Dr. Aniruddha Malpani What an inspiring book - please read this ! Moving Mountains – The Story of Agastya’s Ethical and Frugal Growth Moving Mountains is an inspiring story that tells the remarkable journey of the Agastya International Foundation, an unique educational organization that has transformed learning for disadvantaged children in India. The title is a clever reference to the legendary Indian sage Agastya, who humbled the mighty Vindhya mountains through wisdom and purpose — a fitting metaphor for the seemingly insurmountable challenges Agastya Foundation faced in its mission to revolutionize education. At the heart of Agastya’s journey lies a profound sense of purpose — the unwavering commitment to making high-quality education accessible to underserved children. The founders believed that India's future could only be shaped by igniting curiosity and creativity in young minds, especially those in rural areas. This powerful sense of purpose drove them to challenge traditional educational methods and introduce experiential, hands-on learning to children who had limited access to quality resources. The book emphasizes how this clarity of purpose became a guiding force, helping the organization stay focused despite financial constraints, bureaucratic hurdles, and logistical challenges . Mission-Driven Innovation Rather than replicating conventional school models, Agastya innovated with unique learning methods — mobile science labs, interactive workshops, and creative learning spaces. By challenging the assumption that education must be expensive or resource-heavy, Agastya demonstrated how frugality can fuel creativity and drive impact. The Moving Of Mountains The book vividly illustrates how Agastya's success was not built on vast financial resources but rather on innovative thinking, resource optimization, and an unwavering commitment to its mission. Culture of Integrity and Frugality A standout theme in the book is Agastya’s emphasis on building an ethical and frugal culture. The organization resisted the temptation to chase flashy solutions or unsustainable expansion. Instead, they focused on maximizing the impact of every rupee spent. By cultivating a culture of responsibility and accountability, Agastya ensured that its growth remained sustainable and aligned with its core values. The book highlights how this culture of simplicity fostered trust within the organization and earned respect from donors, educators, and community members alike. Employees were encouraged to innovate within constraints, turning limitations into opportunities for creative problem-solving. Teamwork and Collective Vision The Agastya story is also a testament to the power of teamwork. The organization attracted a diverse group of passionate individuals — scientists, educators, and volunteers — who shared the belief that learning should be joyful and accessible. The book reveals how Agastya’s collaborative environment encouraged individuals to contribute ideas freely, building a dynamic and flexible organizational structure. Agastya's leaders empowered their team members, allowing them to take ownership of projects and drive impactful change. This decentralized approach ensured that innovation flourished at every level of the organization. A Mind-Boggling Vision Perhaps the most striking element of Agastya’s journey is the sheer audacity of its vision. Setting out to impact millions of underserved children in rural India with experiential learning seemed like an impossible task. Yet, through resilience and ingenuity, Agastya steadily expanded its reach, touching countless lives. The book captures this seemingly impossible journey in rich detail, showcasing how Agastya defied conventional wisdom to achieve what many believed was unattainable. https://amzn.in/d/bkdhT5J

In the Inspirational Indians series of Agastya, Arvind Gupta, a renowned educator and a toy inventor, has spent decades demonstrating how simple, low-cost toys made from discarded materials can be powerful tools for learning. One of the most striking examples he shares is his spinning top. The spinning top is a perfect instance of how sustainability and education can go hand in hand. Instead of relying on mass-produced plastic toys, Arvind Gupta repurposes everyday waste like bottle caps, cycle spokes, and old CDs—into engaging learning tools. Everything has a life—objects, materials, even the things we discard without a thought. An ink cartridge could have been refilled, a bottle cap could have spun a little longer, a chips packet could have been woven into something. But so often, we cut their stories short, treating them as disposable rather than unfinished. The question is why do we not wonder more about where things could go instead of where they came from? Why is waste always an ending, and never a possibility? Education, in its truest sense, should not just fill minds but open them, to the idea that creation doesn’t always require something new, that making and remaking are part of the same cycle. A child who learns to build a spinning top from a discarded CD is discovering, and seeing, maybe for the first time, that an object’s purpose is not rigid, that imagination can stretch the lifespan of things. And isn’t that a kind of intelligence too? To look at what others throw away and see not loss, but potential? Perhaps waste is not about what is no longer useful. Perhaps it is about what we fail to see. Here Arving Gupta's philosophy extends far beyond a single toy. He has designed hundreds of science experiments and toys using upcycled materials, from balloon-powered cars made from used pens to matchstick bridges and paper circuits. This approach not only reduces environmental waste but also makes science more accessible to children everywhere. It teaches more than just physics or engineering; it nurtures a mindset of resourcefulness and sustainability. In a world struggling with excessive waste, Arvind Gupta’s work is a reminder that innovation doesn’t always require high five techniques and materials because sometimes, the best solutions are hidden in the bin. Just like Geppetto, who turned a block of wood - something perished - into Pinocchio - something so real and alive, Arvind Gupta breathes new life into the forgotten.

