Assessing potential for low cost computer school

1
Assessing potential for low cost computer school
CONFIDENTIAL
Internal
April 2008
Varsha Krishnan
2
Discussion Topics

• Challenges faced by current players

• Recommendations for ideal school

• Appendix

3
Most schools draw high barriers for making
computer education available , thus failing to
cater to the mass market

• Most of the institutes target the 10th pass or
  12th pass students
• Housewives etc havent been observed anywhere in
  the institutes
• Local population like shop owners etc havent
  been tapped
• English has become a basic requirement without
  which no student is entertained
• Placements have become a strong focus for most
  institutes thus, some make the willingness to
  work after the course mandatory, thus losing out
  on the population interested in learning alone
• The courses are projected as a course for the
  youth, thus fail in tapping the other older age
  groups

4
Location is driven mainly by the target
population and placement oriented objective of
the institute

• Most institutes that are placement oriented are
  in urban/semi urban areas to enable networking
  with companies and place students
• Dependency on school students as the target
  population makes it convenient for institutes to
  start their centre close to government schools
• It becomes very important that the target
  population stays close to the institute as
  travelling more than 3-4 Kms cause a lag in
  interest levels

5
Most schools promise placements, but find it
difficult to satisfy the students

• Tie-ups etc not always successful in providing
  computer oriented jobs, much to the
  disappointment of the students
• Many students lack good communication skills,
  thus their chances of getting placed in various
  companies get reduced
• Some students recruited by the institute are
  under age for work
• Most schools begin and then start building a
  network, while it should be the other way round,
  where they should create a network and then start
  recruiting the students.
• Many companies dont take the students passing
  out of these institutes very seriously and
  compare them to the students of the more known
  institutes like NIIT, Arena etc.

6
To convince the target population on IT education
and sustain interest a challenge

• Rate of absenteeism is seen to be high,
  especially in the case of drop outs
• Parents are not given the progress report of
  their ward, thus fail to appreciate the
  effectiveness and the relevance of the course
  being taught
• Many parents prefer their children to be working,
  or atleast need a commitment from the institute
  that their ward will be placed, as spending about
  3-4 months or more their time is an investment to
  them.
• Institutes havent been able to produce
  astonishing results, owing to many reasons, in
  terms of placements, thus attracting students
  becomes challenging

7
Infrastructure is a challenge

• Most institutes find it difficult to maintain
  computers places are either not too well
  ventilated or dont have an Air conditioner.
• Space becomes a problem, in terms of space and a
  constrained budget.
• Electricity backup an issue

8
Institutes are highly dependent on the partner
NGOs for funding

• Major operational costs include rent, faculty
  salaries the institute works best when it
  thrusts the responsibility of paying these on the
  parent NGO, in the absence of which, the NGO
  suffers.
• Performance becomes a taken condition for the
  institutes as they depend on the NGOs for
  funding, thus regular audits and reports are sent
  to the parent NGO. Thus performance is no more an
  obligation, but a necessary condition.

9
Updated and Relevant curriculum

• Many institutes fail to consider the requirements
  of the industry
• Various topics that are not relevant are taught
  when that time could be used for practical
  sessions
• The corporate is not involved in designing or
  reviewing of the curriculum. Thus sometimes
  acceptance of the curriculum in the industry
  becomes low. This problem could be fixed through
  associations and certifications provided by names
  like Microsoft.
• Most schools stick to MS Office components, while
  there is a huge market for Tally and also for
  designing tools.

10
Dedicated and qualified Faculty

• Salary paid to the computer professionals is very
  low, thus the hesitation to spend time teaching
  in these institutes. Thus attracting faculty is a
  challenge
• Generally people studying BCA get into teaching
  temporarily and then leave as soon they see
  better prospects, thus retaining faculty is a
  challenge
• The curriculum taught in these schools is very
  basic, thus doesnt sound too challenging for
  some of the qualified teachers like BCAs
• Travelling distances to teach at these institutes
  becomes a hindrance to faculties
• Slow paced teaching in the local language needs a
  highly committed faculty

11
Funding

• Attracting funding requires numbers to be
  presented before prospective sponsors. Thus an
  institute that is focused only on learning and
  not on placements might find it difficult to
  attract funding. Various IT companies can be
  approached as part of their CSR activities to
  promote IT awareness. A diverse student
  background will help attract funding

