Educators need to prepare for a coming “education revolution” that will see learners breaking from traditional models to embrace shorter spurts of education throughout their lives, according to technology expert Shankar Maruwada. He predicted that learners will move toward shorter courses of education and lifelong learning.

Tens of millions of children across the globe lack a basic primary education and are unable to exercise their full potential as citizens and participate as productive members of society. This is arguably one of the worst shortcomings of the human condition. We are addressing this problem of early childhood learning through the EkStep platform. 

Nandan, along with his wife, Rohini, Founder of Arghyam Foundation, co-founded Ekstep Foundation, a digital platform for education that aims to address learning challenges in the primary education space. On the topic ‘Realising a Billion Aspirations’, the duo spoke about how digital platforms will give telemetry of the content in education.

In its wisdom, the state has recently banned all online teaching for classes 1-5. The state comes with honourable intentions. The arguments being made are on the grounds of equity, public health and learning. The equity argument is that online learning necessitates reliable access to digital devices, which not all children have.

Societal Platform Thinking posits a reimagining of social change through a systemic approach that brings the government, society and the market together. It is based on the following elements: shared infrastructure; co-creating in context: network of networks; minimalistic design; and empowerment through data.