HYDERABAD : In a world where ‘personalised’ products and services take front seat, the concept of micro schooling is causing a stir in the field of education with hyper-personalised curriculum. Introducing a new approach to learning within a community-based setting, the concept of micro-schooling is reminiscent of the esteemed gurukuls of ancient India. These gurukuls were renowned for their focused approach, nurturing each student according to their unique strengths and weaknesses. Micro-schooling emphasises individualised attention with a smaller student-teacher ratio, providing tailored learning experiences, breaking free from the common ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.
This innovative concept not only prioritises experiential learning but also emphasises the purpose of learning. While micro-schooling is widely spread in the West, it is slowly making its way to India. Dreamtime Learning Hub is the first school based on the micro-schooling concept in Hyderabad. As they successfully marked their first anniversary, Lina Ashar, the founder of Dreamtime Learning Hub, highlights the remarkable one-year journey and the significant impact it has had on alternative schooling in transforming the educational landscape of Hyderabad.
Lina Ashar began her career as a teacher in a local school in Mumbai. Realising that the Indian education system needed reform and that learning should be fun and engaging, she embarked on her journey as an entrepreneur. “So, I started with Kangaroo Kids. I didn’t have a lot of capital to use, so I took a loan from my dad and started a small preschool. In most industries, the customer and consumer are the same. In this area, the customer is a parent, but the consumer is a child. So, everyone runs around trying to please the customer because they are going to pay the fee. My focus was always on doing what was best for the child and doing it correctly. It took a while for that concept to take off, but then it gained a lot of attention. Film stars’ kids like Sachin Tendulkar and Shah Rukh Khan were enrolled in our school, and it became the place to go. However, I was only serving the elite, and my passion lies in making learning accessible to all children in India. So, I began to sponsor many kids to join our online school, where we could bring down the price of learning significantly as we didn’t require physical infrastructure,” said Lina Ashar.
From emerging AI technology to basic skills like cooking and woodwork, Dreamtime Learning Hub nurtures talent in students alongside education. To break free from factory-based learning, they incorporated new techniques, including changing classroom names to ‘Discovery Dens’ and referring to teachers as ‘Cheerleaders’. The school premises are designed to incorporate innovative ways of learning, providing technology-based classrooms, access to nature, with a view of garden from their classrooms and many more, offering students a stress-free education. The best part of this concept is that parents can co-create personalise educational journeys for their children.
With over 120 students, the Cheerleaders focus on individuals’ abilities in every subject, promoting students based on their strengths. For instance, if a 4th-grade student excels in math, they will be promoted to 5th grade in mathematics, while if they struggle in English, they will be taught 3rd-grade English. Dr N Aruna Rao, Principal/Hub Champ of Dreamtime Learning Hub, expressed excitement about continuing Lina Ashar’s remarkable legacy of 35 years of dedication. “With the first micro-schooling hub, we bring the true spirit of personalised, blended, fast & flexible, and technology-enabled learning engagement to our learners. Witnessing the joy of parents and their discussions about our innovative approach fills me with excitement. The transformation we bring to education in Hyderabad through our micro-school model is substantial, and I am eager to embrace the challenges and opportunities ahead.”
When asked about their strategy to convince parents that this is the best way of learning, Lina Ashar said, “I don’t. Even when I started Kangaroo Kids with just 10 kids, parents started seeing the difference in their children, and it quickly gained popularity. When enough parents understand that this is the future of learning, it will pick up on its own. When you have a great concept and focus on main parameters like having excellent teachers and execution, quality will speak for itself. In terms of faculty, we invest a lot in learning design, with 70 people working to create the learning experience, which is then executed by the teachers.”