Mumbai: New app brings school along with teachers and exams to the smartphone

Poonam Vishwakarma 28 who originally hails from Chhattisgarh and works as a maid in Mumbai has been attending classroom sessions for Std VI on the app for the last four monthsIt was in the year 2000 when Poonam Vishwakarmas life took an unexpected turn Until then the young girl who resided in a small village in Chhattisgarh would spend her days poring over her school textbooks mulling what life would be like if she became a doctor or teacherBut right after I completed Std V I fell sick recalls Vishwakarma unsure of what illness had afflicted her What she however remembers is that she couldnt go to school for the next three years By the time I got better it was too late to start again she saysToday Vishwakarma 28 works as a maid in Mumbai juggling chores between homes in Malad Her only dream is that her eightyearold son who is currently studying at her hometown in Chhattisgarh doesnt share her fate Four months ago when the househelp learned of Anytime Anywhere School AAS Vidyalaya mdash a mobile app that serves as a virtual school mdash from one of her employers she secretly enrolled I didnt want to lose the opportunity to study again she says The 18year gap notwithstanding Vishwakarma is one of the brightest students from among 2500 active users across India who have registered with this appVikas Kakwani founder of AAS Vidyalaya PicsSatej ShindeThe brainchild of IITIIM alumnus Vikas Kakwani 46 the schooling and elearning app which went live in September last year is a firstofitskind platform to bring an entire school on the phoneOperating exactly like a regular school with a dedicated classteacher timetables subject periods and regular assessments the app hopes to reach out to studentsespecially those living in the remotest parts of the country who lack accessibility to good schools but have a smartphone with a decent Internet connectionWhile we are all aware of the potential of the Internet it has been most underutilised in the field of education says Kakwani I couldnt help thinking how we could with the help of a phone use it to bring education to everyone he addsThe app works like a classroom The system generates a timetable for the student citing the number of video sessions they are expected to watch daily and an attendance sheet marking them for every log inEducation for all Kakwani who is a selfproclaimed geek and technology lover with over 20 years of experience across FMCG telecom and real estate sectors in India and the MiddleEast first stumbled upon the idea of building an elearning app over six years ago when visiting his brother in Singapore and experiencing the brilliance of 30Mbps Internet speed on his phone At the time India only had around 2 to 3 Mbps speed says Kakwani who then was heading one of the telecom circles that had launched 3G in India But we already knew that one telecom giant was laying down 4G cables in the country My prediction was that in another few years the Internet would become free or subsidized because the entire business ecosystem was going to sit on it says KakwaniIt was while thinking about the possibilities of having highspeed affordable Internet in the country that he recalls examining how it could be tapped in the area of schooling But I didnt want to focus on those students who already had access to education says Kakwani while adding how most of the current online educational platforms caters to this set which makes up only for 12 per cent of the student population I wanted to concentrate on those kids living in the remotest parts of the country who absolutely didntAccording to the 2011 Census 84 crore Indian children dont attend school On the other hand India currently has a smartphone user base of over 30 crore which is expected to cross 65 crore by 2019 Statistics proved that a virtual school could easily be the answer to that problem explains KakwaniThe idea however didnt take off until 2016 when Kakwani quit as CEO with a midsized company to launch his startup with hopes of revolutionising online education It took him another yearandahalf to launch the appHow the eschool worksThe AAS Vidyalaya app which has been designed on the Android platform and is available on Google Play store has seen over 10000 downloads since its launchIt works like a classroom setup just that students can attend school from anywhere while teachers can work from home Parents on the other hand can seamlessly monitor daytoday progress of the students On downloading the app one gets the option of registering either as a student parent teacher or institute The student needs to fill in basic details which includes name phone number Aadhaar card details optional preferred language of communication and class Currently the app only provides classroom sessions for Std VI VII and VIII with Central Board of Secondary Education CBSE curriculum prescribed by the National Council of Educational Research and Training NCERT Based on my research I found that while there are a total of seven lakh primary schools in the country there are only four lakh secondary schools says KakwaniAnjali Suman MishraThe National Sample Survey NSS 2015 also revealed that only 52 per cent of the student population attended secondary schools as opposed to 83 per cent kids who were pursuing primary education There are several reasons for this mdash mostly secondary education is not affordable Also in villages municipal schools with secondary schooling are located very far off In order to fill this huge gap I decided to begin with the higher grades explains KakwaniWhile one can access the app for free for a month registering with the virtual school comes at a minimal cost of Rs 299 per month Once registered the system automatically generates a timetable for the student citing the number of video sessions they are expected to watch daily and an attendance sheet marking them for every log in The student is also assigned a class teacher mdash based on their language preference mdash who provides timely feedback in a school report card which can be accessed both by the parents and students and can additionally be used as a chat room to exchange queries Students can also video conference with teachers if they find themselves struggling with a topicRicha Seth and Leena Kakwani work as teachers on the appAll the classes for subjects ranging from English Maths Social Science Science as well as other languages are prerecorded in the companys Malad office or at the teachers residence using an interface provided by them Currently there are 12 teachers registered with the app We hope to reach out to more teachers especially housewives We are not looking for teaching experience as much as we are looking for somebody with a passion for teaching says Kakwani whose wife Leena Kakwani 42 has registered herself as a teacherThe classes mdash all held in Hinglish so that they can be easily followed by students mdash can also be rated by the students and teachers If we get a poor rating we record the session again based on the feedback we receive he says Additionally there is a choicebased question test which is held after completion of every chapter If a student gets less than 50 per cent heshe will be expected to attend the class again and give a retest before moving on to the next chapterNGOs and other social organisations can also use the app to teach larger groups of kids by registering as institutes and setting up the necessary technology mdash projector and speakers mdash thus doubling up as classrooms After completing Std VIII the system will also connect the student to the nearest municipal school so that heshe can appear for the final exam there There are plans to include higher grades and more boards but we intend to continue with this model for at least a year says KakwaniThe AAS Vidyalaya apps next academic year begins in April and they intend to follow the term like in regular schools This helps maintain discipline informs Kakwani who has been spreading awareness about the app at several municipal schools and housing societies that hire maids and helps who could be encouraged to use the model to studyFuture forwardRicha Seth 48 who is a Maths and Science teacher with AAS Vidyalaya was among the first faculty members to join I have taught in classroom setups before and was slightly apprehensive when Kakwani told me about his idea I remember finding it odd speaking into the video camera while imagining that I was talking to a classroom full of children But barring the initial hesitation it has been smooth until nowSeth says that on average she receives at least 15 queries from students daily Some doubts are so basic that you realise how these kids may have struggled in a school setup says SethThirteenyearold Anjali Suman Mishra who studies at Queen Mary High School in Pimpalwadi Malad East learned about the app from her father who works as a driver for Kakwani I was previously studying in a vernacular school and hence barely understood anything that was taught at my new school says the Std VIII studentLeena who has a Masters in Psychology and is Mishras teacher on the app says the teenager grappled with many basic concepts Since she was anyway going to school we suggested that she doesnt quit and instead try using the app alongside for a whileMishra spends two hours every evening on the app As I use my fathers phone I have to wait for him to return from work to study online she tells us After enrolling here I have begun enjoying going to school more If I have doubts with subjects taught in my school I message my teachers on the app and they are always happy to help She also doesnt find studying under two different setups daily cumbersome Its like going for extraclasses she saysMeanwhile Vishwakarma is looking forward to meeting her son who will be visiting Mumbai during the school summer vacations next month I have learned so many new things in my new school I cant wait to share it with him she saysAlso read Mumbai 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