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Discussion Topics

• Challenges faced by current players

• Recommendations for ideal school

• Appendix

13
Focus Areas for an efficient and Sustainable
model (1/3)

• Recruit a BCA with/ without teaching experience
• Else if only graduate or school pass, faculty
  must have experience in teaching for atleast 1
  year along with a one year diploma is computers

Recruit teacher from the nearby localities

• A faculty from within the community understands
  the background of students well
• Travel expenses reduce, thus a more attractive
  proposition
• Teaching most effective when in the local
  language/dialect

• A detailed Day level plan in place
• Qualitative comments to be added by each faculty
  day wise on his/her observations
• Status check by the management weekly or once
  in two weeks

• A meeting of the faculty with the management at
  regular intervals of 2 weeks will help improve
  curriculum quality and relevance and teaching
  methodology

• Choosing a location having schools helps building
  acceptance of the institute in the community
• Households earning Rs. 7000 monthly can be
  targeted even in the lower income group
• Targeting school students will be beneficial
• Areas having small companies that might offer
  various computer profiles could prove fruitful

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Focus Areas for an efficient and Sustainable
model (2/3)
External Review of Curriculum

• The curriculum must be reviewed by a person from
  the industry and who is into recruiting
• Curriculum must also be updated depending on
  changing job requirements
• Curriculum must also be relooked at by consulting
  with some one trained in the institute and who is
  currently in a job

• MS Office
• Tally and Design related tools in demand these
  days (Design related jobs dont need too much of
  communication, and can be done by anyone well, if
  talented)
• Spoken English
• Could have some sector based course like retail,
  travel tourism

Curriculum content

• More practice sessions
• Practice exercises to be more application based
• Constant revision
• Regular tests
• Stress on training for interviews

• Counseling of students at the time of admission
• Monthly feedback from students
• Parents also to be involved at the time of
  counseling
• Regular meetings with parents will also help

• Helps in creating placement opportunities
• Also in arranging corporate guest lectures
• Helps revise curriculum from time to time to suit
  the changing industry requirements

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Focus Areas for an efficient and Sustainable
model (3/3)

• An important component of attracting students is
  a dedicated team of field workers who convince
  parents of children as to why the course is
  needed
• Quote examples in the process of convincing
• Give reference benefits to students, to encourage
  them to bring more students.

Publicity

• 4 parameters
• Enrolments
• Curriculums industry relevance
• Training methodology
• Students performance

Evaluation of the institute

• For eg. RAN Research provided curriculum for
  English and also pays the faculty
• Microsoft provides curriculum and also pays for
  the computer faculties in some centres.
• Giants like ITC can be approached

• For a learning oriented institute funding can be
  managed by approaching IT companies to promote IT
  awareness. For this the institute must be able to
  present a diverse student profile, including
  diverse age groups and genders to show the
  growing penetration of IT in India
• Fees must go into the institutes corpus to take
  care of the lean period when funding isnt
  available or delayed
• Tax exemption an attractive proposition can be
  used to attract funding

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Discussion Topics

• Challenges faced by current players

• Recommendations for ideal school

• Appendix

17
Appendix
NGO Smile Foundation
Centre Kishangarh
18
Overview of the School Smile Kishangarh (1/3)
Governance structure
Basic overview and history

• Donor -- Microsoft expected
• Manager - NGO Partner
• Owner - Smile
• Smile has a partnership with the NGO partner

• Number of students 50 students
• Capacity - 10 computers (1 2.5 students)
• History - 8 months old institute partly funded by
  Smile
• Contact Ms. Nainu Singh 9213374588

Course overview
Financial structure

• Teacher qualification - Computer Diploma
• Pre-qualifications required - Computer Diploma
• Curriculum
• Basic computers
• MS Office (Word, Excel, PPT, Outlook, Access)
• Personality Development courses
• Retail and Basic marketing
• Internet
• Tally
• English
• Number of computer classes 1 hr/day 3 days
  per week (2 pracs 1 theory)
• Class timings 2 batches 10 to 12 noon, 3-5 pm

• Fixed investment - Rs. 3.5 lakhs
• Revenues Rs 5,000 to Rs 12,000 pm
• Students Fees 50100Rs.5000
• Other sources Rs.7000 (about 7 times a year
  through various projects)
• Operating Expenses Rs. 40,000 pm
• Teacher (74)k for computers eng(52.555)
  k for retail and basic management and PD Rs
  28,500
• Rent Rs 7,000
• Electricity Rs 2,500
• Other Operating costs -- negligible