Idol of Sage Agastya Muni at Agastya International Foundation Across the sweep of Indian history, Agastya Muni stands as a figure of incredible wisdom and quiet strength. A sage, a scholar, and a problem-solver, he is remembered to be the bridge between the two worlds, natural and human. His legacy is not just one of intellectual pursuit but of action of taking knowledge beyond the confines of the self and using it to bring about change. He ensured that knowledge was not static, but constantly evolving, and this spirit of application and accessibility is what makes his influence so relevant to modern education, particularly in the work of the Agastya International Foundation. Agastya Muni is believed to have contributed to early advancements in medicine, botany, and engineering and he did not keep this knowledge to himself or within a select group—he shared it with those who needed it the most, ensuring that communities could use it to improve their own lives. In the same way, the Agastya Foundation does not limit knowledge to traditional classrooms. It brings science and learning to rural communities, empowering children with tools and ideas that can be applied in real-world contexts. Beyond his contributions to knowledge itself, Agastya Muni was also known for encouraging collaboration. His work was not about isolated wisdom but about bringing together different streams of thought. He interacted with scholars, kings, and local communities alike, ensuring that learning was not just a one-way process but in fact, an exchange. This belief in collaboration is something Agastya International Foundation carries forward. Not just teaching but also listening, learning from the children it works with, and adapting its methods to better suit their needs. Education, in this sense, is not a fixed entity but something that evolves through dialogue and shared discovery. The essence of Agastya Muni’s legacy lies in his ability to make knowledge travel, breaking barriers of geography, language and tradition into the hands of those who could use it to create change. In doing so, he warranted that knowledge was not concentrated in the hands of a few but was made available to those who had previously been excluded from it. This idea of taking learning beyond fixed institutions is exactly what Agastya International Foundation strives to do. Instead of waiting for children to come to Agastya, the Foundation takes science to them—through mobile labs, interactive experiments, and creative engagement that meets them where they are. This way the foundation is not just teaching, it is keeping alive a tradition of learning that is dynamic, inclusive, and deeply rooted in the needs of the people it serves. Agastya Muni’s legend is also tied to resilience. He is more often than not, depicted as a lone traveler, someone who kept moving forward despite challenges, adapting to new environments and circumstances. What is so powerful about this image is that someone carrying knowledge, no matter the odds, has found a true purpose of their life, which is something we all struggle with on a daily basis grinding away as corporate slaves, desperate in need of good life away from any form of poverty, while we fail to recognize our true fundamentals. Education in rural India faces its own challenges—lack of infrastructure, trained teachers, or basic resources. As someone having experienced, relatively speaking, quality education, a conversation I was a part of really drove this disparity home for me. The gist of the conversation was about the different schools we attended and their dynamics – the fee, the class strength, the syllabus. Interestingly enough, and to my shock, I found out there were schools with classroom strengths of 200 students with only one teacher and some with no teachers. This reality is not just a statistic, rather a reflection of the larger systemic issues that hinder learning for millions of children. Yet, while inadequate facilities and resources are often seen as insurmountable barriers, true education is not solely dependent on ideal conditions. Holistic growth does not come from extravagant infrastructure alone but from values that can thrive even in the most modest settings. The Agastya Foundation, similarly, much like its namesake, does not wait for ideal conditions to go ahead with the vision it has for children. It works with what is available, creating solutions that are simple, mobile, and impactful. And perhaps, the most heart-warming part of this is witnessing the transformation in the children. A quiet child who once hesitated to ask questions or hated math, begins to confidently present their ideas or fall in love with numbers. These small victories are more than educational milestones, and nothing short of magical. To conclude, Agastya Muni remains an inspiration for all, his legacy living on through those who learn and those who teach, all for the love of knowledge and life :)

This is a transcript of the podcast Learning From The Mavericks: Sardar Vallabhai Patel by Ramji Raghavan Nearly a century ago, on Saturday, 23rd July 1927, it began raining heavily in Gujarat in India. Private and public offices had closed for the weekend. People hoped that the rain would stop or subside by Sunday evening. The 52-year-old president of the Ahmedabad Municipality was uneasy and restless. He couldn’t sleep. Way past midnight, he decided to do a round of the city. Walking alone on Gandhi Road in the dark, menacing night and pouring rain, he came to the conclusion that Gujarat was heading towards calamity. He knocked on the door of his friend, Harilal Kapadia, who was shocked to see his friend drenched. He ushered him in, gave him a hot cup of tea, and persuaded him to change into a fresh set of clothes. The men set out street by street, first-hand knowledge of the situation. They woke up the municipal engineer and formed a team at the municipal office. By