We don’t need no ‘controlled’ education
The ongoing second edition of Enable Makeathon saw three Bengaluru teams making the cut to further their dream projects.One of the initiatives, Nook, aims to take on the 'controlled' education system by its horns to make choice-based learning a reality
BENGALURU: Three Bengalureans living in different parts of the world met in the city in 2014. Besides their mutual liking for innovative events, they also shared a dislike for the education system - where it is controlled.They started an initiative called Project Defy, which aims to create a self-learning space without teachers. The idea was conceptualised that year itself, and the three set sail to debunk the classist and hierarchical notion of the grade system, armed with refurbished laptops and the Internet.
“The school system is only 200 years old and emerged during the industrial era, mainly to segregate workers according to age,” says Megha, one of the founding members of Defy who is also a human rights lawyer. “After the industrial era, the education system became a capitalist agenda and is now a money-making business,” she adds.Her personal struggles too triggered the idea of Defy, since she was the only female student who aspired to be a lawyer and was told that she couldn’t be one. After working as an advocate, she met Abhijit Sinha and Arvind Badrinarayan, who also believed that education shouldn't be controlled. They decided to test their pilot project on the outskirts of Bengaluru, in a village called Banjarapalli.
Renting out a small farmhouse, the three went to the village carrying their tools - laptops and the Internet. The self-learning space they created is called ‘Nooks’, which is derived from the word 'Nukkad', meaning 'safe-spots'.The people of the village got curious and started coming to this new space. Soon, they started to learn via the Internet, watching videos on YouTube.
Deepika, a resident of the village, heard that a new computer class had started in her village. “It was unlike any other computer class. There were no teachers, we had to come up with our own projects,” says Deepika. She learnt jewellery designing watching YouTube videos and now manages a jewellery business. In the same way, Kushal Kumar learnt animation and electrical mechanics and even designed his own boats using plastic bottles that can be controlled with his phone. He is now the manager for Nook in his village, Kaggalipura.
“With this initiative we are giving back choices to the people and giving them options to explore what they really want. There is no such thing as a supervisor, just their curiosity takes them places,” Megha shares.
“This is an education system that fits every learner's needs by letting them design their education,” says Abhijit.
Defy, which stands for Design Education For Yourself, has empowered school dropouts and homemakers, for whom options are often limited.The simple idea of making space for people to access the Internet and come up with their own ideas have made them an accessible and a cheap venture, costing less than $500 a month.At present, they have six Nooks all around the world, including in Africa. As the year ends, they believe the whole of next year, they will be setting up new Nooks.
Four Bengaluru teams make the cut
Enable Makeathon saw four shortlisted teams from Bengaluru. Out of 100 entries submitted from across the world, sixteen were shortlisted totally.
Redeveloping existing software
A group of young Bengaluru innovators are working on innovations that will cater to the disabled community, by making changes to already-existing softwares. “We already have a phone camera for visually impaired people, but taking pictures is still a challeng for them. Also ensuring that the pictures are not shaky and focusing is a task. So we are developing tools to fix this, says Ojasvi Gupta, a 23-year-old member from the team. “We are still in the designing phase” adds Aadhitya Kota, a 22-year-old team member.
Jobs for the disabled
Working on a solo project and assisted by a designer, Sri Vigneshwara is aiming to create a web application that connects people with disabilities (PWDs) with job opportunities. There will be a direct contact between the employer and the job seeker. “For a PWD, there will be specific requirements and looking at those specifics, the application will curate the job,” he says.
Enable India
The Enable India NGO is working on an application for those who need extra assistance, be it at home or at work. The app provides users with access to caregiver information, location and contact information.
Makethons need real dedication, investment
Participants of this 15-day Makeathon came from across the world, including UK and Finland. The shortlisted teams are given a budget of `50,000 to ` 1 lakh to develop their projects. Three of the shortlisted finalists will be declared winners on February 6. They will get $25,000 and their innovation will be made available in the market. The Enable Makeathon is initiated by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). “The marathon questions if we are addressing physical disability in daily innovations. We know developing an innovation is a slow process, but we have a lot of ideas, so we are creating an ecosystem where innovation work is holistic and not separate from other departments,” says Tarun Sarwal, head of innovation, ICRC. However, this year, there were 100-odd applications compared to last year's 150. “I think Hackathon or Makeathon isn’t getting attention because of so many such events, they get done and dusted in three days.”