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Overview of the School Smile Kishangarh (2/3)
Description

• Placement oriented -IT oriented jobs in various
  verticals
• An English speaking and personality development
  course also provided along with the Computer
  topics
• Provides a Smile Twin e-learning certification
• Microsoft certified course ( under the Unlimited
  Potential program initiative)

• Centre resorted to students from a nearby
  Sarvodya School (10th school onwards) 18-25 yrs
  of age as it hasnt been successful in tapping
  the local population
• Advantageous as students come in groups and every
  year a new batch can be recruited
• Drop out rate is minimum

• Generally recruited by Smile NGO. In this case
  some faculty recruited by the centre also.
• Other visiting faculty from agencies like Milaan
  and AISEC for English and PD courses

• Designed by Smile 6 months duration
• Dependent on Smile for revision of curriculum
• MS Office portion designed by Microsoft
• Project coordinator records the syllabus covered
  and a monthly report is submitted to Smile.

• Only infrastructure cost borne by Smile
  Foundation
• Operational costs borne by the centre
• Computer faculty cost to be borne by Microsoft
  shortly
• Innovative ways of raising funds various
  projects like selling old furniture, conducting
  plays

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Overview of the School Smile Kishangarh (3/3)
Description

• Entrance test tests basic grammar and English
  writing skills
• Grading done A,B,C,D
• Students with grades BC preferred generally
• Selection only during Dec and June

• Pamphlets
• Word of mouth
• Newspaper ads ineffective
• Counseling in government schools

• Tie ups with Retail giants like Pantaloon, CCD,
  West side
• First month salary as a result of the tie-ups go
  to the institute
• But not many get jobs related to computers in
  them
• Many students aspire for BPO jobs and also want
  to serve respectable companies
• Some students under age for work

• Student Teacher 1 teacher 25 students
• Computer Student - 1 computer 2.5 students

• Strengths -Students from school, thus a
  growing population
• -Microsoft certified and funding expected from
  Microsoft
• -Curriculum very employment focussed -
  English, management courses along with computers
• Challenges - Operating costs too high Rs.
  40,000 per month, thus centre running under huge
  financial crisis
• -Networking for placements is also a challenge

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Appendix
NGO Smile Foundation
Centre Ashram
22
Overview of the School Smile Ashram (1/3)
Basic overview and history
Governance structure

• Number of students 33 students
• Capacity - 10 computers (1 1.5 students)
• History - 18 years old institute completely
  partly funded by Smile
• Contact Ms. Bharti Mehrotra 011-65121289

• Donor Smile
• Manager NGO Partner
• Owner - Smile

Course overview
Financial structure

• Teacher qualification - BA Computer Diploma
• Pre-qualifications required - Computer Diploma,
  Experience in teaching
• Curriculum Basic computers
• MS Office (Word, Excel, PPT, Outlook, Access)
• Internet
• Tally
• English
• Personality Development courses
• Retail and Basic marketing
• Number of classes 1.5 hrs/day 3 days per week
• Class timings 2 batches 9.30am to 11am, 11am
  to 12.30 pm

• Fixed investment - Rs. 3.5 lakhs
• Revenues Rs. 43300
• Students Fees 33100Rs 3300
• Grants 40000
• Operating Expenses Rs 36500
• Teacher (6106)k 22k
• Rent Rs 8000
• Electricity and Other Operating costs Rs 6500

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Overview of the School Smile Ashram (2/3)
Description

• Placement oriented Jobs involving the
  application of IT in sectors like Retail
• An English speaking course also provided along
  with the Computer topics
• Microsoft certified course ( under the Unlimited
  Potential program initiative)

• 17 years to 24 years
• Should have at least done 11th class
• Should definitely go in for placements after
  course completed
• Curriculum doesnt permit too much time for
  students to be working simultaneously
• Number of students not fixed, depends on the kind
  of students recruited

• Recruited by Centre itself
• Computer faculty, also involved in administrative
  tasks
• English faculty also present, but not full time

• Designed by Smile 6 months duration
• Dependent on Smile for revision
• MS Office portion designed by Microsoft
• Emphasis also on English speaking and personality
  development

