output that would bring electricity in houses for a day. He says that even

if there was a hurricane like Katrina where people where in the dark, alone and had no ways of communication as they didn’t have power on their phones, this contraption would work beautifully since it requires no diesel. For Mr. Bhargava it’s all about simplicity. Another invention would be about a desalination machine which can turn thousands of gallons of sea water into pure drinking water. He wants to install these machines on barges around the coast that can pump clean water to the city through pipes and can solve the shortage of water that humans are facing today. Health care is another area that will help humanity in a big way. People always want to cure the illness by killing it and making ourselves well. But he puts a new perspective for health as to how about maintaining our wellness and getting the body strong enough to not allow these diseases affect the body. An external counter pulsation device that improves circulation to the body is something that he wants put out to the masses. He has been on this machine for 3 years and vouches that within the 3rd use he felt a vast difference. When Manoj Bhargava founded Stage 2 Innovations in 2011, along with former Chrysler CEO Thomas La Sorda, he fired most of his engineers. He says, “I would look at this bunch of people typing. And I kept thinking: what are they typing? They are supposed to be making stuff ” He started looking for people who liked to get their hands dirty- or tinkerers, as he calls them, “crazy people with no degrees who like to make stuff ”. For him experts are people who know what has already been done. He looks for people who have new ideas and thought processes. He’s extremely passionate about what he does and believes that it’s not work that he’s doing but a hobby that he passionately engages in. He’s always looking for people, who in his words, have a ‘Slam Dunk’ that will bring a huge change to the people. He doesn’t believe in good but in great ideas.

March 2017

Mr. Bhargava has developed a tool kit which he wants to roll out to schools as part of their academic curriculum. It features in-depth lesson plans and activities for middle and high school classrooms. The tool kit focuses on the issues, inventions, people and problemsolving philosophy behind Billions in Change. It provides academic rigor and real- world applications. The tool kit helps students develop new ideas and ways of thinking, not only in the understanding of problems but also in terms of the students potential, roles and citizens of the world. He says that the student group represent one quarter of the world’s population and they will be faced with a whole new set of social and environmental problems and that we from the current generation must prepare the people of tomorrow to face these issues.

THE GOAL OF THE TOOLKIT To inspire students with stories of real life solutions and encourage them to believe that they can play a huge part in bringing change for the betterment of humanity. Cultivating students’ cognitive, social and emotional development through new perspectives on global citizenship, empathy and problem solving. Understanding and combating the root causes of the problems that the world faces, specifically limited access to electricity, clean water and preventive health care. And to equip students with knowledge and skillsets required in communication, designing and actively being a part of the problem solving process.

THE TOOLKIT IS BROKEN UP INTO VARIOUS UNITS Unit 1: Introduction to Billions in Change and Manoj Bhargava. Unit 2: Problem Solving.

Unit 3: Discovering Citizenship. Unit 4: Electricity. Unit 5: Water. Unit 6: Preventive Healthcare. Unit 7: Agriculture. All of the above units provide in-depth study exploring and actively engaging student minds to come up with solutions for underlying problems. Understanding the concept, question and answers, activity based assignments and comparing each students ideas and thought process is done with the completion of each unit.

Tackling the root causes of these fundamental problems is the key to solving these issues. Mr. Bhargava feels when you are given power and wealth there is a huge responsibility to yourself as well as to the others. Using that wealth to create basic sustenance for people below the poverty line will impact how the world progresses. You can watch his documentary â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Billions in Changeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; at www.billionsinchange.com/film To know more about the toolkit, go to http://billionsinchange.com/education/ Be a part of the Movement, be a part of the change.

March 2017

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CONTENTS

14 COVER

How to banish exam stress? No gyan; all practical tips!

LINGUISTICS : The COMPLEXITIES of the English Language

INSPIRTION : MANN KI BAAT

38 guidance : AN ABSOLUTE NO NO

TECH IT OUT : 10 Sites That Teach You Coding for Free

EXPERIENCE : A night before the exams

JOURNEY : The man with many faces

34 EVENT WRAP UP Orbit Live : An event to put animation careers in orbit

February 2017

Volume 1

Issue 8

March 2017 IGNITING MINDS

Children must be taught how to think, not what to think Margaret Mead

STRAIGHT PRINTED AND PUBLISHED by Ravi Santlani on behalf of EduPulse Media Pvt. Ltd

TALK

Dr Sanjay Parva

Exams? So what?

y the time you read this, your exams must either have already started or might begin anytime now. Understandably you must be anxious. Being anxious is part of a student's life but when this state of anxiousness starts impacting your performance; you have turned it into a problem. Overload this problem with more and more anxiety and you have compounded this problem for yourself and most certainly for your parents and even your brothers and sisters. Almost everyone at home! But have you ever thought is this anxiety really needed? After all this is not the first time that you are appearing in an exam – you have been doing so throughout the year. This test, that test, class test, one more test, and mock test – all this has been going on. So what is the fuss about? And the question is what turns you more anxious towards the end of the term end than in the beginning of the term. The answer is simple. You have begun to focus more on the outcome than the act. Exams are a way of learning; ideally it should be taken as that and not as an assessment to prove your worth or lack of it in any subject. Towards the term end you begin to weigh yourself in terms of the grades that you will achieve than in terms of the knowledge that you have accumulated. Real knowledge is one that you have gained rather than what you exhibit in an hour of exam. It could well be possible your anxiety is making you unlearn a number of things at the last moment (Too complicated) You have to find the answer to this scenario. And it could very well lie in your fear for exams. Fear for exams is of your own making. It is like the fear of darkness. Nothing changes in darkness, if you venture into it; everything stays the same, although everything becomes invisible to the human eye. The invisibility is not due to darkness but the lack of light falling on things. It is the state of mind that changes and the response that your reflexes provide you to react in an untoward manner. Your response to the exams is somewhat similar – everything remains the same, except the light of your mind that you intercept except the way you interpret it (suggestion). You only can control it. Overcome fear.

Published for the month of March 2017 Total number of pages 140, including Covers

FIND US ON

February 2017

LINGUISTICS

The

COMPLEXITIES of the

English

LANGUAGE

The English language is in the top 10 list of the most spoken languages in the world. It is one of the most interesting languages not only for its words and sentences but also because simply changing the tone of a particular sentence can bring a different meaning to it.

e should be grateful that we have been introduced to the English language from an early age. One of the most widely spoken languages in the world is a bit of a muddle, from the pronunciations, accents, word meanings and their spellings. Once the basics are in place then it’s a breeze to comprehend this language. Well almost. Most middle class families in India want their kids to be educated in an English medium school, so they have the liberty and ease to explore the world at a later time and date without having too much of a constraint on language, as most of the world knows the language English and even if they don’t know it fluently a fair amount of knowledge is present.

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The Angles came from “Englaland” and their language was called “Englisc”, and it is from this that the words “England” and “English” were derived. HISTORY OF ENGLISH English was first brought to Britain in the mid-5th and 7th centuries AD with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain. The Tribes being The Angles, The Saxons and the Jutes. Before this invasion, Britain spoke a Celtic language. The Angles came from “Englaland” and their language was called “Englisc”, and it is from this that the words “England” and “English” were derived.

OLD ENGLISH Old English doesn’t sound like the language we speak today. Even their alphabet was different. But the most common words used in modern English have roots from the language of this era. For eg. Words like be, strong and water were derived from old English. This dialect

was spoken from 400 AD till about 1100 AD.

MIDDLE ENGLISH The Duke of Normandy, William the Conqueror in 1066 invaded and conquered England. With them ruling Britain they brought in a type of French that became the language of the Royal Court, the ruling and the business classes. There was a language barrier during this time where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. By the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again but with the addition of many French words. This dialect came to be known as Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Chaucer. It remained present from 1100 AD to 1500 AD.

EARLY MODERN ENGLISH By the end of the era of Middle English there was a change in pronunciation. From 1500 AD – 1800 AD the Early Modern English came into being as the British had connections with people from all over the World. Vowels were pronounced shorter and shorter. This meant that many new words and phrases entered the language. And with the

Did you know that there is no ham in hamburger and no egg in eggplant (brinjal) or that English muffins were not invented in England, or the French fry was not invented in France.

invention of printing there came about a standard for spelling and grammar. Hence the first dictionary was printed in the year 1604. This English existed from 1500- 1800 AD.

LATE MODERN ENGLISH Since the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth’s surface, the English embraced foreign words from many countries into its own. The late Modern English has many more words due to the Industrial Revolution and the emergence of technology for which new words were created. This was spoken from the 1800’s to present. When we study a language, say our mother tongue we find it extremely simple. That’s because we have learnt it growing up and is wired in our brains. Learning a new language takes getting used to. English is such a vast language which is complex due to the use of certain words, phrases and their spellings used in different contexts.

