The Anytime Anywhere School (AAS VIDYALAYA) by AVILEEN ACADEMIC SERVICES PRIVATE LIMITED | Fueladream

HELP AAS BRING EDUCATION TO MILLIONS OF CHILDREN WHO CANNOT GO TO SCHOOL,BY BRINGING THE SCHOOL TO THEM

AAS Vidyalaya – The Social School

Instead of trying to bring the children to the school, AAS will take the school to the children. The idea is to create a school FOR the people & BY the people by creating a VIRTUAL SCHOOL (AAS stands for Anytime Anywhere School) which operates exactly like a regular school having time-tables, subject periods in which respective subject teachers would give lectures during their periods, class teachers who would monitor the progress of the children and in case required would reach out to subject teachers if the child needs help on a particular subject and even reaching out to the Parents if the child is not taking the school seriously. Educated housewives who want to do something and retired teachers would be the source for our teacher pool. There would even be holidays like a regular school. There will be regular assessments, even half yearly and final exams and even recognized certifications. The students, teachers & Parents connect and interact with each other through social network. There would even be offline activities like sports day and school trips to bring in bonding and personality development. We will follow regular CBSE English Medium curriculum.

The model has huge scaling possibility as it is self-creating and has self-maintainability.

Regular School Vs AAS

Target Group

India is split into two wide extremes of the ultra-rich and the BPL (Below Poverty Line). While the former sends their children to expensive private schools, the latter struggles to get two square meals and for them education is not a critical requirement. In between these two lies the mid-belly which construes almost 45% of the country’s population, accounts for 60% of the nation’s income and have an average earning between Rs 8000 – 25000 p.m. These people are aspirational and want their children to get good education so that they can move ahead in life but they cannot afford private education hence their only option is to send their children to government schools.

AAS Proposition

AAS VIDYALAYA (AAS stands for Anytime Anywhere School and it also means "Hope" in Hindi) is an ONLINE SCHOOL that uses technology to provide High Quality, Low Cost secondary education to the millions of students of the mid-tier of India's population who are forced to drop out after Primary. As of date, 8.4 cr children are not going to school due to various reasons. As a matter of fact, acquiring secondary education increases incomes to 2X as compared to what one gets after doing just Primary schooling.

Problem Statement

While the target group mentioned above wants their children to get good quality education they are unable to find decent government schools near them. While 90% of the kids born (20 Mn each year) enrol into Primary school, almost half of them never get any secondary education. As on date 84 Mn children are not going to school. Factually, 70% of the bread earners in India have only completed Primary education.

The reasons are many:

Firstly, there are not enough secondary schools to absorb the entire annual produce.
The government schools which exist are in a really pathetic state and don’t have even the minimal infrastructure. Most do not have toilets or sufficient security. Some do not even have walls.
50% of schools which exist have less than 5 teachers.
50% of teachers who exist are not trained which implies poor quality of education imparted.
Any given day 25% teachers are absent.
There is a yawning gap that exists in the education market wherein the TG can get HIGH QUALITY education at LOW COST that too NEAR their homes.

How will AAS deliver the proposition?

Over the last few years, Smartphones have made rapid inroads in the Indian market especially the TG. The screen size has increased from 3 inch to 5 inch while the cost of a decent smartphone/tab has come down to Rs 3000-4000. India will have 650 Mn smartphones by 2019. 80% of internet usage in India is through Smartphones which has helped increase the internet penetration in India rapidly to 35%. Internet speeds are speedily increasing especially with the launch of 4G network at affordable prices.

Delivery Method

AAS Vidyalaya proposition (as above) would be delivered through Android App on smartphones.

Consumer Adaptability

While the proposition requires a shift in consumer mindset of attending schools having walls around it, the new generation, irrespective of the SEC, is digital-native as they have already shown us by their rapid adoption of Facebook & Whatsapp.

Cost Break - up

Risks and challenges

We envisage THREE major challenges in this pursuit, viz:

1. DRIVING BEHAVIORAL CHANGE - The typical mindset in India, when one thinks of school, is that it has four walls and a roof and that the child needs to be dressed up in school uniform and be under the supervision of teachers. Bringing about a shift from this mindset to a anytime anywhere school will be a tough ask. However, there have been more than a few examples of a similar shift that we have achieved over the last few years like online banking and shopping, also digital transactions. We would need to put lot of energies behind educating people in adapting technology as a medium to acquire schooling as well.

2. STATUTORY ENVIRONMENT - School and other educational institutes are still governed by strict government policies for eg schools have to be not-for-profit or certification needs to be from authorized bodies. However, we strongly believe that you cannot stop an idea whose time has come. Sooner than later, online schools will be an accepted form of schooling and would be able to provide their own certifications.

3. ALL ROUND DEVELOPMENT - Schools provide LEARNING & PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT in a 60:40 ratio. While online schooling will provide the 60%, we will have to create some offline programs & activities to cover the balance 40% of personality development that comes from inter-personal interaction & practical knowledge and exposure.

FAQs

Q. What is your USP? Why you?

A. AAS IS ADDRESSING AN EXISTING PROBLEM BY CREATING A MEDIUM TO TAKE SCHOOL EDUCATION TO THE CHILDREN WHO NEED IT. AAS IS NOT TRYING TO CHANGE THE CONTENT OR CHANGE THE WAY EDUCATION IS IMPARTED. AAS' USP IS "REAL SCHOOL EXPERIENCE" AS FELT BY STUDENTS/TEACHERS/PARENTS.

