How a new crop of tech-driven schools is redefining the classroom

Our mission is to teach children how to reinvent and reskill themselves, says Indus Trust's Arjun Ray

As the bell signals the end of class at Genesis Global School on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, a student rushes towards the on-campus golf course. Another heads for the shooting range. Far away from this scene, in Karnataka, at the Indus International School Bangalore (IISB), the numerous flags at the entrance boast of the diversity of the students enrolled here: they come from over 38 countries and follow a curriculum tailored according to the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme. Head to Goa’s Paradise School and you find a whole new model of technology-driven learning. Teachers here describe themselves as “educational innovators” and the students are actively encouraged to embrace the “Digital Age”, including studying online at home.

Packed with facilities and boasting of exclusivity, these are some of the newest “aspirational” schools in India, all of which have in common the promise to shape your child into a citizen of the world.

There was a time when institutions such as The Doon School in Dehradun, the Woodstock School in Mussoorie, The Scindia School in Gwalior and others of their ilk represented the acme of high school education. And while those schools — all of them residential — continue to be among the most sought after for the “old school tie” — their reputation, alumni network and legacy — the last 10-odd years have seen the mushrooming of a new and distinct crop of institutions. The latter charge similar fees (between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 15 lakh a year) and pride themselves as modern bastions of technology and innovative learning. Unlike the legacy schools that are usually nestled in hill stations or historical locales, these glitzy new schools are often within city limits or just on the outskirts. It’s here that a number of professionals with high-paying jobs, as well as those with “new money” but no hoary family name, are choosing to send their children.

The school orchestra

At these privately run schools, parents and students are spoilt for choice — even when it comes to selecting the board of education. Most of them offer one national board — either the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) or the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examinations (which conducts the ICSE and ISC examinations) — along with international boards such as the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) and IB.

The fee varies according to the board the student opts for. For instance, Genesis Global School, which has been in existence since 2009, charges close to Rs 4.5 lakh a year for the CBSE course and Rs 6.5 lakh annually for the IB programme for classes XI and XII. Manipur-based entrepreneur Jiten Shagolsem has opted for the IB programme for his son, Jaissal. “He wants to study abroad after his schooling in India, so IB makes sense.” Jaissal, a Class IX student, stays in the hostel on campus. The school has boarders, day scholars and those who go home over the weekend.

 

It takes a visit to some of these schools to begin to understand what they are all about. The tryst with technology begins at the gate itself. A biometric scanner at the Genesis Global School takes your fingerprints and asks for your name and contact number, after which you get a text message with an exit code. Only then are you allowed to enter; you can leave the premises only after punching in the exit code. Security is tight at IISB, too. Situated about 30 km from Bengaluru’s central business district, the security guard judiciously photographs visitors and maintains an electronic record of their comings and goings.

The white walls of the reception area of the 30-acre Genesis campus are adorned with modern art. In the basement of the building, which is flanked by the administrative and academic blocks, is the shooting range. Christopher Hanvey, the school’s director-operations, is seated at his desk with a Microsoft Surface Pro. He has already looked up the profile of the reporter visiting him on LinkedIn, so the introduction is quick and easy. “Technology,” he says, “is moving fast and I make it a point to keep myself in sync with it.” So does his school, which plans to launch an artificial intelligence laboratory next year and has Microsoft advising it on what should be incorporated into the current information and communication technology syllabus.

As of now, the school with 2,000-odd students offers courses such as design technology for Classes IX and X, and has an in-house “farm bot” that sows seeds and monitors the growth of plants. The school is also home to the Nao Robot — a programmable, humanoid robot created by French robotics company Aldebaran Robotics, and acquired for Rs 8 lakh. Each classroom is equipped with a projector and a smart-board that doubles up as a screen. While tiny tots watch videos to familiarise themselves with the alphabet, older students learn real-life application of concepts that confound them theoretically.

At Genesis Global School: (left to right) the girls’ boarding facility; students in the primary wing. Photos: Dalip Kumar

By August, the 40-acre IISB flagship school in Bengaluru, too, will have three robots assisting teachers in regular classroom tasks such as assigning homework. The school hopes to add three more of these robots built in-house by December for what Arjun Ray, the founder, MD and CEO of Indus Trust, calls “man-machine teams”.

Summiya Yasmeen, co-founder and managing editor of Education World, a portal for information about institutions from preschool to university, says that besides providing top-notch facilities and highly trained faculty, private institutes — both established and upcoming ones — are actively increasing their focus on technology.

Considering that the newly released draft report of the National Education Policy 2019 also talks about giving a big boost to technology-based education programmes, these expensive and exclusive private schools have put themselves at an advantage as early adopters of technology-driven learning and technology-oriented teaching. Established schools can only play catch-up in this field.

“The purpose of education is to prepare children for a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous future,” says Ray, who retired as general from the Indian Army. Given that 85 per cent of the jobs that will be around in 2030 haven’t been invented yet (according to a 2017 Dell report), Ray’s words carry even more weight now than when the Indus Trust established its first school in Bengaluru in 2003. Over the years, it has expanded to Hyderabad, Pune, Chennai and Belgaum.

“The days of teaching just content are over,” says Ray. “Our mission is to teach children how to reinvent and reskill themselves.” Hanvey of Genesis, too, feels that students need to be prepared to adapt to change, and the best way to teach them this is to make technology a part of their lives. He adds that even a CBSE student can enrol in an after-school programme to “deep dive” into a subject of their choice.

There is also the draw of the dazzling variety of sport and recreational facilities. Besides two swimming pools — one for learners and the other Olympic-size — Genesis offers 21 kinds of sports and activities including fencing, squash and wall climbing. IISB, too, has two swimming pools, nine horses for equestrian activities and a well-equipped student orchestra. Students here also regularly delve into projects to revive India’s dying folk arts. Only a few weeks ago, they sat and learnt from Kannadiga leather puppeteers and then staged a play using those puppets.

The Visual Art lab

For parents, the reasons for choosing such schools over the more traditional ones vary. Gurugram-resident Hetal Gupta zeroed in on Pathways School Gurgaon for her nine-year-old daughter, Devishi, so that she would be exposed to different cultures through practical learning and would grow up to be a global citizen. “Every student gets one hour in a week to work on their passion at a class called ‘Passion Project’’. And, at the end of four months, students present what they have learned,” she says. The hefty school fee is not a factor since she’s paying for her child’s security and holistic education that involves exposure to technology and different cultures.

Ishaan Verma, who graduated from IISB this year, says, “We were given experiential learning opportunities and I can say that the IB programme has made me locally rooted and globally competent.”

IISB makes it a point to connect its students with local issues. For instance, for the past five years, students have been making 200 sanitary pads daily to be circulated in the villages neighbouring Sarjapura. “For the last one month, students from the middle and senior grades have also been involved in a programme to feed 100 women and children from the families of migrant labourers in the area, besides providing them education and health care,” says IISB Principal Sarojini Rao. The organic ingredients for these meals are grown on the school grounds by the students themselves.

But it isn’t just the students who do their bit for the community. Across a shared field where a young bunch is playing hockey one warm morning is the Indus International Community School where close to 450 children from less-privileged families study, and they all have access to the same amenities as the children paying an average of Rs 7-8 lakh per annum.

“We are not expensive in terms of what we provide. From meals and boarding to robots and a golf course, we have it all,” says Hanvey.

Yasmeen of Education World is of the view that “private schools in India are the saving grace for the country’s education system”, thanks to their focus on what will eventually matter in an increasingly mechanised and globalised world — adaptability and global consciousness.