The Journey of Enrich, prime mover, with the wherewithal to succeed - Nalanda Learning


The Journey of Enrich, prime mover, with the wherewithal to succeed

There was a lot of resistance, especially from the parents when Nalanda had originally introduced the screen-based learning system, unveiling it as the future of preschool education. Parents and guardians were sceptical as to how the children would be able to learn without a teacher physically being present to guide them. We had to organise a number of seminars to explain the benefits and then, co-opt the parents as partners in the classes as their children were exposed to the digitised, online method of learning. The idea was to bring the parents on board so that they could continue guiding the children at home in the same way that our teachers were guiding them online by letting the interaction levels merge on an even kneel.

Enrich, our digitally backed pedagogic system was launched in 2016. There was a distinct break from the then-traditional mode of imparting knowledge by rote with more stress being accorded to encouraging the children to learn by using their faculties and to apply them for finding solutions and addressing specific needs. Our teachers were also trained, their training manuals having been prepared from the same mindset, which ensured that the entire pedagogic process was in sync and that the lessons were imparted without a hitch. It had taken the parents some time to overcome their initial resistance to change and accept the new method of learning, but once they saw their children adapting and excelling beyond ordinary comprehension, the parents were won over and who then started to support the system with overwhelming enthusiasm.

National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 vindication

When the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 was implemented, we were delighted to see that the NEP too was based on the same philosophy, based on the same principles. As a matter of fact, our job has become much easier in the post-NEP scenario, where the Government has specifically and unequivocally mandated that three years of preschool education is necessary for every child. Today, because of our prime mover status and hands-on experience, we are hand-holding a number of schools as they seek to transform themselves and get integrated into a NEP-mandated system where they are empowered with the ways and means of 21st century ready pedagogy.

“Our motto and mission are to collaborate with schools to help them and create wonderful, effective learning environments in the preschool domain” said Tamal Mukherjee, the moving spirit behind the institution who had originally visualized the need for a digitally integrated pedagogic system in the preschool space much before it was even fashionable to expose children to game-based learning modules and who had followed it up by taking all necessary steps to get the system running well before moves were made to move preschool learning in a similar direction.