Sarfaraz Iraque is among the hundreds of thousands of students who aspire to clear the country's coveted entrance exams to enter the elite Indian Institutes of Technology. The 18-year-old is not among the thousands who made it through. Iraque, now studying computer engineering at Mumbai's KJ Somaiya Engineering College, is, however, following the teaching techniques he learnt at Avanti Learning Centre.
"I was never in favour of coaching classes. I feel they spoon-feed students. I was reluctant to join Avanti too, but they said almost 80 per cent of the fees would be waived for students who cleared their entrance exam. Also one of my teachers said coaching was required to clear the JEE," says Iraque. "I found their peer learning technique very useful. It is better than my self-study method. They have taught me how to learn. Now I follow the same method with my classmates."
Avanti Learning Centre was started in 2010 as a non-profit institute and in 2013 converted to a for-profit organisation with 75 centres teaching 5,000 students in Classes IX-XII. It was founded by two IITians, Krishna Ramkumar and Akshay Saxena, who found the inspiration to start the institute in their own backgrounds.
"Both Akshay and me (co-founders of Avanti) come from educated, middle-class families. In fact, 95 per cent of all students who go to the best engineering schools in India come from the top two or three towns in their state. We were inspired by the work of Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank, who had demonstrated that innovative market-based approaches had the potential to transform the lives of thousands of low-income families. We felt deeply about the inequity in opportunities in higher education in India and the scale of the problem provided an ideal opportunity for disruption through a non-traditional approach," says Ramkumar.
Avanti received seed funding from two angel investors and the Pearson Affordable Learning Fund. Its teaching method is based on peer learning with minimum intervention from teachers. The method is designed in collaboration with Eric Mazur, dean of applied physics at Harvard University and a world-renowned expert in peer instruction. The focus is to move information outside the classroom, limit lectures to eight minutes, follow lectures with concept tests - objective questions where students vote and then debate with each other and spend at least 50 per cent of classroom time in solving problems individually and in groups - with guidance from the teacher.
"There are over 20 peer-reviewed articles demonstrating that peer instruction increases learning gains by over 15 per cent. Our outcomes so far validate this. The key over the next few years will be to use technology and process to hard-code peer learning into our classrooms and use our data to keep improving our curriculum and pedagogy," adds Ramkumar.
In 2016, 113 of Avanti's 321 graduating students qualified for the JEE mains and were admitted to Tier I engineering institutes. Last year, 57 of its 144 students were admitted to Tier I institutes. Avanti is not aiming at merely identifying and helping students from low-income groups, it also wants faculty that can provide the requisite guidance.
"We recruit teachers from top science and engineering colleges. In addition to subject proficiency, we look for a passion for teaching and the ability to inspire students. At present, we have 150 teachers," says Ramkumar. The institute also trains school teachers to use its curriculum, technology and teaching approach.
"We charge in the range of Rs 30,000-60,000 in Classes XI-XII, depending on the nature of the programme and the location. In our experience, most families can afford these fees, parents are willing to spend on quality education in India. In addition, we also provide scholarships to students who cannot afford our fees. Finally, we partner with the government to run our programmes in remote areas where there is very little paying capacity," says Ramkumar. Avanti has centres in Chapra in Bihar and Karauli and Jhalawar in Rajasthan. Besides, the founders believe financial viability is key to achieving the scale required to address this problem.
Avanti has raised $7 million in funding in three rounds and will evaluate further fund-raising in a year's time.
"Our goal is to provide affordable math and science education in every district in India, thus providing all students irrespective of their location or economic status an equal opportunity to enjoy the benefits of a high-quality college education. Our hope is that through our efforts, we will create positive role models in every community and inspire young students to fulfil their potential," concludes Ramkumar.