• Completely funded by Smile.
• Contract once lapsed, may be revised and the
  centre might have to bear the operational costs
• Fees goes to the corpus for lean period

24
Overview of the School Smile Ashram (3/3)
Description

• Entrance test tests basic grammar and English
  writing skills
• Grading done A,B,C,D
• Students with grades BCD preferred generally
• Students must have the drive to be placed after
  the course is over

• Field workers who convince the population
• Word of mouth

• Tie ups with Retail giants like Spencers, CCD,
  West side
• Also some get employed locally in shops etc
• Many students aspire for BPO jobs and also want
  to serve respectable companies
• Some students under age for work
• Institute helps in interview preparation

• Student Teacher 1 teacher 20 students
• Computer Student - 1 computer 2 students

• Strengths Institute has been able to recruit
  students from nearby localities
• Microsoft certified
• Curriculum very employment focused - English,
  management courses along with computers
• Challenges Networking for placements

25
Appendix
NGO Pratigya
Centre Hyderpur Gaon
26
Overview of the School Pratigya Hyderpur gaon
(1/3)
Basic overview and history
Governance structure

• Donor Pratigya
• Manager Pratigya
• Owner - Pratigya

• Number of students 26 students
• Capacity - 4 computers (1 1 students)
• History - Run by a 3 year old NGO, Patigya
  education initiative Society
• Contact Mr. Ajai Saini 9891982983

Course overview
Financial structure

• Teacher qualification - BCA over or doing
• Pre-qualifications required (entrance test,
  education level etc.) BCA or 1 ye experience
  after class 12th
• Curriculum Basic computers
• DTP
• Tally
• Number of classes 1 hr/day 6 days per week
• Class timings from 10.30 am to 9.30 pm, 1 hr
  each class

• Fixed investment - 1.5 lakhs
• Revenues Rs 51,000
• Students Fees Rs 15,000
• Grants RAN research pvt ltd 8000
• Other sources (Atg certificate tax exemption
  certificate) Rs 3.4 lakhs yearly Rs 28,000
  monthly average
• Operating Expenses - Rs15,000
• Teacher Rs11,000
• Rent -- 0
• Electricity Rs 1200
• Others Rs 2,800

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Overview of the School Pratigya Hyderpur gaon
(2/3)
Description

• Provide a quality curriculum and training to
  match industry expectations

• Students between the age group of 16-24
• professionals working as field boys and
  telecallers
• As such no age bar

• Recruited by Centre itself
• English faculty only visiting faculty
• Faculties work between two shifts

• Covers topics like DTP, Tally that are in demand
  in the industry
• Not rigid, keeps getting revised
• Basic computer course offered with 3 options
  1,3 or 6 month course
• English course also available

• Funding would include grants in the form of
  faculty salary for English , by RAN Research
• Manages to raise Rs 3.5 lakhs yearly from donors
  looking at tax saving schemes

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Overview of the School Pratigya Hyderpur gaon
(3/3)
Description

• No entrance test, but an initial form of
  counseling
• Recruitment anytime, however batch starts when
  substantial number there

• Word of mouth
• Local cable
• Pamphlets
• Banners

• No placements assured, however contacts in
  smaller companies helps placement
• Institute also helps students with their CVs and
  through mock interviews

• Student Teacher 1 teacher 2 students
• Computer Student - 1 computer 1 student
• Sometimes computers underutilized as number of
  options in courses many

• Strengths Strong presence in the locality
• Curriculum in sync with industry standards
• Very healthy computer student and student teacher
  ratio
• Challenges Infrastructure in terms of space and
  electricity

29
Appendix
NGO Pratham
Centre Dilshad Garden
30
Overview of the School Pratham Dilshad Garden
(1/3)
Basic overview and history
Governance structure

• Donor Pratham, IBM/Bharti
• Manager Schools
• Owner - Pratham

• Number of students varies (usually a batch has
  22 students)
• Capacity - 11 computers (1 2 students)
• History IT Lab in the school run by Pratham
  with the help of Bharti. Similar associations
  prevail between Pratham and IBM
• Contact Mr. Surender 9312175343

Course overview
Financial structure

• Teacher qualification - BCA , BA with 1 year
  diploma in computers
• Pre-qualifications required (entrance test,
  education level etc.) BCA or 1 ye experience
  after class 12th
• Curriculum CAL
• Basic computers
• MS Office
• Number of classes 3 days (2 pracs 1 theory)
• Class timings depends on schedule a 30-40 min
  class

• Revenues and Operational costs break up not
  available

31
Overview of the School Pratham Dilshad Garden
(2/3)
Description

• Enable Computer Aided Learning (CAL games
  developed by Pratham) for primary school children
• Work with schools with more than 400 student
  population.
• Pratham acts as a bridge between the Govt of
  Haryana and IBM India in the Kidsmart Project
• Acts as a mediator between the schools and Bharti
  in Delhi.