daybreak, they had made arrangements for the drainage of the rainwater that had accumulated in the low-lying areas of the city. Over the course of the next few days, Gujarat experienced unprecedented rainfall. Rainfall like it hadn’t seen in the past 50 years. Kheda District alone had 100 inches of rainfall. Thousands of villages were marooned or destroyed. People had to live on treetops for survival, without food or water for four to five days at a stretch. Older people and children would often fall off the treetops into the raging current from exhaustion. In the midst of a seemingly insurmountable crisis, the president of the municipality had gathered over 2000 volunteers who went from village to village, sometimes risking their lives, swimming across deep waters, providing vital help to starving villagers marooned in their homes. Working round the clock, they provided food grains and clothes at low prices, distributed seeds to plant after the rainwater receded to revive agriculture, and rebuilt 72000 houses. It was a tremendous and stupendous example of leadership on the edge by the president of the municipality, who won great praise from not only his colleagues and friends but also from the government, which was persuaded to release 13 million rupees, a large sum of money then, for the relief efforts. Two decades later, Jane Mooney went to see the former president of the Ahmedabad municipality, and said, “ You’ve led a great and interesting life. Why don’t you write a book about it?,” and Sardar Patel, now independent India’s first Deputy Prime Minister, who along with Gandhi and Nehru had led India to her independence smiled and said, “We do not write history. We make history.” These words so inspired me that when we produced the first brochure for Agastya Foundation in the early 2000s — a lovely blue brochure with an orange A on its cover — the back cover carried the Sardar’s quote: We do not write history. We make history. People call Patel Sardar, or chief, and India’s Iron Man. Patel had made a stupendous commitment to serve his country, to help it win its independence from a great power. Julius Caesar famously said of his great rival Pompeii, “Pompeii has merely done something. I stand for something.” Patel stood for his people and their independence from colonial rule. As Patel said, “our delight is in doing service to people.” Patel had a genius for detail. He got information from on the front lines and often from walking on the streets and villages. This helped him build his intuition, his feeling for a situation. He could see something at the smallest level and imagine what it might become, and take actions to preempt a problem or seize an opportunity. Patel had a tremendous bias for action, for hands-on immersive engagement backed by immense will, which he brought to play again and again, in times of uncertainty and crisis. Like, during the Gujarat Floods, he always set a great personal example. As the Deputy Prime Minister of India, he acted decisively with an iron will to politically integrate the princely states into the federation. Patel had a great ability to bring people together as a unified team. He once said, If you can give me only a hundred true men who will fight until death, I assure that success is certain. In his biography title Sardar Vallabhai Patel, India’s Iron Man, author B Krishna writes that Patel had the unique ability “to make his people exude courage, hope and buoyancy. An ability in great demand at every level, everywhere in today’s Covid 19 Crisis. He had extraordinary persuasive skills which he demonstrated on numerous occasions, as well as in his pivotal role in managing the Gujarat Floods. In his eulogy, delivered after Patel’s death by GS Bajpai, the Secretary-General of India’s Ministry of External Affairs, paid tribute to “a great patriot, a great administrator and a great man.” A rare combination of qualities in any historic epoch in any country. We do not write history, we make history. Great and inspiring words from a great man. Listen to this episode of the podcast Learning From The Mavericks here: https://youtu.be/nzjPt-8oFCg

Rakesh Jhunjhunwala Was A Great Social Investor by Ramji Raghavan   I have known stock market billionaire and social investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala for two decades as a friend, adviser, supporter and trustee of the Agastya International Foundation in its mission to spark and spread curiosity and creativity among underserved and underprivileged children in India. Less well known than Rakesh’s widely recognized prowess in investing, was his desire to make a positive social difference to India. He saw this as essential to India’s economic success, and was willing to invest a great deal of time and money in her social and educational development. My first meeting with Rakesh happened in the early 2000s with investment banker Pankaj Talwar, in Rakesh’s office opposite the Bombay Stock Exchange. I described to Rakesh my motivation to quit my job as a banker in London, and return to India with a vision to spark curiosity and nurture creativity among India’s children and teachers. He listened patiently, gaining the measure of me, and quoting more than once from the book The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari by Robin Sharma, “a book about a lawyer forced to confront the spiritual crisis of his out-of-balance life, and the subsequent wisdom that he gains on a life-changing odyssey that enables him to create a life of passion, purpose and peace.” In our second meeting, Rakesh said he was intrigued with my idea of the Mobile Science Van for children and would sponsor one van. I was thrilled. Later, he said he would sponsor three mobile science vans and “that was that.” Reading my mind, he said that he could visualize hundreds of science vans crisscrossing India, a giant-sized project that only the government could fund. Not to be discouraged, I