Aspects of Education

The education sector comprises of a multitude of things. People who work in this sector are often asked, "So, what exactly do you do?"
The sector is no longer just about teaching and teachers only. People from diverse fields like management, sales, marketing and finance have moved into education.
Opening and running school is as much about marketing it right, as it is about getting the academic curriculum in place. Educational products are related to core curriculum and supplementary learning; language improvement programs; learning games and toys, television programs; and the newest additions – digital products. Marketing for these products is just as important as creating appropriate content and design.
As Inspire does work in different areas of the education sector ranging from curriculum design, to providing infrastructure and branding guidelines, and teacher training, we regularly come across different kinds of people with different approaches to the sector.
Two such interactions made us think about the kind of work we would like Inspire to be known for.
The Inspire team is frequently invited by a key central government educational organisation to offer trainings to groups of teachers from across India.
For Inspire these workshops help to remain in touch with an audience very important to us – teachers. At each of these workshops, our trainers meet teachers from across the length and the breadth of the country.
The regional and cultural differences in the teachers most definitely bring variances in the ways they teach their classes. There is however a quality that most of them possess - passion.
They are absolutely enthusiastic about teaching children. They are also keen to learn. The zeal with which each of them participates in the workshops goes on to show that they take their jobs as serious missions. Teaching may well be the most undervalued and yet the most publically revered profession. While many teachers understand the importance of their occupation, the undervaluation brings their motivation levels down. Each one of us wants to be appreciated for the work we do. But consider this, how many times have you seen a teacher or an educator publicly appreciated for their work? To top this societal undervaluation, we have the 'sarkaari' (bureaucratic) system. So we have teachers being pulled out for collecting census data. Once, an animated discussion during an Inspire workshop was halted midway because it was some senior professor's farewell! With constraints like these, it is justified that the teachers would suffer from low morale and motivation.
Inspire's association on the other hand has been with corporate organisations that operate with an evident focus on bottom lines. One such engagement has been with an enterprise that ventured into education, considering it a noble profession, but more importantly seeing it made good business sense.
Education is currently beginning to see the same high that IT had seen a decade back. It is the bandwagon everyone wants to ride. In that process, academics, the basic A, B, C of the field, sometimes takes a backseat. As the domain gets increasingly competitive - infrastructure, branding and marketing become the drivers, - marketing a school; an educational program; even marketing curriculum.
Ever noticed how every school now claims to 'nurture' a child?
Contrast to ten years ago. How many schools advertised in newspapers or put up billboards? All this shows the infiltration of marketing in education.
While marketing itself is a positive aspect, it is counterproductive for the domain if the focus shifts from quality.
These two associations have been learning experiences for Inspire. We realize that the way ahead is going to be challenging. While many teachers will continue to do good work in their individual classes, the second group can help expand these islands of excellence. This will again have a direct and positive impact on teacher compensation and their motivation.
The challenge is therefore to work with teachers to ensure that they make each school day interesting and enriching for children. At the same time encourage corporate funding to ensure that 'good quality' education is available to many more children.
Inspire is enthused by these recent changes in the sector. It views the entry of corporate into education as positive as it adds value and ensures reasonable returns and growth for enterprises, showing it is possible to do both.
In all the work that Inspire has done, one thing has emerged clearly – education cannot be compromised for the sake of higher profits. While we are a business enterprise, we know that each minute of our existence is because of the child – whose life we intended to influence with quality education.
We also urge the consumers – the parents to be alert and mindful of these influences when deciding on their child's education. After all it is their choice that makes their child's future.