SOME INTERESTING EXAMPLES OF THE LANGUAGE COMPLEXITIES ARE There are Homonyms, same sounding words with different meanings and spellings eg: rise and rice. Synonyms a substitute word for another word, eg: shut and close have the same meanings. Antonyms are opposites of the word, eg: the opposite of tall is short. These are just a few. We also have the different tenses, singular and plural, masculine and feminine, etc. If you have a rough cough, climbing can be tough when going through the bough on a tree! And did you know that there is no ham in hamburger and no egg in eggplant (brinjal) or that English muffins were not invented in England, or the French fry was not invented in France. Then there are paradoxes, where we say that quicksand works slowly and the guinea pig is not from a guinea or from a pig. A boxing ring is square then why is it called a ring? Have you heard that noses run when you have a cold and that your feet can stink? Did you ever have a feeling that the English language was out to test you or get you? It makes us rack our brains to

be sure that we don’t make errors in the usage of words and their spellings. Why are there same sounding words in the first place? Why can’t different words have different spellings? Why do some words have letters in them that are not even used when pronouncing it? Their, there and they’re three words with the same pronunciation but different usage. Where, were and wear again the same thing. Boggles your mind every time doesn’t it? No matter how well versed we are with the language all of us at some point or the other have committed the error of using these words in our sentences. Don’t get me started on the words that use silent letters of the English alphabet. I’m sure that you’ll are also asking the same question “If it’s silent then why is it there?” The history of the English language says that it used to be phonemic (yup, that’s right got to learn a new word). Meaning the words looked and sounded the same. Over time pronunciation changed and since the words were already preserved by the printing press some of the letters became silent. Only 40% of modern day English is phonemic! Words like write, knee, wrist, psychology, daughter, half, all have silent letters. You might dread spelling, but it becomes very important in learning this language. What if you wanted to look up the word knowledge in the dictionary and you didn’t know the spelling. You’d probably look under the letter ‘N’. Silent letters are not there to confuse us, even though we think so. There are certain rules that explain which letters are supposed to be silent, before and after certain letters. Once we start practising these rules it’ll become easier to remember how the words need to be pronounced and will undoubtedly improve our speaking, spelling and writing skills. Learning the origins of words known as ‘Etymology’ is also very interesting. It is very fascinating as it provides the history of the words. There is a magic ‘e’ in words. If you add an ‘e’ at the end of words with short vowel sounds, it elongates the sound of the vowels, eg: tap/tape, con/cone, mat/mate and fin/fine. Pretty cool right?

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LINGUISTICS It’s said that if you can read 90% of this poem’s words correctly, then you can speak this language better than most and will earn you the title of an English pro. TRY READING ALOUD THE POEM BY GERARD NOLST TRENITÉ - THE CHAOS (1922) Dearest creature in creation Studying English pronunciation, I will teach you in my verse Sounds like corpse, corps, horse and worse.

Have you ever yet endeavoured To pronounce revered and severed, Demon, lemon, ghoul, foul, soul, Peter, petrol and patrol?

I will keep you, Susy, busy, Make your head with heat grow dizzy; Tear in eye, your dress you'll tear; Queer, fair seer, hear my prayer.

Billet does not end like ballet; Bouquet, wallet, mallet, chalet. Blood and flood are not like food, Nor is mould like should and would. Banquet is not nearly parquet, Which exactly rhymes with khaki. Discount, viscount, load and broad, Toward, to forward, to reward,

Pray, console your loving poet, Make my coat look new, dear, sew it! Just compare heart, hear and heard, Dies and diet, lord and word. Sword and sward, retain and Britain (Mind the latter how it's written). Made has not the sound of bade, Say-said, pay-paid, laid but plaid. Now I surely will not plague you With such words as vague and ague, But be careful how you speak, Say: gush, bush, steak, streak, break, bleak , Previous, precious, fuchsia, via Recipe, pipe, studding-sail, choir; Woven, oven, how and low, Script, receipt, shoe, poem, toe. Say, expecting fraud and trickery: Daughter, laughter and Terpsichore, Branch, ranch, measles, topsails, aisles, Missiles, similes, reviles. Wholly, holly, signal, signing, Same, examining, but mining, Scholar, vicar, and cigar, Solar, mica, war and far. From "desire": desirable-admirable from "admire", Lumber, plumber, bier, but brier, Topsham, brougham, renown, but known, Knowledge, done, lone, gone, none, tone, One, anemone, Balmoral, Kitchen, lichen, laundry, laurel. Gertrude, German, wind and wind, Beau, kind, kindred, queue, mankind, Tortoise, turquoise, chamois-leather, Reading, Reading, heathen, heather. This phonetic labyrinth Gives moss, gross, brook, brooch, ninth, plinth.

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Ricocheted and crocheting, croquet? Right! Your pronunciation's OK. Rounded, wounded, grieve and sieve, Friend and fiend, alive and live. Is your r correct in higher? Keats asserts it rhymes Thalia. Hugh, but hug, and hood, but hoot, Buoyant, minute, but minute. Say abscission with precision, Now: position and transition; Would it tally with my rhyme If I mentioned paradigm? Twopence, threepence, tease are easy, But cease, crease, grease and greasy? Cornice, nice, valise, revise, Rabies, but lullabies. Of such puzzling words as nauseous, Rhyming well with cautious, tortious, You'll envelop lists, I hope, In a linen envelope. Would you like some more? You'll have it! Affidavit, David, davit. To abjure, to perjure. Sheik Does not sound like Czech but ache. Liberty, library, heave and heaven, Rachel, loch, moustache, eleven. We say hallowed, but allowed, People, leopard, towed but vowed. Mark the difference, moreover, Between mover, plover, Dover. Leeches, breeches, wise, precise, Chalice, but police and lice,

Camel, constable, unstable, Principle, disciple, label. Petal, penal, and canal, Wait, surmise, plait, promise, pal,

Say in sounds correct and sterling Hearse, hear, hearken, year and yearling. Evil, devil, mezzotint, Mind the z! (A gentle hint.)

Suit, suite, ruin. Circuit, conduit Rhyme with "shirk it" and "beyond it", But it is not hard to tell Why it's pall, mall, but Pall Mall.

Now you need not pay attention To such sounds as I don't mention, Sounds like pores, pause, pours and paws, Rhyming with the pronoun yours;

Muscle, muscular, gaol, iron, Timber, climber, bullion, lion, Worm and storm, chaise, chaos, chair, Senator, spectator, mayor,

Nor are proper names included, Though I often heard, as you did, Funny rhymes to unicorn, Yes, you know them, Vaughan and Strachan.

Ivy, privy, famous; clamour Has the a of drachm and hammer. Pussy, hussy and possess, Desert, but desert, address. Golf, wolf, countenance, lieutenants Hoist in lieu of flags left pennants. Courier, courtier, tomb, bomb, comb, Cow, but Cowper, some and home.

No, my maiden, coy and comely, I don't want to speak of Cholmondeley. No. Yet Froude compared with proud Is no better than McLeod.

"Solder, soldier! Blood is thicker", Quoth he, "than liqueur or liquor", Making, it is sad but true, In bravado, much ado. Stranger does not rhyme with anger, Neither does devour with clangour. Pilot, pivot, gaunt, but aunt, Font, front, wont, want, grand and grant. Arsenic, specific, scenic, Relic, rhetoric, hygienic. Gooseberry, goose, and close, but close, Paradise, rise, rose, and dose. Say inveigh, neigh, but inveigle, Make the latter rhyme with eagle. Mind! Meandering but mean, Valentine and magazine. And I bet you, dear, a penny, You say mani-(fold) like many, Which is wrong. Say rapier, pier, Tier (one who ties), but tier. Arch, archangel; pray, does erring Rhyme with herring or with stirring? Prison, bison, treasure trove, Treason, hover, cover, cove, Perseverance, severance. Ribald Rhymes (but piebald doesn't) with nibbled. Phaeton, paean, gnat, ghat, gnaw, Lien, psychic, shone, bone, pshaw. Don't be down, my own, but rough it, And distinguish buffet, buffet; Brood, stood, roof, rook, school, wool, boon, Worcester, Boleyn, to impugn.

But mind trivial and vial, Tripod, menial, denial, Troll and trolley, realm and ream, Schedule, mischief, schism, and scheme. Argil, gill, Argyll, gill. Surely May be made to rhyme with Raleigh, But you're not supposed to say Piquet rhymes with sobriquet. Had this invalid invalid Worthless documents? How pallid, How uncouth he, couchant, looked, When for Portsmouth I had booked! Zeus, Thebes, Thales, Aphrodite, Paramour, enamoured, flighty, Episodes, antipodes, Acquiesce, and obsequies. Please don't monkey with the geyser, Don't peel 'taters with my razor, Rather say in accents pure: Nature, stature and mature. Pious, impious, limb, climb, glumly, Worsted, worsted, crumbly, dumbly, Conquer, conquest, vase, phase, fan, Wan, sedan and artisan. The th will surely trouble you More than r, ch or w. Say then these phonetic gems: Thomas, thyme, Theresa, Thames. Thompson, Chatham, Waltham, Streatham, There are more but I forget 'emWait! I've got it: Anthony, Lighten your anxiety. The archaic word albeit Does not rhyme with eight-you see it; With and forthwith, one has voice, One has not, you make your choice.

March 2017

LINGUISTICS Shoes, goes, does *. Now first say: finger; Then say: singer, ginger, linger. Real, zeal, mauve, gauze and gauge, Marriage, foliage, mirage, age,

Bass, large, target, gin, give, verging, Ought, oust, joust, and scour, but scourging; Ear, but earn; and ere and tear Do not rhyme with here but heir.

Hero, heron, query, very, Parry, tarry fury, bury, Dost, lost, post, and doth, cloth, loth, Job, Job, blossom, bosom, oath.

Mind the o of off and often Which may be pronounced as orphan, With the sound of saw and sauce; Also soft, lost, cloth and cross.

Faugh, oppugnant, keen oppugners, Bowing, bowing, banjo-tuners Holm you know, but noes, canoes, Puisne, truism, use, to use?

Pudding, puddle, putting. Putting? Yes: at golf it rhymes with shutting. Respite, spite, consent, resent. Liable, but Parliament.