showed him a map for a dream creative campus in Andhra Pradesh in a village two hours by road from Bangalore. With an exasperated air he said, “Every time we meet, you come up with something new!” Then, one evening, Pankaj and I were walking out of the Hotel Marine Plaza in Mumbai’s Marine Drive, when we saw a silver Mercedes pull up, from which emerged Rakesh. Surprised to see me, he asked me what I was doing in Mumbai and why I had not called him. I said that if I called him, he would think I was after his money! With a laugh and a wave, he invited me to his Nariman Point office the following day. “What’s new?” he asked. I replied that I was returning from a visit to The Exploratorium in San Francisco and would like to create one for rural kids on the upcoming Agastya campus. He listened intently and nodded as I described the uniqueness and benefits of the project that would offer village kids and teachers an opportunity to engage with large interactive, hands-on learning models and exhibits to stoke their curiosity and creativity. Staring all the while at several whizzing stock market ticker screens on his desk, he turned around and asked me to come back to him with a plan. A few weeks later he agreed to fund the first stage of what was to become the Jhunjhunwala Discovery Centre, Agastya’s first significant creative learning investment on campus. A year or two passed until one day, as I was escorting London-based investment banker Alok Oberoi on a tour of the still nascent 172-acre Agastya campus, we stopped at a vista, facing a picturesque lake, to observe the construction of the Jhujhunwala Discovery Centre. Alok’s phone rang. It was Rakesh. Rakesh asked Alok where he was and seemed surprised when Alok replied he was standing outside the upcoming and rather magnificent looking Jhunjhunwala Discovery Centre. The same evening, Rakesh said to me on the phone that he didn’t believe Agastya could achieve its vision through piecemeal funding. “Why don’t you come up with a long-term plan, which I might be willing to fund?” These were indeed super glad tidings for a struggling social entrepreneur! Over several months, working with ex-BCG consultant Manish Gupta from Rakesh’s office my colleagues Mahavir, Bala and I came up with a ten-year plan to raise INR 90 crores to impact six million underprivileged children. I vividly recall what would become a watershed meeting with Rakesh. He mentioned that he could think of few, if any, individuals in India who would give INR 9 crores a year (roughly USD 2 million then) to a charitable education foundation that they did not own or control. Somewhat deflated, I offered to sell my house in Bangalore and give him the money I raised to manage, and suggested I would write a check every year to Agastya from the returns that he would generate. “Please don’t insult me” he said. “Why would I ask you to come to my office only to have you sell your house?” and added “It is not easy to make money” (“Paisa banana utna aasaan nahin hai”). As I continued making the case for the plan, he stopped me and, to my unbelieving delight, said he would give Agastya INR 50 crore (USD 12 million then) over ten years. He explained his reasoning. “I believe in your vision, which means I must go in whole hog to make sure you achieve it. Use my money as you see fit, leverage it to attract other funders to scale Agastya.” He asked me if I was happy. I said yes! and we shook hands. Six million underprivileged kids would benefit from his decision. It was as simple and profound as that. Shortly afterwards on a visit to the barren and imposing Agastya campus, we escorted Rakesh, Titan CEO Bhaskar Bhat, Manish Gupta of RARE Enterprises and others up a hill to see an Agastya hands-on science session in action. Rakesh spotted a small village lad with unkempt hair, in an untucked shirt with snot running down his nose and remarked "I can see in his eyes that you have lit his curiosity!"  Rakesh once told me that the reason for his success was that his father had encouraged him to be curious as a child, and that Agastya, being curiosity-driven, was one of the best social investments he had ever made. Indeed, we had honored his father's memory with a bust at the Jhunjhunwala Discovery Centre, which he had agreed to unveil. Alas. But more on the man's legacy. A measure of Rakesh's x-ray vision, and capacity to take big bets, was his willingness to invest in Agastya’s idealistic vision in the early 2000s when hardly anyone showed interest. Indeed, as a social entrepreneur with an ambitious, if quixotic, vision I felt that Rakesh had almost got into my brain and seen the future as I saw it. He had this vicarious ability to see what others saw (or didn’t see) and the smarts to decide if he wanted to be a part of their vision. As with his business investments, ‘the crusade and the crusader’ were two indispensable conditions that needed to meet his approval before he made his social investments. In October 2019, Rakesh, his wife Rekha and their sons, Aryavir and Aryaman, participated in the first Agastya Innovation Fair in Mumbai. Rakesh spent several hours in the oppressive heat, quizzing the Agastya instructors and watching his sons and other students from Mumbai’s municipal schools engage with the innovative models and projects on display. He looked at me through the throng of exuberant young visitors and with his fingers gave an “O” sign of approval. As a board member of Agastya, Rakesh always spoke about “our vision for Agastya.” He lived and breathed it as much as anyone else in Agastya did but never interfered in Agastya’s work. “I don’t want to tell you what to do, and I trust you and your team to deliver” he told me. Rakesh brought foresight, insights, focus and optimism and constantly encouraged us to strive to do better. “Be ambitious and be patient” he would tell me. At an interaction meeting with social investors and NGOs arranged by the Edelgive