What We Do
Students at local-medium Government schools learn written English but lack spoken skills – which could be their passport to better jobs. Private/International school students, who speak English effortlessly, can enhance social awareness by training them while adding a standout project for extra-curriculars and college.
Approach and Pedagogy
We offer a platform to enable private school students (9th to 12th graders) to teach spoken English to local-medium government school students (3rd to 10th graders). We do this by onboarding and connecting the private school mentors with the government school class slots (ideally on Saturdays) as well as offering a Learning Management System (LMS) which hosts structured eLearning courses and tracks delivery of these classes. The interactive, practice-based eLearning curriculum with detailed step-by-step video-based lessons allows even private school student mentors with no previous teaching experience to easily run the classes. A teacher orientation helps mentors get started. Our content follows the globally recognized CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) for language learning. We structure each lesson using Gagne's nine events of instruction pedagogy, which is proven to be effective for building competencies.
Through peer learning, private school students (native English speakers) teach government school students spoken English, from beginner to conversant levels. This approach makes learning fun and easy while bridging two different worlds and enriching both groups.
Click the icons below to explore our courses!
Beginner English
CEFR A1 Level: Introduce themselves, use familiar expressions and phrases, and engage in basic conversation like self-introduction.
Elementary English
CEFR A2 Level: Use context-specific expressions, explain aspects of their background and environment, and complete simple language tasks.
Intermediate English
CEFR B1 Level: Give information on familiar topics, handle common travel situations, describe/explain experiences, dreams, and plans.
Conversant English
CEFR B2 Level: Talk about complex, concrete and abstract topics, fluently with native speakers, clearly explain various subjects or different options.
Addressing the challenges
Teaching spoken English to local-medium school students can open doors to brighter futures, but it comes with challenges.
Move your cursor over any box below to see how we tackle them!
Linking the network of public and private schools.
- Schools and students sign up on this platform
- Network of schools and students are visible to all
- Each group posts their availability, and we match based on location
Government school students can't communicate in English.
- Material will include bilingual content
- Communication via translation apps
- Requesting public school teachers to translate
- Local speakers among mentors can translate
How to enable private school students to teach with ease.
- By a student, for students: e-Learning modules are self-sufficient
- Engaging content keeps students interested without the need for active teaching
- Providing support through teacher orientation and mentorship
Using technology for peer learning.
- Mentors will teach in groups of 2-4 every class
- Private school students bring laptop, projector, and speaker to class (either provided by the school or personal)
- Ideally, a local-language speaker and translator (parent/teacher/driver) is present
It's all about technology.
- Every class is run and recorded on our Learning Management System (LMS)
- Attendance is captured during every session
- Reports are generated for every stakeholder
Practice-based activities and assessments.
- Speaking competency is based on Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR)
- Curriculum is focused on interactive practice activities
- Assessments and certificates are based on spoken English performance
Making it work
Govt. schools as well as Private schools and their students sign up, get trained+mentored and then conduct weekly English lessons at government schools. Performance is tracked and presented on progress reports, as shown in the steps below.
Reaping the rewards
Every stakeholder stands to benefit. Click on different stakeholders rows to see the benefits they could gain.
Private School Principals - Build good citizens for tomorrow.
- Enhance students’ curriculum
- Create extracurricular opportunities for Creativity, Activity, and Service (CAS)
- Create meaningful social work/awareness for their students and help integrate into the local community
- Develop mentorship/teaching skills for students
- Enhance local language skills of their students
Government School Principals - Innovate to excel.
- Improve their students’ skills and knowledge beyond the curriculum taught by teachers
- Enhance their students’ engagement through peer learning opportunities
- Innovate at school level, leading to a better future and outcomes for their students
Private School Students - Go beyond your comfort zone.
- Build resume enhancing skills for university/work (e.g. CAS project for IB students)
- Provide a more holistic worldview to create empathetic future citizens
- Opportunity for students to learn local language (through interacting/speaking with Govt. School Peers)
- Parent-Child Bonding opportunities
Government School Students - Unlock opportunities.
- Improve future opportunities by learning useful abilities like functional English, soft skills, etc.
- Exposure to student mentors, leading to new friendships and guides for their future upward mobility
- Create a fun and interactive learning environment to encourage lifelong learning
Private School Parents - Create meaningful bonds.
- Sharing the opportunity to teach together with children and create lifelong bonds
- Giving back to society – by teaching underprivileged children
- Nurture essential values like kindness, social awareness, and sharing in your child
Government Schools Parents - Help your child's future.
- Improve their children’s skills and future prospects through learning spoken English
- Learn some additional useful skills themselves through students’ homework assignments
- Retain children in school for longer through fun classes taught by peers
- Develop social skills and etiquette in their children through lessons and interactions with students across socioeconomic strata
See our Impact
Listen to people who have participated in these classes. Click on the icons below to hear various stories.
Our Story
Bridging the two Indias
English is the lingua franca of the world. It opens the door to new opportunities and limitless possibilities. So why can’t everyone have access to it? Austin and Meera started teaching government school students when Austin was working in education technology and Meera was in high school herself. They quickly realized that students’ eagerness to learn was augmented by the presence of someone whom they could communicate with as a peer, someone their age: Meera akka. Their conversational English skills grew as Meera learned important lessons in leadership, collaboration, and communication. Now, their mission is to equip all government school students with spoken English skills and connect the socioeconomic bridge between private and public school students.
People
We are alumni of reputed schools and are united by a common mission to create an inclusive brighter future for the next generation of India.
Advisors
This effort is guided and informed by experts in the areas of Ed-Tech, Skilling and Education who share their time and wisdom with us.
Dr. Sridhar Iyer
Professor, Center for Educational Technology, IIT Bombay
Prof. Iyer has been a faculty member at IIT Bombay since 1999. He is one of the foremost experts in Technology enhanced learning. As an undegrad in IIT Bombay, he ran an initiative called "Good for Nothing" - where he taught govt. school kids for free.
Dr. V.S. Mehrotra
Professor, PSS Central Institute of Voc. Education, a division of NCERT
Prof. Mehrotra has been a leader in mainstreaming Employability skills into School education and has been integral in development of NSQF (National Skills Vocational Framework) since 2011. He led Employability curriculum dev. for schools across India.
Aloysius D'Mello
Former Principal at Greenwood High School, Former HOD at TISB, Bangalore
Principal Aloysius D'Mello led Greenwood High School in Bangalore for the 14 years Meera attended. He continues to mentor us with his deep understanding of the Indian and International Education system (and their gaps) and Private School Students.
Join the Movement!
Are you a Private School Principal Student or Parent? Or a Government School Principal, Teacher, Student or even Parent? Or just interested?
Make a difference to enhance the prospects of bright young children. Sign up today!