Though the difference seems little, We say actual, but victual, Seat, sweat, chaste, caste, Leigh, eight, height, Put, nut, granite, and unite.

Seven is right, but so is even, Hyphen, roughen, nephew, Stephen, Monkey, donkey, clerk and jerk, Asp, grasp, wasp, demesne, cork, work.

Reefer does not rhyme with deafer, Feoffer does, and zephyr, heifer. Dull, bull, Geoffrey, George, ate, late, Hint, pint, senate, but sedate.

A of valour, vapid vapour, S of news (compare newspaper), G of gibbet, gibbon, gist, I of antichrist and grist,

Gaelic, Arabic, pacific, Science, conscience, scientific; Tour, but our, dour, succour, four, Gas, alas, and Arkansas.

Differ like diverse and divers, Rivers, strivers, shivers, fivers. Once, but nonce, toll, doll, but roll, Polish, Polish, poll and poll.

Say manoeuvre, yacht and vomit, Next omit, which differs from it Bona fide, alibi Gyrate, dowry and awry.

Pronunciation-think of Psyche!Is a paling, stout and spiky. Won't it make you lose your wits Writing groats and saying "grits"?

Sea, idea, guinea, area, Psalm, Maria, but malaria. Youth, south, southern, cleanse and clean, Doctrine, turpentine, marine.

It's a dark abyss or tunnel Strewn with stones like rowlock, gunwale, Islington, and Isle of Wight, Housewife, verdict and indict.

Compare alien with Italian, Dandelion with battalion, Rally with ally; yea, ye, Eye, I, ay, aye, whey, key, quay!

Don't you think so, reader, rather, Saying lather, bather, father? Finally, which rhymes with enough, Though, through, bough, cough, hough, sough, tough??

Say aver, but ever, fever, Neither, leisure, skein, receiver. Never guess-it is not safe, We say calves, valves, half, but Ralf.

Hiccough has the sound of sup... My advice is: GIVE IT UP!

Starry, granary, canary, Crevice, but device, and eyrie, Face, but preface, then grimace, Phlegm, phlegmatic, ass, glass, bass.

The English language is a little daunting to learn for people who are learning it for the first time. You can be sure even in a lifetime it would be pretty impossible to learn all of its intricacies. But the lunacy and the uniqueness of it is what piques our interest to keep learning this language.

Learning the origins of words known as â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Etymologyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is also very interesting. It is very fascinating as it provides the history of the words. March 2017

INSPIRATION

MANN KI

BAAT Anjana Deepak writeback@scoonews.com

my young friends.

ith exams looming around the corner, stress levels are on a high. Our dear Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the Nation on All India Radio about exams and the stress that comes with it and offered words of wisdom on how to deal with it.

HERE ARE SOME EXCERPTS FROM HIS SPEECH “My young friends, January, February, March, April – all these are for every family, months of most severe test! Normally it is one or two children in a home due to appear for their exams, but the entire family feels the burden of it. This led me to believe that this is the right time for me to talk to my student friends, their guardians and their teachers, because for many years now, wherever I have gone, whomsoever I have met, examination appeared to be a great source of anxiety. Therefore, today I want to talk in some detail with

I received a telephonic message from Srishti. You too listen to what Srishti has to say: “Sir, I want to tell you that during exam time, very often in our homes, in the neighbourhood and in our society, a very terrifying and scary atmosphere pervades. This leads to a situation, where the students instead of feeling inspired feel tremendously down. So I just want to ask you this, can’t this be transformed into a pleasant atmosphere?” After a year of hard work, one has the opportunity to display one’s capabilities, so this should be a festival of joy and enthusiasm. But there are very few people for whom there is pleasure in the exam; for most people exam means pressure! Now, it is up to you to decide whether you consider the exams pleasure or pressure. Those who will consider it a pleasure will have achievements, while those who will consider exams a pressure, may have to repent. And when there is a festive mood of celebration,

March 2017

the best within us comes out. You will witness for yourself the ensuing change. The more time these days you will spend being happy, the more will be the number of marks you will score. You must have noticed that when you are happy, you are smiling, you become relaxed automatically, and when you relax, instinctively you’re able to recollect very old things also quite effortlessly. It is not that you do not have the knowledge, it is not that you do not have the information, and it is not that you have not worked hard! But when there is tension, your knowledge, your wisdom, your information – all these buckle under and the tension rides over you. And therefore it is necessary to remember that a happy mind is the secret for a good mark sheet’! Sometimes it also appears that we are not able to perceive examinations in a proper perspective. It seems to become a question of life and death. See, the exam you are going to appear for is the exam for which you have studied the entire year. But it is not a test of your life. It is not a test of

“The Spring of Life is Here” what kind of life you have lived, how the life you are living now is and what is the life you aspire to live. We all have before us the extremely inspiring example of our former President Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam. He appeared for the recruitments for the Air Force, and failed in that. Now suppose that this failure had caused him to become dejected, to concede defeat in his life, then would India have found such a great scientist and such a glorious President? No, never!

ahead in life but it is competing with ourselves or ‘ANUSPARDHA’, which takes our life forward. How can tomorrow be made better than yesterday! How can a future occasion be used to improve upon the past results.

answer is wrong. But we somehow believe that the other’s actually wrong answer is the right one, which leads to our own undoing . Thus unfair means lead us nowhere. ‘To cheat is to be cheap, so please do not cheat’.

Marks and mark-sheets serve a limited purpose. Life is not confined to these only. Life truly means what is the knowledge that you have acquired. It is the knowledge that is going to be of use to you in life, so are skills, self-confidence and determination.

Put yourself to test, and you’ll find that a defeat in competition with others results in frustration, disappointment, despair and jealousy, but ‘Anuspardha’ or ‘competition with self ’ leads to self-analysis and introspection and makes our determination stronger and more resolute. And when we prevail on ourselves, then the motivation to do better becomes innate, you don’t need any external sources of energy. That energy is generated from within on its own. And you’ll witness for yourself the positive change that it will bring about in you.

In my opinion, three things are crucial – proper rest, the other is the requisite amount of sleep and the third is the body, which is a major component, way beyond mental activity. Other parts of the body too require physical activity. And hence I will say, “P for prepare and P for play’, one who plays blossoms, the person who plays, shines. This is a wonderful remedy for maintaining the vigour of the mind, brain and body.

Studies are definitely useful for testing our own mettle; to know where I stood yesterday and where I stand today. ‘PRATISPARDHA’, meaning ‘competition with others’. It is a huge psychological battle. In reality, it is not the competition with others that takes us

There are times when not having enough confidence in oneself makes one crave to peep into a fellow student’s answer sheet, may be just to confirm if one has written the correct answer. Sometimes it happens that our own answer is correct and the other’s

Keeping your resolve in mind, with confidence in yourself, set out for your exams. My best wishes to you. In order to clear a test, treat the test as a festive occasion. You will never feel a test, a test again. Make headway with this Mantra”. We at ScooNews also wish you “ALL THE BEST” for your exams.

March 2017

COVER STORY

March 2017

How to

exam

BANISH stress? No gyan; all practical tips! Stress is not what you get; it is what you take. And exams have been conducted since times immemorial; there is nothing new in it â&#x20AC;&#x201C; it is just that stress has been the recent addition in the curriculum. The one who added it is you â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and only you can banish it!

March 2017

COVER STORY Dr Sanjay Parva editor@scoonews.com

he famous American football coach Paul Eugene Brown has said: "The key to winning is poise under stress". You might say here is another baba distributing his gyan on stress. But, read on! Bet that simply the idea of banishing exam stress will leave you thrilled to resume your studies with enthusiasm. “Exam stress is worrying about failure in the exam. Do not take the stress, it’s harmful for health, for your concentration and makes things worse than better. Take a deep breath, do these exercises, make such a timetable, eat a healthy diet and so on.” Aren’t all sites, books and newspapers sounding the same a month before your exams? It seems you are their only target to share their wisdom. And you get so overloaded with wisdom that even wisdom begins to stress you. “We’ve had it enough. As it is we are stressed, and these gyan lecturers are busy distributing their wisdom to us. Why don’t they leave us alone and let us be ourselves? Or even if they want to help us genuinely, give us something we can rely upon. Not these outdated and boring breathing exercises.” Your reaction is the same, right? Obviously, one would react in such a manner when he is stressed and on the top of it the lectures from family, relatives, and these gyan gurus.But, nothing of that sort will be dwelt with here. You only have to read on to know.

STUDY FOR YOURSELF AND TO LEARN Before discussing the ways to eliminate stress, do you know the full form of EXAMS? “Examination” would be your answer; however, it is actually “Excitement and Masti with Studies”. Hope half of your stress would be relieved on knowing the exact meaning of exams? You would be wondering, how exams could mean excitement and masti? Why not? After all, it’s we who have made the examination time a tough and testing one, a time to take stress. Though your parents and teachers have a lot of expectations from you to score well in exams but remember you are not appearing the exam for them, it

is for yourself.

hence the exam stress.

If you score well in exams, you will be appreciated by your teachers, parents, and friends. But, if not, they will be the one to scold you and feel annoyed. This means you are appearing in exams to get affection and appreciation from them; your self-esteem and confidence are based on their judgement.

Such parental pressures are common in every household. Let their expectations be and don’t get overwhelmed by them. Don’t retaliate and oppose your parents openly, but try to talk freely about your desires, capacity to learn and how you wish to proceed with your preparations.