Foundation in Mumbai, I remarked that Rakesh’s early investment in Agastya “was unprecedented in scale for that time.” He replied “and what Agastya has achieved is unprecedented.” Desh Deshpande told me recently that of the few million NGOs in the US and India there were about thirty that were doing great work at scale and Agastya was among them. Rakesh’s investment in Agastya – and that of the other individuals and institutions that followed him - were key and instrumental in enabling Agastya to unlock the creative potential of 17 million children and 300,000 teachers nationwide, and inspire educators, scientists and innovators from across the globe. The once barren Agastya campus has become a biodiverse ecological preserve and world class center for creative experiential learning. That was the stupendous scale and intensity of the impact that Rakesh, and the many partners who joined forces with Agastya after him, had! I met Rakesh on July 28, 2022 and was impressed as usual by his clear thinking, vision, and remarkable ability to connect the dots. He quizzed me about my recent fundraising visit to the US. When I told him about the name Indians were making in the world in mathematics, he charmingly showed me a marvelously appropriate video song on his cellphone from the movie Purab Aur Paschim ("Jab Zero Diya Mere Bharat Ne..."). I thought, "This man is a patriot to the hilt!" Alas, his life was to end so prematurely. Emerging from Covid, we articulated an ambitious Agastya 2.0 vision to impact 100 million children and 1 million teachers. Inspired by Rakesh''s turbocharged life, his unwavering support, and the support of Agastya’s partners, the Agastya Team is determined to make our distinctive and creative dream for India’s children and teachers, come true. To quote an African proverb, "It is better to live one day as a lion than a hundred years as a sheep." In his short and remarkably impactful life, Rakesh lived and roared like a lion. Agastya and I will greatly miss his presence, friendship and counsel.

Written by Amna Majeed Roald Dahl’s Matilda (1988) is a canonical book that is read widely across the world by all age groups. The book follows the story of a young girl who is born with supernatural powers but is neglected and misunderstood by her family. In the initial years of her life, she yearns for friends and companionship but remains forlorn. It is during this time that Matilda finds solace, comfort and extreme intellectual stimulation in books. She reads widely and exhaustively, reading scholars such as Herman Melville and Charles Dickens, and even as a toddler travels to the library daily to issue books and magazines. What do books mean to children? What purpose do they serve? How is that purpose different from the reason that adults read books? What is the significance of reading during childhood? The eminent American poet and civil rights activist, Maya Angelou said, “Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his needs, is good for him”. Reading is truly an irreplaceable habit for children and becomes a turning point in one’s life. It inculcates the practice of introspection, individual thinking and of understanding and grasping the world personally, slowly and intimately. Mana Nestham: A Mobile Library During the pandemic and the recurrent lockdowns, Agastya devised several ways to tackle the sudden loss in learning opportunities. We launched the WeLearn application on Google Playstore in seven languages and also launched the ActiLearn book in order to encourage self-reliance and learning in students. As things moved towards digital education and distance learning, we tried to keep up with the times. We also preserved and re-instituted the more organic forms of learning and erudition. We invested in the initiative “Mana Nestham” (a Telugu word that translates to “Our Friend”)with an aim to provide free access to books. Mana Nestham operated outside of the Kuppam campus in Andhra Pradesh, and functioned as an outreach program. It conducted a 45-day extensive pilot study that reached 67 different schools, of which 56 were primary schools. Through concerted and dedicated efforts of our instructors, we could reach 6115 exposures¹. Mana Nestham focused on reading practices, story writing, origami, and kirigami, Word games, Read and Share and many more engaging activities. With the ubiquity of digital technology, the form, content, and style of reading books have changed drastically in the past decade. Through initiatives such as Mana Nestham, Agastya is attempting to preserve more focused and established practices of reading, writing, and collective thinking. The astrophysicist and science communicator Carl Sagan once said, “one of the greatest gifts adults can give, to their offspring and to their society, is to read to children”. The companionship one finds in a book is rare and irreplaceable and allows for contemplation and self-analysis. These are values that Agastya constantly attempts to inculcate as well. Our broader aim, that of instilling the ethic of “ Aah! Aha! Haha! ” in our students, is reflected in Mana Nestham as well. Through a mobile library, as we introduced children to books in their routine, we develop novel pedagogical styles and modes of rumination. Preserving Reading As children are now learning and growing up in an environment where digital modes of education are becoming increasingly prevalent, we must introspect on what practices we may have left behind and how and in what ways they applied to our lives and our education. The diverse and heterogeneous purposes that books serve, the solace they provide in tough times, and the unimaginable source of introspective thought that they are- all these form critical reasons to preserve both individual and collective reading practices. Through mobile libraries and constant efforts to read for our students and also with our students, we are trying to conserve reading as a holistic and central practice in our pedagogical endeavors. Exposure is used to measure Agastya’s reach. It can be defined as the number of times Agastya has face-to-face interactions with an individual (child/teacher/community member). Each exposure is 2–3 hours in duration.