• Mainly primary school children (tie up with IBM
  and Bharti)
• There are also students upto class 8th/ / 10th
  in some schools (Bharti prefers upto class 8th or
  10th)

• Recruited by Pratham
• In government schools, the teachers of the school
  themselves are trained
• Training given to the faculty through common
  workshops across centres 2 per year a must
• Personality Development courses also imparted

• Designed by Pratham as per state government
  guidelines revised yearly
• Games for CAL designed and developed by Pratham
  itself (Primary school)
• In the process of designing courses for 6th to
  10th
• Have courses designed for MS Office, in Hindi
• Projects and charts developed by students
  increases their interest levels.

• Part of the student fees (around Rs 25 subject
  to the school) taken by Pratham
• Around Rs15 out of that is given to the schools
  for operational costs like electricity
• Infrastructure costs borne by IBM or Bharti
• Bharti also pays faculty
• General and financial audits regularly done by
  Bharti and IBM

32
Overview of the School Pratham Dilshad Garden
(3/3)
Description

• Students already present in the schools

• Not required

• No placements
• Various other softwares like Photoshop, corel
  draw etc made available helps students
  interested in working after school.

• Student Teacher 1 teacher 22 students
• Computer Student - 1 computer 2 students
• For every 50 students in the school, 1 computer
  is allocated

• Strengths CAL
• Huge network of schools and exchange of knowledge
• Challenges Infrastructure in terms of space and
  electricity
• Mentality of teachers especially in government
  schools
• In private schools, the duration of stay of
  teachers unpredictable

33
Appendix
NGO Vidya
Centre Kidwai Nagar
34
Overview of the School Vidya Kidwai Nagar
(1/3)
Basic overview and history
Governance structure

• Donor GE
• Manager Vidya
• Owner - Vidya

• Number of students 30-40
• Capacity - 4 computers (1 2.5 students)
• History Vidya helps drop outs clear the NIOS
  board exams. Has centres across Delhi. Funded by
  GE
• Contact Ms Tara Bindra 98106 11838

Course overview
Financial structure

• Teacher qualification - Post grad diploma in
  computers
• Pre-qualifications required (entrance test,
  education level etc.) B.Ed/Post grad diploma
  in computers
• Curriculum Basic computers
• MS Word
• MS Office (Excel,Ppt) and Accessories during
  summer vacations
• Number of classes 2 days (1 pracs 1 theory)
• Class timings depends on schedule a 30-40 min
  class

• Revenues and Operational costs break up not
  available

35
Overview of the School Vidya Kidwai Nagar
(2/3)
Description

• Enable School dropouts to complete their
  education through NIOS
• IT forms part of their curriculum, 10th and 12th
  standard
• The NGO also aims at disciplining and training
  the dropouts in handling computers with
  confidence.

• There are some 70 students appearing for class 10
  and 12
• Age group 13-21 years

• Recruited by Vidya
• Faculty tested on basic knowledge and teaching
  skills
• After recruitment no special training given
• Certain faculty members are given training on
  Life Skills

• Follow NIOS curriculum
• Basic computer, windows, MS Word covered and
  revised frequently
• Summer vacation utilized in teaching accessories
  and MS Office
• Life Skills also taught

• GE bears all the infrastructure and operational
  costs

36
Overview of the School Vidya Kidwai Nagar
(3/3)
Description

• Students recruited for the July batch
• Entrance test tests basic hindi, english, maths

• Not required

• No placements except some opportunities provided
  by GE
• Vidya helps students do courses on hotel
  management, travel tourism, computer courses etc

• Student Teacher 1 teacher 40 students
  (theory) 1 teacher 10 students (practical)
• Computer Student - 1 computer 2.5 students

• Strengths Have a strong dedicated curriculum
• Cater to a specific section drop outs
• Challenges High rate of absenteeism
• Slow pace of teaching required
• Parents to be motivated