Examination is Excitement and Masti with Studies. When you understand this, half of of your stress would be relieved. If they approve of you, you feel confident otherwise not. Though it’s normal to have expectations, but, ultimately you study for yourself and not for other’s sake. Your focus for study should be an enhancement in your learning and not just score grades to achieve others’ appreciation.

You must study for yourself, keeping your learning process at the centre stage and you will automatically score well in exams. Having an open conversation with your parents and handling their expectations with a calm mind will help them understand your stress and make them supportive in your exam preparations. By remaining silent or accusing them, you would make the matters worse.

Remember the character Tyrion Lannister in the series Game of Thrones. Though he is small in size but makes up for his weakness by his highlevel intellect. All the more, despite his size, he has a girlfriend.

At 13 or even 14, 15, 16 one should just be doing two things – playing and studying. You have only been studying, hence the exam stress. Was that too philosophical? Yeah! It seems to be so, but you need to set a clear goal for your studies; whether it’s just passing an exam or learning something new. Once you proceed with a clear aim, you can make your study time fun and interesting by exploring various ways to learning a concept; rather than just memorising and forgetting it later.

What does the character display? What message does he want to convey? “Just stop trying to impress people around or care about what they say. Even if you do something cool, they may find reasons to disapprove you.” Similarly, you must not focus on unusual expectations laid by your teachers and parents. Agreed, today’s schools and parents lay emphasis only on the grades obtained by the student and you can’t change the system. But, at least you can change your perspective towards your studies and exams. Most of the students get stressed at the exam time due to the pressure of expectations by their parents and teachers. No TV, no phones, no hanging out with friends, no chatting on social media, in short nothing else than books must be your companion during exam time, are the instructions given by most parents. Revealing his agony about parental pressure, Mayank Srivastava, a 13year-old boy says that his family dreams about his admission in one of the top colleges of IIT. However, Tushar is least interested in IIT and wishes to gain admission in one of the fine arts college. And by the way isn’t 13 too early an age to think about IIT? At 13 or even 14, 15, 16 one should just be doing two things – playing and Studying. You have only been studying,

February 2017

Because once you learn and understand a concept, it will be imbibed in your memory for life and you wouldn’t require an extra effort to remember it. Contrastingly, just cramming and memorising the lessons would give no result. They would be forgotten due to stress and you won’t be able to reproduce them in the examination; further adding to your stress. Moreover, the approach of the students towards the exam is very cynical. They feel that the schools conduct exams to test their knowledge, but actually, it’s not a test, it’s an opportunity to know your strengths and weaknesses. Exams are a medium where you know your field of excellence and shortcomings related to your studies.

ENGAGE IN CREATIVE WAYS TO MAKE STUDY TIME FUN AND COMBAT BOREDOM Many students equate effectiveness of their study with the number of hours spent with books. However, it’s not the

quantity but quality of time spent reading the book or taking notes that matters. It’s not worthwhile to spend hours with your book and not learning even worth a single penny. Moreover, learning doesn’t only happen by reading books. Engaging in interactive activities and fun games also makes you learn and retain it for longer. This is how exams become exciting and enjoyable. You learn better by doing it yourself; rather than just reading from the book. Let’s say you are reading about the Archimedes principle that states “The buoyant force or upthrust exerted on an object partially or completely immersed in water is equal to the weight of the water displaced by the object.” You would be reading several examples explaining the principle like why does an air balloon float whereas the iron needle sinks in water. And you cram the concept and write exactly the same in your answer paper. But, did you ever try to learn and understand the principle? Ever tried using the principle in your daily life? Did you know bathing in your bathtub is also dependent on the same princi-

ple? That’s why a level is engraved on the bath tub to warn people to avoid filling it beyond that level. Yes, you might be a champ in memorising things and remembering them, but did you learn anything by simply reproducing it in the exam? This was just one concept, but you have to memorise a number of lessons for the exam and the process gets boring after sometime. You tend to lose your motivation as well. “People often say motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.” Motivation needs to be constant in order to stay upbeat through your exams. Surround yourself with positive and hard-working people that keep you motivated to follow the right approach towards your exams. Incorporate some fun experiments to learn your lessons, you will learn better and remain motivated to study and explore further. Use your imagination and creativity to think beyond the lines written in the chapter. For example, while solving a Maths equation, just imagine a situation

where you can fit those numbers and arrive at the answer. This helps to escape boredom and makes studying easier and fun. Sharing his experience, Sena Alkadir from Garfield High School used a simulation of a presidential election to learn and understand the different aspects of elections in an interactive manner. “Although I knew everything about elections, but simulating an actual election helped me to understand better how they work and how do different groups have an influence over an election”, says Alkadir. Incorporate some fun experiments to learn your lessons, you will learn better and remain motivated to study and explore further. Use your imagination and creativity to think beyond the lines written in the chapter. Having fun while studying is the reason for the rising trend of studying in groups, where students study, gossip, and enjoy together. After reading a particular topic, you can organise a quiz amongst yourselves to have fun and know how much you have learned and understood the chapter.

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COVER STORY DO NOT KEEP YOUR EXAM PREPARATIONS FOR THE LAST MINUTE Preparation for your exams, better to call it learning process needs to be consistent; just like an athlete needs to practice round the year and not only when the competition is near. If you focus on your learning process during regular school hours and while doing your homework the whole year, you need not panic at the time of exams. Examination time can then be utilised for revision of topics or practising your weaker subjects. Many students argue that regular school hours are so hectic, plus, teachers resort to assigning loads of homework that they are not able to find time for any extra-curricular activities or outdoor games to relax their mind. This further leads to their loss of interest in studying and learning. They just feel like getting through the boring lectures delivered in class and finishing their homework whatsoever. Sarah, a student in New Jersey remembers one of her experiences in school. Every day her class schedule was the same: read the chapter, complete the worksheets and copy down immense PowerPoints for the rest of the class. The only learning in class was to learn to write fast and continue writing even with hand cramps. “I never really learned anything in that class; I just memorised the information, took a test on it and then forgot everything. Imagine that cycle for an entire year. It was tremendously boring.” True, the methods of teaching in many schools require students to be seated at their desks for long hours and listen to the lecture delivered. Such one-way teaching fails to maintain the student’s interest in the subject, more so in learning. If the schools cater to the learning demands of the student and revise their teaching methods to make them interactive, it would benefit the students in the long run. However, you can suggest some ideas for interactive learning in your school because the trend is changing now and schools are open to new ideas and methods of teaching. Setting an example of a practical approach to learning and its benefits to their students, the Head teacher at

Manor Public School, Kate McGee explains how her school utilises practical activities like gardening, cooking, and filmmaking to teach English, Maths, Philosophy and other subjects. In her opinion, children respond and learn better when engaged in practical activities, rather than reading from textbooks. They grow in confidence if you give them a task to do, which they are able to achieve. And this can be incorporated into teaching the curriculum in an effective, engaging and enjoyable way. In case you resort to last minute preparations, which though are not advisable, set your priorities for studying a particular topic according to its relevance. Plus, such learning won’t require continuous revision now and then and students will be better prepared for their exams. It opens their mind to a vast variety of experiences in the subject and raises their chances of success. However, in case you resort to last minute preparations, which though are not advisable, set your priorities for studying a particular topic according to its relevance. Do not aim at completing the entire syllabus at the last moment; this will create an undue pressure and enhance your anxiety. Just aim to cover the relevant topics and give your best shot. Amit, a class XII student of Green Fields School, New Delhi shares his story on this. He was a bright student and became a little overconfident of himself. He resorted to last minute studies for his exam thinking he already knows the concept and could make it with little revision at the final hour. But, to his surprise when he sat down for studies, he realised that he had missed out on many topics and would not be able to cover the entire syllabus for the exam; leading to stress and anxiety. He then recalled the words of his Maths teacher, “If you can’t complete 100% of your syllabus, do it as much as you can, but give your 100% to that little chunk of the syllabus.” What he meant to deliver through these words was that you must be consistent with your studies and learning throughout the year. Yet, if you feel you can complete only 60% of the syllabus at the exam time, do that 60% sincerely. Aiming for 100% at a short notice only

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makes you anxious and even that 60% will be lost, leaving you blank and completely helpless.

BE CONFIDENT OF YOURSELF “A great figure or physique is nice, but it is self-confidence that makes someone really beautiful.” However, the undue pressure from the teachers and parents and vastness of the curriculum may leave some students with a lack of confidence in themselves. This not only occurs minutes before entering an examination hall but also haunts during exam preparations. Students carrying books to the examination hall, flipping through pages at the last minute, and biting their nails is a common sight during these months. No, there is no harm to carry a textbook along to the examination hall, but experts recommend relaxing and thinking about happy stuff few minutes before the exam to combat anxiety. Like you can think about some funny joke cracked by your friend or a comedy scene watched on TV before your exam. The idea is to relax and keep your mind deviated from the obvious anxiety before entering the examination hall. Don’t let the pressure of your teachers and parents overpower you. Stay calm, have a positive approach towards yourself and your studies, and prepare well. Do not keep anything for the last moment revision just before entering an examination hall. A great figure or physique is nice, but it is self-confidence that makes someone really beautiful It’s advisable to review your chapters by organising a question answer session with your friend an evening before the day of the exam. The review helps to test your expertise on the subject, diagnose any flaws that need your attention and build your confidence to face the exam. Moreover, the more you fear, more you will lose your confidence and more will be the stress. The only way to develop self-confidence is to do the things you fear. If you fear the subject of Maths, sit down and solve some equations, don’t fear whether you will do right or

wrong, just do it and gradually you will experience self-confidence and a sense of achievement. Remember the caption of the soft drink, “Mountain Dew”, “Darr ke Aage Jeet Hai”. It’s not only a caption to market their product, but reflects the truth of life. Until you indulge into doing the task, you won’t learn and won’t develop self-confidence.