Will We Use Technology In The Classroom Or Technology As The Classroom? Written by Nethra Singhi Teaching methods constantly adapt to changing technology and social environments. Thus, in tune with the pandemic halting and uprooting traditional schooling, the current buzzwords related to teaching methods are online learning and virtual education. The pedagogical implications of virtual classrooms versus classrooms with virtual applications are now an ongoing discussion in academia. This article examines the benefits and drawbacks of using technology in the classroom (i.e. combining physical and digital learning) compared to using technology as a classroom (i.e. virtual classrooms). Technology in the Classroom In the last decade, the use of technology in the Indian education space has rapidly amplified, with digital learning tools (like computers and tablets) and online modules. Mobile learning apps are being used alongside textbooks and virtual discussion rooms to follow up in case of doubts. This method of ‘phygital learning’ has gained popularity, where both physical and digital mediums are used for maximum emphasis on learning. (Agastya has been using this method for a long time. To learn more, see Agastya’s TechLaTab initiative .) Is Blended Learning the Way Forward? Popularly called ‘blended learning,’ this combination of online learning with school-based learning has many advantages. Using the internet in classrooms expands course offerings and learning materials since teachers can link outside resources supporting the topic being covered. They can also use multimedia formats to accommodate auditory, visual, hands-on, and other types of learners. Students using a tablet in the lab. Technology also helps teachers and students connect outside the classroom to clear doubts and personalise learning. Teachers can also reach out personally to struggling students and provide more personalised teaching than a traditional classroom allows. The blended learning strategy can accommodate students’ diverse learning styles, as it helps students learn at their own pace. It enables them to work before or after school in ways not possible with full-time conventional classroom instruction. However, before teachers can look at incorporating online resources, all their students must be able to access the online learning environment. Lack of access, whether for economic or logistic reasons, excludes otherwise eligible students from the course, especially in rural and lower socioeconomic neighbourhoods. The other disadvantage of introducing technology in a classroom is that it increases the instructors’ workload. They have to design modules for offline as well as online mediums and flesh out activities suitable in each space, which requires more time and input. Technology as the Classroom With the pandemic, classrooms have been forced to fully digital spaces, with Zoom meetings and breakout rooms serving as primary learning spaces. This, although being a rushed process, has now become a hot topic whose utilisation and impact needs to be examined. Students using the myagastys.education platform. How Effective is Virtual Learning? The most significant advantage of online learning is that it can be Anywhere, anytime, and at any pace. The online format allows a dynamic interaction between the instructor and students and among the students themselves. Ideas are shared. Each individual can contribute to the course discussions with much more forethought instead of immediately answering like in a conventional classroom discussion. The synergy in the student-centred virtual classroom is its most vital trait and advantage over the traditional classroom. As discussed before, it also allows much greater access to information, with resources from all around the world. The other advantage is that children are more prepared to face the world that is rapidly becoming increasingly reliant on technology. They have a good foundation in understanding standard technological devices and their applications. Technology also allows for more active teaching and learning. This is because engagement can be increased through immediate polls and quizzes, and teachers can also receive immediate feedback and track their students’ progress. However, similar to blended learning, a significant disadvantage of entirely virtual learning is the access to the internet and a laptop or tablet. While phygital learning can provide learning opportunities for students who cannot afford or are not exposed to digital technology, they are severely disadvantaged in access to instruction and participation. The other requirement is that both the students and teachers must be digitally literate enough to take advantage of virtual learning fully. If there is no access, there is little hope for digital literacy, and in turn, digital learning. Moreover, if the instructor is not equipped to teach in a virtual environment, it disrupts the learning process. Virtual learning is also dependent on the student’s maturity and ability to self-regulate their time and self-discipline to utilise these tools entirely. There is a greater responsibility on their part, compared to the conventional classroom where the teachers play a greater role than students. Thus, online learning is not for younger students (like elementary, primary or secondary schools) who have not developed these qualities and are not ready for assuming the responsibility that non-traditional learning requires them to shoulder. Tangentially, the younger students also require more hands-on learning, which is quite challenging to impart or monitor via virtual lessons. This is also