Q. What is your advertising sales plan?

A. INITIALLY WILL REACH OUT TO THE LOW HANGING FRUIT I.E. CHILDREN WHO ARE ALREADY ENROLLED IN GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS. ALSO, THE INITIAL ROLL-OUT PLANNED IS NOT TO GO DIRECT TO END CUSTOMER BUT USE A HUB-AND-SPOKE MODEL TO USE THE ALREADY EXISTING SCHOOL SETUPS (GOVERNMENT OR CHARITABLE) TO ENROL STUDENTS. EVENTUALLY THE KIDS WOULD KNOW THAT THEY CAN STUDY ANYWHERE ANYTIME.

Q. Any accreditation requirements? Students would need to be given certification….

A. ALL STUDENTS ENROLLED WITH AAS WOULD BE ASKED TO ENLIST THEMSELVES AT THE NEAREST GOVERNMENT SCHOOL. THEY WILL STUDY WITH AAS BUT WILL WRITE THE EXAMS AT THEIR RESPECTIVE GOVT SCHOOL AND WILL GET THE GOVT CERTIFICATION. ANOTHER OPTION IS WRITE EXAMS OF NIOS (NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF OPEN SCHOOLING) WHICH DOES NOT REQUIRE ANY SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AND ONE CAN JUST REGISTER AND WRITE THE EXAMS.

Q. How will children who require easier access to schools get one from this model ? These are children whose parents can’t read, write and in a lot of cases can’t speak English. How can we expect them to be able to pick up a CBSE English medium education without any sort of physical presence ?

ANYONE WHO ASPIRES TO MOVE AHEAD KNOWS THAT "ENGLISH MEDIUM" IS A MUST. THE NEW GENERATION IS TECH SAVVY WHILE WE HAVE MADE A VERY SIMPLE INTERFACE FOR PARENTS. ALSO, THE APP LANGUAGE WOULD BE VERNACULAR FOR EASY UNDERSTANDING.

Q. AAS will be from KG to 12th OR from 10th to 12th ?

AAS VIDYALAYA OBJECTIVE IS TO PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY TO PRIMARY SCHOOL DROPOUTS TO COMPLETE SECONDARY EDUCATION AND HENCE REACH THE NEXT MILESTONE. WE PROVIDE LEARNING FOR GRADE 6 TO 8 AS OF NOW.

Q. Many kids that drop-out of school - do so because it’s just too hard for them to keep up with the curriculum. Why will this delivery method work. Wont this make them more disinterested and less capable of focusing on their lessons & results in poor results? This may lead to people blaming the APP & content quality.

AAS VIDYALAYA PROVIDES AN ADDITIONAL CHANNEL FOR CHILDREN WHO "WANT" EDUCATION BUT ARE UNABLE TO GET IT DUE TO ANY REASON WHATSOEVER. ON THE CONTRARY TO THE QUESTION, THIS DELIVERY METHOD IS HIGHLY CONVENIENT AS A CHILD CAN ATTEND CLASSES ANYTIME ANYWHERE AND CAN MOVE AT HER OWN SPEED. EVERY CHILD IS SUPERVISED BY A CLASS TEACHER WHO MONITORS THE PROGRESS AND HAND-HOLDS TO HELP CROSS ANY ROADBLOCKS.

Q. How does one expect children to sit in their home for 4 -6 hours a day staring at a smartphone screen without getting distracted into doing something else?

WE ARE NOT EXPECTING THEM TO SIT FOR 4-6 HOURS. EVERY CLASS SESSION AT AAS VIDYALAYA WILL BE JUST 15-20 MIN AND CAN BE ATTENDED ANYTIME ANYWHERE. THIS IMPLIES THE TOTAL TIME REQUIRED WILL BE 1.5-2 HOURS PER DAY WHICH CAN BE SPLIT OVER TIME. THE STUDENT CAN EVEN CATCH UP ON MISSED CLASSES DURING THE WEEKEND OR ON HOLIDAYS.

Q. Since the content here is heavily skewed towards video content - the bandwidth needs will be high on a monthly basis for a diligent student. This could lead to easily a 1000 INR plus cost per month . How will that work from an affordability perspective as even a KV school charges 1775 INR per month only.

THE ENTIRE CONCEPT IS BASED ON AVAILABILITY OF FAST & CHEAP INTERNET. AT ALMOST NO ADDITIONAL EXPENSE OVER THE EXISTING SPENDS, JIO IS OFFERING 1GB PER DAY WHICH IS MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR THE 1.5-2 HOURS OF VIDEO EACH DAY. GOVERNMENT IS LAUNCHING FREE WIFI HOTSPOTS WHERE THE USERS CAN DOWNLOAD THE VIDEO CONTENT WHICH CAN BE VIEWED LATER. WE PREDICT THAT SOON ENOUGH, CORPORATES WILL FORM A CONSORTIUM TO PROVIDE FREE INTERNET TO ALL.

Q. What is the business model to sustain this ? How much do you plan to charge?

REVENUE SOURCES INCLUDE FEES, ADVERTISING REVENUE, CSR CONTRIBUTIONS & GOVERNMENT FUNDS. WE AIM TO PROVIDE HIGH QUALITY EDUCATION WITH EASY ACCESSIBILITY AT A VERY NOMINAL COST OF APPROX Rs 200 P.M. OUR TARGET CUSTOMERS HAVE A HOUSEHOLD INCOME OF BETWEEN Rs 8000 TO 20,000 P.M. AND THEY CAN EASILY AFFORD IT. WE WILL BE OFFERING SCHOLARSHIPS TO GOOD STUDENTS, WE WOULD ALSO BE GIVING DISCOUNTS / OFFERS SUPPORTED THROUGH CSR CONTRIBUTIONS & CORPORATE TIE-UPS TO THE NEEDY.

Key Links

Website: www.vidyalaya.org.in

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