(It's a germ of an idea but I hope to work on this!)
Problem:
Public schools in India don't do justice to students. Private schools in India charge a bomb but most of the money ends up in the hands of the "owners" and not enough to teachers (For reference, an average primary school teacher earns lesser than what an Uber driver earns) .
The solution :
A network of "not-for-profit" schools where the fee structure is reasonable ( can't be free ), but the profits are shared amongst the people who make the schools run. Think "community banks" but for schools. I can't solve the problem for everyone but hope to set a good example by attracting the cream of teachers. It's time the teachers got their due.
Any such initiative in India will have hard time because of factors like
- Many a times, kids school has nothing to do with quality of education in that school but the stature of the school. Parents in India use this to flex among their peers.
- Non-involvement of parents.In India, the parents who actively take part in their kids schooling are a minority. For most, its more like "paid school fees" and just make sure that the kid is doing homework, that's all.
- Regulation. Once you try to open a school, you will come to know that there is no way you can get your school registered without paying hefty bribes to the education department if you dont have bureaucrats(IAS or IPS) or politicians in the family.
Education is a problem not only in India, But across the world. In Africa, in remote villages, Possibly on Mars,if we setup a Mars colony. It is not only about financial resources, but also simply non-availability of teaching resource.
The second part, Why is education only relevant for children. Why not adults.
This is where Edtech comes in play. Online Learning and other things. However it is only a small component in the entire solution. Other components are personalization, social interaction, assessment, credibility of these online Learning.
Also it is very easy to monetize online attention. How to build financial model with the true goal of Education is also going to be very critical.
Good news, all the components are technically available or can be built. Bad news. It requires culture change.
I was thinking about something very similar.
like, the teachers will get a lions share of the fee.
this will instantly motivate teachers to better themselves, and move the school away from for-profit model.
but there are some real problems to solve.
like,
1. how to get such school started ? who will provide initial capital ?
2. even if such a school is started, how to stop it from becoming for-profit again ?
3. is there a healthy balance between 'for-owers' and 'for-teachers' model ?
1. Who pays for it?
There are philanthropic trusts like the Azim Premji trust which focus on this.
2. I think that self interest is a good motivator to keep the system in place :-).
3. I honestly dont know the balance yet but I know for sure that the current one just wont cut it
Problem: Public schools in India don't do justice to students. Private schools in India charge a bomb but most of the money ends up in the hands of the "owners" and not enough to teachers (For reference, an average primary school teacher earns lesser than what an Uber driver earns) .
The solution : A network of "not-for-profit" schools where the fee structure is reasonable ( can't be free ), but the profits are shared amongst the people who make the schools run. Think "community banks" but for schools. I can't solve the problem for everyone but hope to set a good example by attracting the cream of teachers. It's time the teachers got their due.