This NGO is making students master new age tools & champion digital world

Quest Alliance works with government school students and teachers to help them understand the importance of self-awareness

A not-for-profit is making students and teachers master new age tools, communicate and champion the digital world, writes Sneha Bhattacharjee

On July 2, a “happiness curriculum” was introduced in the government-run schools of Delhi by the state government. With the aim of making students observe and learn values, patriotism among other activities, the curriculum is expected to make students ‘open up’ about exam pressures, peer pressure and any other issues of importance. Whether the move will infuse confidence in children or become yet another evaluation system, only time will tell. 

To be sure, examinations are important. But students also need understanding that a) exams are not end of the world; b) almost everyone is ingrained with some potential; c) one needs to realise one’s calling and not go by what others are saying or doing. 

“The happiness curriculum is a great step to give children an opportunity to focus on themselves, express their emotions freely and also lay the foundation for making better career decisions. The big challenge is to get teachers to feel happy before they start delivering this curriculum in schools. To sustain this, the whole system has to back the teacher and make it possible for them to deliver this meaningfully,” says Aakash Sethi, founder and CEO, Quest Alliance — a not-for-profit that is helping students build 21st century skills.

The organisation works with government school students and teachers to help them understand the importance of self-awareness, teach them communication and digital literacy, as well as how to build and manage the whole system. “We specifically focus on self-learning. The idea is to provide teachers and students large communities to share their ideas, learn new tools, and nurture their mindset,” says Sethi. While their primary focus is students and teachers, they are now looking at collaborating with corporates. “Even employers and employees need to know their calling. Unless, you give them the space and help them understand what is it that they want, they might not be able to perform to their best of abilities,” he adds.

Most teachers in schools are subject-matter experts, however, what they lack is to know how to impart that knowledge to the students. It is this gap that Quest Alliance is looking to bridge through its training programmes wherein the teachers are taught to focus on themselves, who the learner is, how they can be a good teacher and make students active learners. “Most of our trainings are either face-to-face or online. We design and setup low-cost servers in schools for easy access to online content,” says Sethi. 

Mansi, one of the students who now interns at Quest Alliance says, the training provided by the organisation has helped her gain confidence and communicate effectively. Her scope of work includes apart of managing events, building alumni base of the organisation. Connect with them. Organise placement sessions for the trainees. 

Reaching over 200,000 students every year, across 600 schools in Bihar, Delhi, Bengaluru and Hyderabad and 200 industrial training institutes in Assam, Gujarat, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala, Sethi is positive to make it to 5 million youth and children by 2023. “Nobody has ever talked about a child and a learner or their personal development. We are looking at building skills in the learners, help them identify their passion and build the confidence in them to face the world,” he adds. 

The organisation is a team of 120 people at present. There are 40 trainers who go out for mentoring or coaching. The trainers are chosen after a rigorous schedule of mock sessions that evaluate their work. “We want to train leaders and decision-makers so that they align their vision and build an organisation brimming with learning and culture,” says Sethi.