Pritam's Blog
Delivering Learning And Life Outcomes
Udaipur, 2017. A bunch of tribal students hailing from the remotest areas of the country were selected for a pilot study.
All of them were in Class 12, Science. Most of them didn’t have proper knowledge of English, nor were they exposed to computers.
Poverty and lack of knowledge, infrastructure & access to information often lead these poor and underprivileged kids to give up their studies.
The few who continue end up in ITIs or nursing colleges at most. Many of these students don’t even know about various exams, like JEE and NEET. And even if they do, they do not dare to dream of becoming a doctor or an engineer. So, they go for something in the related trades.
As the son of a teacher from another remote area of India, I have seen this from close.
I remember when I was a kid, my dad, still new in his teaching job, would tell stories of how he would go to school and find the class empty. He would then look for his students in the nearby fields. No, they were not playing. The kids, most of whom came from an agrarian background, were helping their fathers. He would then bring them to class.
Seems like things haven’t changed in all these years.
The study with these kids in Udaipur, however, had the potential to change the scenario.
This story has a machine side and a human side.
It started off like this: The kids were asked to take a test of the JEE/NEET level on Embibe. They were from Science background. But education was never a big priority for these kids; it was more of a luxury. So, there were gaps in whatever they had learned in all these years. Moreover, they didn’t know how to use computers. All of them, as expected, failed in the test, most of them securing a negative score.
But then, Embibe’s AI-powered tool identified the reasons why they failed. I can write pages regarding the hows and whys. But dwelling in the technicalities is not the purpose of this post. In a nutshell, Embibe’s technology identified the gaps in their knowledge and skills. And when I say ‘gaps’, I mean more than what a human teacher giving personalized guidance to a student can point out. These gaps include even the minutest behavioral issues that hurt one’s performance in tests.
Now, identifying these gaps is one thing. Communicating these complex information to students who do not even have the minimum knowledge of computers or English language is an altogether different game. So, here came the human intervention. Our teachers at Embibe created a personalized English-Hindi dictionary to help these students identify the various technical jargon (academic and otherwise). At the same time, they sat with the students to explain how to make sense of the AI-powered test analysis, the logic behind it, and how to move forward with their preparation based on the recommendations of the tool.
10 days. These students, under the guidance of some of India’s best (and most passionate) teachers studied as per the recommendations of Embibe’s RANKUP tool. And guess what? They showed unbelievable improvement in the test that was conducted after 10 days.
The authorities were now convinced that it’s a study worth continuing. Over the next 9 months, these students studied as per RANKUP’s recommendations and guidance. Nothing else. Of course, there were teachers whenever they needed to understand something. But that’s it.
They appeared for entrance exams. And seven of these students cleared the exam. History was made in the field of technology and education.
It was during this time that I came to know about this project in detail. Such a shame! As I went through Google sheets, the different parameters on which we track the performance and preparation level of students, I was amazed. I wished I was part of this project right from the beginning.
Anyway, while writing the Success Stories, I had the opportunity to talk to some of these students. And I realized Embibe had indeed delivered learning outcomes to these students. In a country like India, where education is expensive and schools do not even have a decent teacher-student ratio, this could be a game-changer.
The story could have ended here. Success Story done! Point proved! But then one of these students ran away from home. Apparently, her parents were not willing to let her go to the engineering college. What else to expect? It’s a girl. From a remote and underdeveloped region. Things like this happen even in urban India.
But she was adamant. So, she ran away with just 100 bucks with her and called up one of our teachers. Embibe intervened, paid the fee, and got her admitted to the college, thereby, delivering life outcomes as well.
This entire episode moved me. Made me question my role in the organization. Am I just a Content Writer? If I am, am I doing my job properly? Shouldn’t I feel privileged to be part of something that is so powerful and revolutionary? Shouldn’t I be more active and passionate about what I do here? And most importantly, shouldn’t I practice these same learnings in my day-to-day life?
The other day, I overheard our driver talking to my dad. His daughter has cleared the Class 10 board exams with first division and wants to take up Science. Her dad, however, is a bit reluctant.
“I can’t afford all these books and tuition that a Science student needs,” he said.
I went out and told him, “If she wants to take up Science, let her take. You don’t need to spend a lot of money anymore. At Embibe, she can learn, practice, and take tests for free. As for the books and tuition, don’t worry. I will pay for them as much as I can. Just don’t get her married anytime soon.”
He looked a bit relieved. And my dad looked at me with pride in his eyes.
(This post was first published on LinkedIn.)