true for subjects for older students, like science experiments, public speaking, and sports. Many aspects of such subjects are best learnt face-to-face, in a traditional learning environment. Although, the most feared aspect of online learning is children not being prepared for social interactions. Studies have suggested that more individuals throughout society are becoming disconnected and isolated because of technology’s links through social networks. Young children who spend more time engaging with devices may not spend as much time interacting with their peers. This can affect their social and emotional growth. Implications As can be seen, technology in the classroom might be more effective than being wholly dependent on technology as a classroom. It allows for maximum flexibility and accommodation of learning styles while providing a relatively more equitable environment for students who may not necessarily have access to the tools required for proper online learning. Ultimately though,​​ technology is just a piece of hardware or software that is merely a tool to help the teacher deliver the lesson. The teacher’s skill in presenting and connecting content material to their individual students is imperative for the best learning experience.

Written by Nethra Singhi There has always been a lot of discussion about learning processes and the limitations of traditional lecture formats in incorporating different learning styles and holding a student’s attention, especially now, in online learning. Hence, many schools are trying to incorporate active learning into their teaching methods. Let’s explore what that means and its impact. What is Active Learning? Active learning is a teaching method that focuses on learner participation in the learning process rather than solely relying on the teacher. In other words, the students actively learn instead of taking in information passively. It is based on the Constructivist theory, which states that “learning is a process of making meaning”; i.e. learners build on their existing knowledge to delve deeper into any subject. How does Active Learning benefit learners? Many studies have found that in students of all classes, those who are exposed to active learning perform better in evaluation than those who have undergone conventional learning through lectures. This is because students can draw from their understanding of the subject rather than just recalling knowledge. Since they participate in learning activities, they have first-hand experience drawing conclusions, enabling them to apply their knowledge, improving their understanding of the subject, and problem-solving and analytical skills. Active learning engages children whose attention span is limited by involving them in hands-on activities in preschool. Even though they can’t articulate it yet, using hands and moving during learning helps them actualise a concept. For instance, using blocks to form shapes helps them learn the shapes even if they can’t name them yet. It helps them visualise spaces in figures and internalise geometric concepts. Learning by doing also helps engage different neural networks vital for problem-solving. A study has found that “Doing gesture promotes learning a mental transformation task better than seeing gesture for preschoolers.” In higher education, active learning helps students take charge of their education, allowing them to exercise self-discipline and self-regulation. It also helps them explore learning styles best suited to them by offering different activities that help them understand a subject in different ways. It also helps students stay focused on the material by encouraging enthusiasm and class participation. Since this method is not about the content but the learning approach and the process of absorbing the content, it helps the students form their approach towards understanding, visualising and grasping concepts that they can apply even later in life after school and college. It helps them become “lifelong learners”, as described in the Cambridge Guide to active learning. Concerns about Active Learning The primary concern most people have about active learning is that it may diminish the role of the teacher. However, this is an unfounded concern since this teaching method actively requires teachers to devise, conduct and oversee learning activities and guide students throughout the process. Moreover, not all concepts can be taught via actions and are best taught via lectures. The other, more valid concern is that devising activities will increase the instructors’ workload. But there are a lot of frameworks and activities available from reputed schools and colleges. Moreover, the school can provide resources to help ease the burden on teachers. How can we incorporate Active Learning in the classroom? The most vital thing to keep in mind while incorporating activities in teaching is to keep the students at the centre of the process. Often, instructors tend to get lost in the specifics of an activity rather than evaluating what concepts it’s helping students understand. Cambridge and Harvard have complete guides to active learning available on their website, as do many other reputed schools and colleges. Agastya also has multiple tools available for teachers to help them get started with our active learning philosophy, the ‘Aah, Aha, Ha-Ha’ method. The Acharya Initiative, our teacher training program , provides kits for the same. The ActiLearn book also incorporates activities consistent with the NCERT and NPT syllabus and the National Education Policy 2020. Overall, active learning is beneficial in education and should be incorporated wherever possible. It is more effective than rote learning and provides a better educational experience. This is needed now more than ever, where merely holding lectures in an online environment is not enough to keep a child’s attention or even help them grasp the subject matter.

