Online education policy needed to aid students as coronavirus pandemic grips nation: Rustom Kerawalla

-          Rustom Kerawalla, Chairman, Ampersand Group urges all state governments to formulate policies to ensure education doesn’t reach a roadblock during school shutdown

-          Allow online education as part of the curriculum to aid students 

Mumbai: With many states across India declaring the shutdown of all educational institutions due to coronavirus pandemic, Rustom Kerawalla, Chairman, Ampersand Group - a school management service enterprise, has urged all state governments across India to formulate an immediate policy to tackle the temporary closure by integrating online education at the earliest so that students don’t lose valuable time.

Mr. Kerawalla believes that India with its vast IT corridor is technologically equipped to roll out E-Education and quick pace the entire process through its deep network of telecom services which will help out students in bridging the gap and time-lapse due to lost hours in schools. He adds that while there are several products in the offering in the online domain - educational institutions, parents, and teachers don’t have the green signal to conduct lessons online as many educational applications available online don’t have the required nod from the respective education boards and the government.

The first thing while tackling COVID 19 is to get all government agencies, school boards and various stakeholders in the education space to immediately roll out online education policy. “As several state governments have called for a complete shutdown of educational institutions, the central government should prepare a task force comprising of edtech companies, school management services, academicians, entrepreneurs and state functionaries to formulate a policy to expedite the process of online education amidst the coronavirus pandemic,” said Mr. Rustom Kerawalla, Chairman, Ampersand Group.

The chairman added, in addition to the policy, the government should reach out to private enterprises to rollout such mechanism in the public-private partnership mode which will facilitate a faster rollout and help the start-up industry in India which has been efficiently contributing to economy.  

“We should invite EduTech companies to collaborate with the government to roll out online mechanisms in Public-Private Partnership. Also, online education should be facilitated across all boards to ensure there is no blockade in imparting education,” added Mr. Kerawalla.

About Ampersand Group:

Ampersand Group is a global leader in providing complete solutions in school operations and end-to-end school management services to private institutions and government-run Public-Private Partnership projects in several developing nations across the world. The Ampersand Group was founded in 2004 by Mr. Rustom Kerawalla, a renowned Edupreneur with a vision to transform the educational ecosystem through consistent innovation and use of emerging technologies; to build a modern preschool and K12 education systems, which are equitable and accessible to all. The Group showcases its excellence in the K12 education through its flagship brand - Vibgyor Schools, a state-of-the-art institution built with a vision of providing high-quality education to young minds for their holistic growth in today’s times. Today, Ampersand is also one of the leading PPP partners in the national government’s endeavour of transforming its Anganwadis and Balwadis. The group is currently responsible for providing nearly 700 municipal Balwadis in Maharashtra with innovative interventions such as theme-based lessons, usage of new-age technology and a structured age-appropriate curriculum, while targeting multi age-group students.