SLEEP TIGHT AND SLEEP ON TIME All are aware of the saying “Early to bed, early to rise makes the man healthy, wealthy and wise.” But the recommendation is now taken for granted and students do not pay any heed to it, thinking it to be a fool’s statement. Though the significance of adequate sleep can’t be ignored even at normal times, examinations are the time to follow the advice more sincerely. Do not stay up late till night for your studies. Prepare your time-table accordingly so that you go to bed at the same time every day. This is in accordance with your body clock that is accustomed to sleeping and eating at particular times. Any major changes with the routine will have negative effects on your body and mind, further disturbing your concentration and shaking your confidence. A good night’s sleep is essential for your brain to analyse and store the things you have read. We are not forging into the bad effects of waking late till night; everyone is aware of it. The immediate tiredness and bad mood experienced says a lot about the bad effects of sleeping late at night. You not only have to sleep early but, also consider the daily sleeping routine which must be consistent. Never go to bed reading a chapter or solving some heavy maths equation; your mind tends to reconcile on those things during sleep and you do not get complete rest. It is advisable to listen to some soft instrumental music or read a motivational story before going to bed. What majority students do is wake up till 2-3 am at night romancing their textbooks and sleep late in the morning to cover up on their sleep. Either they wake up late wasting most part of their day or feel tired after rising. Have you ever realised what impact will this have on your concentration?

And then you blame the vast syllabus for your anxiety. It’s not the syllabus alone, rather your approach towards it that makes sense. You can either plan and maintain a balance between your health and studies or just keep on studying like an owl. Moreover, staying awake till late hours on the day just prior to your exam is all the more harmful. Go to bed early on that day and wake up 15-30 minutes prior to your usual waking time so that you can get ready for the exam on time.

THE CORRECT METHOD OF STUDY Normally, students just cram their chapters and feel they are done with their preparation. But, when it’s time to write in an answer paper, they just go blank and are unable to recollect the answer. To avoid this, it’s important to always take down the things you read in your own writing so that you remember them for a longer period of time and enhance your learning. The common habit of students is to highlight the major points in a chapter with a special pen and then keep on memorising it for hours.

No doubt highlighting the important points does serve your purpose of paying attention to the chunk of information from a pool of knowledge. Yet, writing down things in your own language reiterates the concept in your mind and you understand and retain for longer. For example, while learning about the important dates of a historical event, you can create a small table highlighting the event with its date, so that you can just have a look at the gist of the information while revising the chapter. Stressing the importance of writing your own notes, Nehmat Mongia, a student of Modern School, Barakhamba who scored more than 95% in her board exams said, “I used to write and rewrite everything I studied. I did so not for studying or remembering before the exams, but to understand things and it was as if only I could teach myself. I did just that and made studying a fun activity.” Moreover, the place of your study has a deep impact on your concentration and ability to grasp your concepts. You have different sites mentioning the amount of light, the things to keep at the study table and to study only on the chair while preparing for your exams.

February 2017

COVER STORY But, do you know how your study table and chair must be inclined? Many students are seen either slipping down into the chair or bending their necks down for long hours at studying. Your study table and the chair must be so designed that your neck remains straight while studying and your feet touches the ground while sitting. How is posture related with exam stress? Not directly, but a bad posture while studying tends to hurt your neck and back muscles making them stiff. To attain maximum concentration while studying, you not only need a healthy mind but, also a healthy body. If you are sick or suffering from pain anywhere in the body, you won’t be able to concentrate on your studies and would panic with anxiety.

SIGNIFICANCE OF A HEALTHY DIET DURING EXAMS The significance of a healthy diet can’t be overstressed at this hour. Many students believe in spending hours at their study table to prepare for their exams and in an extreme state give up eating proper meals and indulge in eating only fruits. They hold the opinion that eating much will make them feel sleepy and disturb their study routine. But, actually, they don’t realise that eating well during exams is more crucial than at any other time. Avoiding meals to prevent falling asleep afterwards is not the solution. You must prepare your study routine to take time out for your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. This not only provides you with necessary nutrition but relaxes your mind from the burden of studies. Sleepiness after a meal is mostly encountered if you consume food products with high amounts of fat like chips, fried products and so on. Keep your meals healthy and devoid of transfat and sugar to avoid feeling drowsy. In case you feel lethargic after a meal, listen to some instrumental and lively music for few minutes before sitting down for your studies. “My appetite is dead. I don’t feel like eating anything. If I eat something, I will vomit.” These are the excuses commonly heard by the students during their exams. It happens because they think more and worry more about their performance in exams.

As the saying goes, “Fools worry, and wise prepare”, so it’s obvious you don’t want to behave like a fool at this hour. Eating the right thing at the right time is the secret behind healthy body and mind. Not only nutrition but what you eat can help you cope with your exam stress. All the more, you can make meal time a learning time too. Have a look at the vegetables cooked for your lunch and dinner and try to memorise the vitamins and minerals you receive from them. Learning in this manner is fun and doesn’t create a burden on you for memorising the facts. “Fools worry, and wise prepare”, so it’s obvious you don’t want to behave like a fool at this hour. Eat smaller and frequent meals and avoid large meals at this time, as they tend to make you drowsy. Green vegetables, fruits like strawberries, amla, oranges, tomatoes, and whole grain cereals like oats, barley, and whole wheat are a must in your diet regime. For the non-vegetarians, eggs and lean meat provide the necessary memory boosting nutrients. Treat water as your best friend in the examination days. However, do not keep a water bottle or a plate of snacks near your study place. This ensures that you get up and take a minutes’ walk around the house whenever you feel thirsty or hungry in between; breaking away from the sedentary routine of studying and relaxing your mind every few hours. Take in these words with full attention. Do not take tea, coffee or other caffeinated drinks at this stage. Many students take tea or coffee to help them stay awake till late in the night for their studies or to avoid sleepiness in between. But, such things do more harm than good. Instead, if you feel sleepy, munch on some healthy snack like a vegetable sandwich or have a glass of water or take a walk outside in fresh air to refresh your mood and take a break from the study routine.

DO NOT COMPARE YOURSELF WITH YOUR PEERS Many students have a habit of discussing with their friends as to how many topics they have covered for the exam. There is nothing wrong with

February 2017

this custom till it keeps you motivated to prepare well for your exams. However, if you start a comparison of yourself with your peers and look down upon yourself, the habit needs to be restricted. Every student has his own aptitude and pace of learning, even you have your own. If you wish to discuss any doubt with your friends or plan an interactive quiz to check your knowledge, the conversation will be fruitful and rewarding for your learning and motivation. But, discussing and comparing yourself with others may have a negative impact on your confidence level. If you feel that you are not confident enough and talking to your friends further demoralises you, stop indulging in such conversations before and during the exams. Even after completing the examination paper, do not discuss the answers with your peers. Be confident of your preparation and move ahead with any flaws you might discover therein. Just remember, you are in competition with no one; just with yourself. If you find yourself better than yesterday, you achieve your goal. In fact, this trend of competition that has gripped our society today is more destructive than constructive for human minds. Everybody is focusing on becoming better than the rest but no one focuses on being better than what they were yesterday; a notion that has led to a blind competition and stress in individuals. They never try to learn a new skill and be better equipped than yesterday, but wish to be ahead of others. A scene in the Bollywood film 3 Idiots reminds us of this valuable theory of learning and not comparing with others. When Aamir khan was explaining the correct method of teaching to Boman Irani by using two useless words, he stressed the importance of learning and not paying attention to coming first or second in the class. No one will pay attention to your class rank later in life, but how you perform today is what matters . And comparing yourself to others doesn’t make you learn, only increases your pressure and stress for the studies. Do not underestimate yourself by comparing yourself with others. After all, it’s these differences that make us

unique and beautiful. So, respect your differences with others and utilise them for your exam preparation. Instead of comparing, leverage these differences in learning and propelling each other forward in exam preparations. For example, if you are good at algebra and your friend excels at vocabulary, you both can help each other with your respective weaker fields.

PURSUE YOUR HOBBIES EVEN DURING EXAMS No fun, no chatting, and no shopping. This is the notion carried by most students during their exams. If not, it will be stressed by your parents; a big NO to everything. “Forget your mobile phones for few days, forget there is any cable connection in the house till your exams are over”, says your father. Though some of these things prove to be distracting from your studies, but, giving them up completely is not advisable. You can’t sit glued to your chair for the whole day peeping into your textbooks; your mind needs to de-stress and relax in between, but the pressure from your parents doesn’t let you indulge in them. However, it depends upon you how you use these mediums; only in moderation to relax your mind or become com-

pletely distracted from your studies. If you use them in moderation at particular times to break free from the sedentary routine of studying, no parents would pose an objection.

ration in advance. No doubt, we do advise to plan out a timetable for studying, exercises, meal time, and relaxation. But, how should you go about these plans is the main catch?

In fact, many parents encourage their children to engage in their hobbies or favourite pastime even during exams to help them de-stress their minds. As said before, exams are not punishing times, but, an opportunity to test your knowledge and know your strengths and weaknesses. So, why change your routine during the exams, why drift apart from your hobbies?

Do not plan your entire preparations for the month or a week at one go, but go about planning each day step by step. If you plan for the entire week or month, chances are high that you won’t be able to stick to them and get demotivated and stressed in return.

M. Gayathri, the All- India CBSE topper of the year 2015 pursued her hobbies even during the board exams as she revealed to a The Hindustan Times reporter. Talking about her relaxing tip, she added “Unlike others, I did not discontinue my hobbies during the exams. In fact, singing and painting helped me to de-stress during that time.” What can be inferred from her experience is that stress is common and obvious during examination time. However, do not let stress overpower you, simply find ways to cope with it, just like Gayathri did by engaging herself in singing and painting. Yet, another trend seen amongst students is planning for their exam prepa-

Contrastingly, planning for each day step by step keeps you motivated and rewards you with a sense of achievement at the end of the day. Indulge in giving yourself a treat when you accomplish your task every day. Sukriti Gupta, the All-India CBSE topper of the last year doesn’t believe in excessive planning for the exams but taking one step at a time. She further advises other students preparing for their exams to follow NCERT books strictly, not fall into the trap of studying for 14 hours a day and not to expect any last minute miracles. She further owes her success to the regular routine she followed, be it for her studies, diet regime or exercises. There is no short-cut to success; hard work and consistency in your preparations is the only key.

February 2017

JOURNEY

SHAH RUKH

Khan The man with many faces 22

March 2017

Pics : Twitter: @SandeepParekh

He says that he feels pleasantly surprised with his success as he knew he was good at what he did but didn’t know he was so good.

Bollywood’s most successful actor Shah Rukh Khan popularly known as SRK by his fans transformed from a newcomer to a name that resonates across the world. He has overcome the hurdles in life and has achieved what others could only dream of. Anjana Deepak writeback@scoonews.com

e all know who Shah Rukh Khan is. So much has been written and spoken about him that we are left in awe at the magnitude of the things he’s done. We say 24 hours is a long time but looking at what this man has achieved over the years with hard work and dedication leads us to believe that maybe just maybe he was given the gift of time, like a power where he could extend a day to have more than 24 hours. But before basking in all that glitz and glamour he was a regular boy with big dreams. A boy born to be an entertainer due to his wit and humour. He grew up in a middle class family beginning his formal education at the St. Columba’s High School which was known for its high standards of education and discipline. But he was no angel and played his share of mischief. One time to bunk class he pretended to have an epileptic attack and was so good with his acting that the teacher

asked his friends to take him away so he could rest and recover. To make it more believable he sent a friend back to get the leather shoe of his teacher as it was believed to be an Indian remedy that smelling leather would help an epileptic person. The poor teacher had to walk with one shoe the whole day. All the mischief apart, he was exceptional in academics, drama and was on the football, hockey and cricket team of the school. He won the Raman Subramaniam Award in his 10th standard for character and all round performance. He repeated this feat once again and was awarded the Sword of Honour the most prestigious award of the school in his 12th class. Nobody said, to excel in anything you had to be an angel. Shah Rukh proved that point. He enrolled at Hansraj College to earn a bachelor’s degree in Economics, but spent most of his time at the Delhi’s Theatre Action Group and was mentored by director Barry John. After gaining his bachelor’s degree he went on to study for his master’s degree in

Mass Communications at the Jamia Millia Islamia University, but discontinued it to pursue his passion for acting. He went on to the National School of Drama where he stayed for quite some time before he joined the world of acting. Nothing came easy to him. He, like the rest of us have faced equal if not more hardships in his growing up years. We read about his mansion, cars, holidays and his lifestyle. All that wasn’t handed to him on a platter but came with a price. The price being nothing but persistence and hard work. After all these years he says that he feels pleasantly surprised with his success as he knew he was good at what he did but didn’t know he was so good. A man who’s success story is legendary and will be remembered for his untiring work, passion and dedication in all that he does. An example for many of us to take away as a learning that hard work always pays and also to believe that you can break stereotypes and achieve more than what you’ve hoped for.

March 2017

TAKE2

Amazon’s STEM Club is a subscription service that sends STEM toys to kids each month. Amazon editors hand-pick toys and projects they think will get kids interested in science, technology, engineering, and math, and then boxes full of robotics, crystal kits, chemistry sets, math toys, and more arrive on subscribers’ doorsteps once a month.

Artist Amanda Jo Wells makes galaxyinspired ceramics so you can drink from the universe while creating “moments of selfcare and reflection, to create a little daily ceremony or ritual that is special… a sublime moment in your day.

Dutch trains now run entirely on wind energy. The wind powers 5,500 trips per day, enabling 600,000 daily train passengers to commute without any emissions. Over the course of an hour, a single windmill can power a train for 120 miles.

February 2017

63 Earths can fit inside Uranus.

Google plans to run on 100% renewable energy by the end of 2017. To achieve this, they purchased 2.6 gigawatts of wind and solar energy, which is more than many large utility companies and over two times the 1.21 gigawatts it took to send Marty McFly back to the future.

There’s a rhesus macaque monkey in India that adopted its own puppy. When the pup was being attacked by stray dogs one day, she immediately swooped in to rescue him. Now, the monkey feeds, grooms, and protects the puppy as if it were her own baby, and locals say they’ve even seen her let the puppy eat first whenever they give them food. Fist bumps are good for you. If you want to avoid catching a virus, fist bumps are a safer alternative to shaking hands. Research shows the amount of germs you transfer when bumping fists is merely a fraction of what gets passed around when you’re shaking hands with someone or giving them high fives.

February 2017

TAKE2

A few times each year, thousands of fish meet up to form one giant ‘tuna tornado.’ Because they do most of their breeding outside their bodies, the tuna gather themselves into a living tornado of reproduction, which acts as a moving wall that encircles a protected space where they can release large volumes of eggs and sperm all at once.

After decades of thinking there were only 7 continents, geologists are now arguing there is an 8th. ‘Zealandia’ consists of New Zealand and New Caledonia and could potentially be the smallest of all the (known) continents- however, there is no scientific body or widely accepted definition that designates what is or is not a continent, so Zealandia will only become official if enough scientists get on board.

February 2017

TAKE2 READ

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas Berlin, 1942: When Bruno returns home from school one day, he discovers that his belongings are being packed in crates. His father has received a promotion and the family must move to a new house far, far away, where there is no one to play with and nothing to do. A tall fence stretches as far as the eye can see and cuts him off from the strange people in the distance. But Bruno longs to be an explorer and decides that there must be more to this desolate new place than meets the eye. While exploring his new environment, he meets another boy whose life and circumstances are very different from his own, and their meeting results in a friendship that has devastating consequences.

Boys Who Rocked the World This engaging and thought-provoking collection of influential stories provides forty-six illustrated examples of strong, independent male role models, all of whom first impacted the world as teenagers or younger. This updated and expanded edition of Boys Who Rocked the World encompases a variety of achievements, interests, and backgrounds, from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Steve Jobs to Crazy Horse and Stephen King—

Paper Towns Quentin Jacobsen has spent a lifetime loving the magnificent Margo Roth Spiegelman from afar. So when she cracks open a window and climbs back into his life— summoning him for an ingenious campaign of revenge— he follows. When their all-nighter ends and a new day breaks, Margo has disappeared. But Q soon learns that there are clues—and they’re for him. Embarking on an exhilarating adventure to find her, the closer Q gets, the less he sees the girl he thought he knew.

February 2017

Skeleton Key In the third book in the number one bestselling Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz, teenage spy Alex faces his most dangerous challenge yet. Teaming up with the CIA, Alex must go to a remote Caribbean island called Skeleton Key, where the insane general Sarov is hatching explosive plans to re-write history.

Shadow Jumper A thrilling mystery book with action & adventure and contemporary themes. Ideal for teenagers and boys and girls aged 10 to 14. A story about friendship, family, loss, bravery and overcoming adversity.

WATCH ROCK DOG For the Tibetan Mastiffs living on Snow Mountain, a dog's life has a simple riff: Guard a peaceful village of wool-making sheep from the thuggish wolf Linnux (Lewis Black) and his rabid pack. To avoid distractions, Mastiff leader Khampa (J.K. Simmons) forbids all music from the mountain. But when Khampa's son Bodi (Luke Wilson) discovers a radio dropped by a passing airplane, it takes just a few guitar licks for his fate to be sealed: Bodi wants to be a rock 'n' roll star. Yet that means defying his father's wishes, heading to the city, and locating the legendary - and reclusive - musician Angus Scattergood (Eddie Izzard), who needs to write a new song and fast. If Bodi can put a band together, help Angus with his song, and defeat the wolves' plot to take Snow Mountain, his life will be in tune. Bodi will become what he's always dreamed of being: More than a dog ... more than a Rock God... he'll be a ROCK DOG!

Logan Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) returns for another explosive adventure in this sequel from 20th Century Fox and Marvel Studios.

February 2017

TAKE2

Ballerina The film tells the story of FĂŠlicie, a young orphan girl with a passion for dancing. With the help of her best friend Victor, she manages to escape from an orphanage and travel all the way to Paris, where many challenges and intriguing encounters await her. Ballerina is a funny and touching story about friendship, selfconfidence and family.

Lavender When a photographer (Abbie Cornish) suffers severe memory loss after a traumatic accident, strange clues amongst her photos suggest she may be responsible for the deaths of family members she never knew she had. Justin Long plays a psychiatrist who helps her recover lost memories.

February 2017

TECH IT OUT

SITES THAT TEACH YOU CODING FOR FREE

It is well known and understood that the future of our world is digital and therefore it is important for parents and educators to provide a child now with a rich foundation in these integral thinking and problem solving skills that will be valuable for success in his or her future world. The greatest benefit of today’s online and accessible world is the abundance of resources to learn coding as per one’s budget, time and convenience. Here is a list of 10 websites that offer coding courses for free:

February 2017

CodeAcademy is rated as one of the most popular free places to learn coding. Over 24 million people have already learned how to code through this educational company’s engaging experience. Topics taught: HTML & CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, PHP, Python and Ruby.

Code Avengers provides fun and interactive programming courses that teach you how to code games, apps and web sites using JavaScript, HTML and CSS. Each course takes just 12 hours to complete and is available in English, Russian, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Turkish and Portuguese.

If you’ve already learnt the basics, and went to get into something a bit heavier and more brain intensive -- such as exploring the theory behind coding -- take advantage of MIT’s free courseware site that includes classes such as Introduction to Computer Science and Programming, Introduction to Programming in Java and Practical Programming in C.

Khan Academy Created in 2006 by educator Salman Khan, Khan Academy is one of the original free online-learning institutions. With stepby-step video tutorials, you can learn how to program drawings, animations and games using JavaScript and ProcessingJS, or learn how to create webpages with HTML and CSS.

Founded by Harvard University and MIT in 2012, EdX is another leading online-learning platform that is open source instead of for-profit. Today, edX includes 90 global partners from amongst the world’s leading universities, non-profits, and institutions. edX has even open sourced their platform Open edX, which can be used by educators and technologists to build learning tools and contribute new features to the platform, creating innovative solutions to benefit students everywhere.

Free Code Camp teaches coding first through an established framework and curriculum through self-paced coding challenges, projects, and connecting you with people in your city so you can code together. You can also get valuable handson experience working on projects for non-profits. Topics taught: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Databases, DevTools, Node.js, and Angular.js

Codewars

Founded in 2010, Udemy is an online learning platform that can be used to improve or learn job skills. While there are courses, you have to pay for, there are plenty of free programming courses, which are taught via video lessons, such as “Introduction to Python Programming”.

Codewars offers a fun way to learn coding. It uses a martialarts theme and the learning program is based on challenges called “kata.” Complete them to earn honour and progress to higher ranks (similar to Karate). Topics taught: CoffeeScript, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, Java, Clojure, and Haskell

Coursera was founded in 2012 by two Stanford Computer Science professors who wanted to share their knowledge and skills with the world. It has grown into a major for-profit educational-technology company that has offered more than 1,000 courses from 119 institutions. While you can pay for certain programs to receive a certificate, there are several free introductory programming courses in various specializations from universities such as the University of Washington, Stanford, the University of Toronto and Vanderbilt.

GitHub is the reference book which you need when you’re stuck on a problem. You can find more than 500 free programming books that cover more than 80 different programming languages on the popular web-based Git repository hosting service, which means that it’s frequently updated by the collaborators.

February 2017

EVENT WRAP UP

AN EVENT TO PUT

ANIMATION CAREERS IN ORBIT

March 2017

Anshu Pande writeback@scoonews.com

umbai was buzzing with brilliant speakers and students from 2nd to 5th February at the popular avant-garde, Orbit Live which was conducted by Arena Animation, the leading animation institute of India. The fifth year of this creative event welcomed over 200 gurus from the animation industry to share their knowledge and engage with over 500 Arena Multimedia students attending the event from various centres across the country. The event kick-started with Anuj Kacker, the executive director and Anil Pant, the CEO of Aptech Ltd. who welcomed the students and speakers. In their witty but intellectual speech, their main aim was to tell the students that there is nothing that cannot be achieved without confidence and faith in oneself. A dreamer has more options than a fixed mind and a dreamer will find his way out. "The secret to becoming the MD of a company is to never take yourself seriously"-said Anil Pant. The day progressed with a session by Nik Powell, one of the co-founders of the Virgin Group with Richard Branson and the director of National Film and Television School, London who spoke about how the entertainment and animation industry are working with all their might to churn out the finest creative works. He also discussed about the latest and impacting trends that are taking over the industry such as IoT, rise of big data, virtual reality and 360 degree viewing experience.

This was followed by a brief talk by international animator, Juan Solis from Spain who is the animation brain behind characters in Spiderman, Frozen and many more and a session on time laps cinematography by Patryk Kizny from Poland. The day concluded with Kalakari, a one day creative festival which brought together various cultures, thoughts and ideas for everyone to ponder upon. From folk dances and music performances to hand-made artwork depicting the creative mind of students, the venue was brimming with talent from across the country. “Kalakari is unique ‘creative kumbh’ of the industry. It continues to enthrall students and help them attain new skills that help them shape and nurture their career. At Arena, we believe that to enhance the learning of the students and make their job ready, it is important to take them out of

learn from experienced professionals,” Mr. Kacker, added. The following two days witnessed the animation gurus of Hollywood sharing their knowledge through various master classes on animation, VFX and filmmaking. The gurus included Elizabeth Rega, Associate Vice Provost for Academic Development, Western University of Health Sciences Los Angeles (USA); Paul Noble - Senior Lecturer in 3D Animation; Penny Holton - Animator and Deputy Section Head of Animation & Visual Effects University of Teesside (UK); Pete Draper - Co-Founder & CEO Makuta and Eric Egerup - Studio Art Director Dhruva Interactive, Bangalore; Xes Vita - Technical Director and Cofounder FX Animation (Barcelona); Damian Perea - Director, Producer & Festival Director (Spain); and Luca Raffaelli - Direttore artisti code La Città In cantata (Festival Director) – Italy.

the classrooms and make them learn through observation, communication, and inspiration from other artists, and by the nature itself. At Kalakari, students get a chance to find the perfect platform to experience art and

There were also various movie screenings like La città incantata - Animation Festival (Italy) and award winning animation short film - Schirkoa by Ishan Shukla, animation filmmaker to talk about the making of the film. The last day of the event was solely

The students then got a chance to know about 'The origin. Evolution and Mysteries of Star Wars Saga' by Craig Miller himself who is a writer, producer and publicist at Wolfmill Entertainment, Los Angeles. He talked about how people started accepting the concept of sci-fi movies and TV series in the 70's and how the demand for scifi movies has increased drastically. "In 1970s, Science fiction was not a popular genre. People were not looking for them. The one's that released were cheap, had terrible special effects and failed to get any attention from the audience. On the other hand, now, we see so many movies of this genre doing so great."

March 2017

EVENT WRAP UP

dedicated to the students' queries about a career path in the field of animation, VFX and Gaming which were answered by Jagdish BV, the talent manager at Dhruva Interactive and Dijo Davis who is the training manager at MPC. Mr. Anuj Kacker, Executive Director, Aptech Ltd said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The animation and entertainment industry is currently experience a seminal year as the rise of smart phones, renewed thrust on digitisation of the country and improved connectivity are collectively providing a fillip to the industry. In addition to talent, right exposure to the global trends is equally impetrative. Orbit Live, has been serving as a melting pot of talent. Through such initiatives we want Arena students to experience and witness remarkable work from all across the globe.â&#x20AC;?

March 2017

GUIDANCE Usage of drugs can ruin not only the person, but their family, friends and all those who are closely associated with them. Saying â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;No to drugsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; is the biggest gift you can give to yourself.

AN ABSOLUTE NO NO 38

February 2017

Anjana Deepak writeback@scoonews.com

eing a kid is hard. All of us have been through this stage at some point. We all know that these are our formative years of growing up and becoming responsible not only to ourselves but to our families and to the country. How we are brought up and the choices we make will directly impact what kind of people we’ll turn out to be. We also have a responsibility to set examples for the future generation. An age where we are supposed to learn and play, be carefree and careless are an era gone by. With the change of time there are dangers lurking that we need to be educated on. Don’t fret too much, with the right guidance from our teachers and parents the right choices can be made. Never give in to peer pressure. Just because someone else or your best friend is doing something doesn’t make it right. Being aware of what is going on around us will help us better in making the right choices where we can stay out of harm’s way and also maybe help others who might be susceptible to the danger. In recent times, you might have heard about the rising drug abuse among kids . It’s true. The dreaded day has come when kids as young as 7 years are being handed out drugs in the form of candies. Kids being unsuspecting to what is given, soon find they are a victim of substance abuse. Gone are the days when parents found the need to protect their young from topics such as these. But today there is a growing need for parents as well as institutions to educate the kids on substance abuse.

WHAT IS SUBSTANCE ABUSE? Anything that alters the psychological, physical or emotional state of a person due to the consumption of a substance is called substance abuse. Drugs are not only marijuana or hashish. It is also alcohol, tobacco and over the counter drugs (medicines). Anything that can get you addicted (the feeling where you can’t do without it) is called a drug. A new drug that is rampant in schools is called the ‘Strawberry Quick’. It is in the form of pop rocks. It is coloured methamphetamine or coloured crystal meth.

Earlier schools used to have an unsympathetic approach to students caught using them fearing their reputation. They used to rusticate the students after informing the parents. But now there is a slight improvement in the situation as we do get cases referred to us from these institutions in the city. Children brought to the de-addiction centre hail from all social strata, including lower middle class, middle class and affluent families. Dr Vivek Benegal, Head of Centre for Addiction medicine at NIMHANS Bengaluru

HOW DOES IT START? Most cases of drug abuse start due to peer pressure or stress. When a friend gives you a cigarette or a joint (marijuana) and asks you to try it, even though you know it’s not good for you or is the wrong thing to do, you still go ahead with it because you feel that you will not be considered cool if you don’t try it. Or what about when you hang out with your friends and a bottle of alcohol appears and you are made to drink it, you feel you’ll have to or else you won’t be a part of the group. Stress is another huge reason why kids take to drugs. Exam pressure being the biggest. What we need to realise is that just for the sake of a moment’s euphoria that we feel at the time of taking drugs, we could very well be choosing a path to our own destruction. At present, schools are being targeted as a market where drugs are being sold. Drug peddlers peddle it to kids who have access to money, who in-turn peddle it to their friends to earn money to keep their habit alive. A new drug that is rampant in schools is called the ‘Strawberry Quick’. It is in the form of pop rocks. It is coloured methamphetamine or coloured crystal meth. It is a highly addictive drug used to target children and has the scent of strawberries as well. This is also being sold in different flavours such as

chocolate, orange, cola, cherry, grape, etc. This drug is an extremely addictive stimulant.

PREVENTION IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN A CURE Parents and schools are now being warned to discuss this with their kids so they are aware of the drug in circulation. Kids are cautioned not to accept any form of candy from strangers or even from friends who might pass it on without being aware of what it is. It is unfair for a school to solely be held responsible for this drug circulated in school yards, as it is not possible for them to keep an eye on every inch of the school with thousands of children. It is the duty of the parent to take an active part in the well-being of the child by telling them about the drug and the effects that it will have on them if taken. Schools are holding special assemblies and seminars to make students aware. Parents and schools/ colleges should talk about what it will do to their brain development and life and that an overdose could lead to loss of life. If a teacher or parent see that a child’s behaviour is odd, or there is a lack of interest in activities that once was loved, or if there has been changes in the circle of friends that the child is in or starts to have trouble in school, these are all warning signs that scream that there might be some form of substance abuse present. Counselling must also be a part of the curriculum for schools wherein they address issues that children face. Irrespective of what people think of us we all have a choice to say ‘NO’ to what we feel is not right. If kids face force in any form from people known or unknown, they should be able to speak to their parents so that they can be guided correctly. Parents and schools in turn must be open to discussing these issues and must not be in denial. Being cool is to be able to sometimes say ‘NO’ and also helping others say ‘No’. It is absolutely not necessary to be a part of a gang or group that is into substance abuse. Its way healthier and better to make choices that will help us all lead an honest and a fruitful life. Not only are we doing a favour to ourselves but also to the society that we live in. “SAY NO TO DRUGS” they don’t control our lives.

February 2017

EXPERIENCE

A night before the exams

February 2017

My mind cannot give up right now. It just cannot. I try to walk, to exercise, to breathe deep and to talk myself out of it. It doesn't work.

Anshu Pande

walk, your daddy is here to pick you up" and wiped away her tears. A few days later, she tried again. She fell again. Her father picked her up in his arms again. This kept happening for a month until the day arrived when she walked up to her father. He was very proud of her that day. She grew up to be a beautiful, confident girl. Then one day, when she was in her teens, the girl and her dad were going for grocery shopping when suddenly they were pushed by the crowd and his father lost his balance and fell. She helped him get up and took him to a doctor. The doctor suggested her dad to take rest for at least a week, before trying to walk again. When they went home, she helped her dad to lie down on the bed and gave him everything he needed. After making him comfortable, she went into the kitchen to make him a cup of tea. Ten minutes into the kitchen she heard a thud. It came from her dad's room. She rushed to see that her dad had lost balance and was on the floor. She helped him get up and made him sit on the bed and said "You don't have to walk right now. Your daughter' is here to pick you up." Her father was beaming with pride and tears in his eyes. Do you know who the little girl is?"

writeback@scoonews.com

t was one of those nights where I could feel my mind giving up on me. It refused to take in anything. No words, no visuals, no music, nothing. It was shutting itself up when I needed it to open, the most. Our board exams were just a week away. The tension and pressure was obvious and so was the fear and nervousness. I had to take care of my expectations, my parents' and my teachers' expectations, of course, the college application forms that were only waiting for my class 12th percentage to decide if i am going to be a part of their campus or not. My mind cannot give up right now. It just cannot. I try to walk, to exercise, to breathe deep and to talk myself out of it. It doesn't work. Every time I look at my books, I hear myself saying that I am going to flunk. I hear myself demotivating me, losing faith in me. I throw away the books in anger. I cannot let this happen. Not right now. No. No. No. I keep saying No to myself and my voice keeps raising with every NO till I scream at myself and burst into tears. "This cannot happen. Please, please get yourself back. Stop crying! It's not helping!" I scold myself but tonight, it won't listen to me. I open my contact list and start calling my best friends. No one picks up. "Why wouldn't they answer my calls!" I scream and throw the phone away. I start talking to myself again, wiping the tears away, holding myself in my arms, tightly. "Stop crying, please, everything is going to be ok, trust me, please" I beg myself. I cannot take it anymore. I go to the kitchen, my body shaking in anger and tension. I look at everything like I am entering in the kitchen for the first time. I see glasses. I pick one of them and throw it on the floor. It broke into a million pieces. I threw another, and another till my hands lost their stamina. I broke down on the floor full of glass pieces. "What do you want from me!" I scream again.

his brave girl anymore. No. I am not going to pick up his call. He calls again. I cover my ears and pretend I can hear nothing but my screams. He calls again. Something inside me decides to answer this time. "Hey! Guess which movie I am watching!" He says as soon as I pick up the phone. His voice weakens me. I cannot hold my tears back anymore. "I am sorry papa." I say before shattering on the floor. "I can't do this. I am unable to." I say. He listens patiently as I sob and mumble my apologies till my tears are done raining and all I am left with is a running nose. "Drink some water, please?" He says.

"No" I say. "You." He answers and I smile through my tears. "There's nothing that I want more than your smile. No grades, no report cards, no exams can make me love you less or shake my faith in you. My strength lies in you. If my strength breaks, I break. And you wouldn't want your dad to break, would you?" "No." I say, sobbing a little. "More than anything, it's the belief in yourself that is going to get you through everything, no matter how hard the situation is. If you lose confidence in yourself, my confidence in you will be of no good. There's no Daddy dearest without her dearest daughter. Yes?"

I take a sip of water and calm down. "Yes." I say.

The pieces on the floor seemed tempting. "If you don't stop crying, I will push this inside you!" I say, picking up a piece of glass. Just then, I hear my phone ring. It must be one of my friends! I jump out of the mess and run out of the kitchen, wiping my tears only to find that it's my father calling. I cannot tell him anything. He'll get worried, he'll lose his faith in me, I won't be

"Let me tell you a story. May I?" He asks. "Yes.." I say, wiping my tears. "There once was a little girl, who was learning to walk. She took a step and fell down. She felt bad, defeated. She started crying. Her father lifted her up in his arms and said "You don't have to

We talk for another half an hour before I sit back into my chair with my books, this time, without any tension or fear and whisper to myself, "There's nothing chocolates cannot solve. But if you still feel that chocolates aren't enough, Dad is only a call away."

February 2017

TIPS

Stress management tips from Life Coach Anish Baheti Anish Baheti writeback@scoonews.com

e all know what stress can do to our lives and how we react or respond to the stressful circumstances will affect our health. As human beings we behave differently to the same situation or circumstances. What might be considered stressful for one person, another might not feel the same way at all. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s good to dissolve stress by understanding whether you react or respond to such situations. The below model might just alter the way you perceive stressful events and teach you a simple yet powerful technique to manage stress.

February 2017

MINDFUL: Response is also a reaction but with a mindful pause. How long is the pause, depends clearly on how stressful the situation on hand is. This is a state where you are in effect watching your stress rather livingthe stress. Instead of reacting to your stress, acknowledge it. The cue in your brain perhaps could be “I have a choice”. While all the above three reaction automatically implies lack of choice, being mindful gives you ample choices. Mindfulness really is a state of balance and it’s impossible to react in this state. The BACK arrow suggests taking a STEP BACK could be a great way to move forward.

RUN: Running away, if a tiger is chasing you seems like a wise choice, however, if you are esca ping a stressful situation because you fear failure, then you are reacting to the underlying stress. The possible cue in your brain could be “Let’s move on”. When you run away from your stress, it gives you a false feeling that you have controlled the situation, though in reality you have simply avoided the stress temporarily. No matter how far you run, your stress will eventually find you and it will turn more impactful when you actually face it.The UP arrow also indicates the FLIGHT reaction to the stress.

STRESS MANAGEMENT : REACT vs. RESPOND RUN Cue: Let’s Move on Fear of failure

MINDFUL

CONFRONT

Cue: I have a choice

Cue: How dare you?

Faith-filled response

Fear of losing control

HIDE Cue: I feel helpless Fear of losing significance

HIDE: The reaction from the brain when there is no action at all, out of shock. The cue could possibly be “I feel helpless”. The physiology of the person would be alarmed stiff or crumpled. The idea is to shield whatever significance is left over and to stay put. When we are flabbergasted by a situation and we perceive that there is no ray of hope we tend to hide. The DOWN arrow shows the FREEZE reaction to your stress.

CONFRONT: This is one of those situations where your heart pounds and breathing quickens. The cue in your brain may be “How dare you?” Your immediate perception about the situation is a possible threat to your own survival and hence the desire to combat. In this state thinking turns less than rational and fear of losing control is inflated. Outcome from this sort of reaction is always negative and brings a feeling of burnout. The FRONT arrow signifies the FIGHT reaction to your stress.

The writer is a coach, motivational speaker, author & serial entrepreneur, Founder of TrainMyBrain. The views are personal. More details can be found on trainmybrain.in

February 2017