Written by Nethra Singhi Educators, especially in India, have long considered arts to be less important than science subjects. Until a few years ago, the buzzword in education was STEM: A learning approach that combines Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics to provide a rounded education focused on the above subjects complementing each other. ​​It emphasises the application of information, and growing problem-solving, observational, and exploratory skills rather than rote learning the periodic table or the multiplication tables. But there is now much discussion about integrating arts with scientific disciplines and the benefits of doing so. Let’s look at one such approach. The progression from STEM to STEAM Education Today, many people add the ‘A’ for Arts in STEM, making it STEAM Education. Georgette Yakman, a researcher and the founder of STEAM Education, divides arts into sub-categories, briefly summarised as follows: Fine Arts — Fine Arts includes drawing, painting, sculpting and photography. It is concerned with aesthetics, and most schools teach it during the arts and crafts period. Language Arts — Language Arts is concerned with grammar and communication, or simply put, the use of a language. It includes learning any language and using it in things like creative writing. Physical Arts — Subjects like dance, sports etc., fall under the category of Physical Arts, or subjects based on physical activity. Manual Arts — Arts that use physical skills or physically manipulating objects are categorised as Manual Arts. Examples include architecture and landscape design. Liberal Arts — Another new education buzzword, at least for India, Liberal Arts covers academic disciplines rooted in humanities and social sciences. Subjects like philosophy, ethics, political science and sociology fall into this category. How does STEAM Education help children? Arts not only complements STEM Education, but it is also practically taught that way. Art and design play prominent roles in STEM, including but not limited to product design, communication (language arts), and history that sets the context for an engineering problem. Moreover, studying arts teaches people the value of contemplation, creativity and innovation. It increases a person’s knowledge of culture, an edge that differentiates between good and great candidates in the workforce. It helps people find creative solutions to problems that require different perspectives. For instance, Sheetal, the art director at Agastya, says studying art makes her students more open to critical observation, helping them approach a subject from different angles. Arts can also make STEM topics more interesting, especially for kids who don’t like science or math. When they see math and science in nature and beauty, they think about the world differently, altering their approach to subjects in school. Science has always depended on hands-on projects and experiments to teach theoretical concepts. These experiments rely largely on manual and physical arts. Hence, the knowledge of arts helps children understand subjects by seeing, touching, and doing. In other words, the arts help a child relate STEM to the real world. Kindergarten and primary school students especially connect best with things they can touch, see, or use. Using art experiments help them connect these things with science concepts by allowing hands-on experiments. It thus allows children to make mistakes and challenge themselves while creating or participating in such experiments. Since there isn’t a single correct answer in art, especially compared to science or math, it allows kids to find different solutions and not be disheartened by failure. The most crucial benefit of arts education is that it helps raise well-informed children who empathise with problems worldwide because they are taught culture from around the world. They grow up to be well-rounded adults who understand that becoming a doctor or engineer is not the only way to help the world. Does such categorisation actually help? The farther you’ve come down in this article, the more you must be realising that all these fields are heavily interconnected. This begs the question: is such categorisation within educational subjects beneficial or detrimental? Sheetal, from the Agastya Arts Lab, as mentioned above, believes that the inherent curiosity of a child leads them down a path where ultimately science and arts both play a role in sating their curiosity. For example, when they’re first asked to draw the sky, most of them paint it blue. But then, when they observe the sky during different times of the day, they start noticing the different shades it is, from purple to white, leading them to play with lighting and painting the sky in different colours. They then start questioning why it is so, which leads them to the science behind the sky being different colours during other times of the day. Thus, the learning curve is fully achieved only when they learn both the aesthetic and the scientific aspects of a specific phenomenon, leading Sheetal to believe that differentiating between the two subjects is futile if the aim is to provide a complete education. What path leads us forward? The road we’re pursuing today ends with the interconnectedness of various disciplines. Hence, it’s becoming more critical to stop defining subjects to the extent of completely removing them from the orbit of other topics that complement them. This is where STEAM Education helps connect disciplines previously thought of as entirely separate from each other. But it is merely the first step towards holistic education that treats all subjects as branches of one common topic and treats each of its components as equally vital.

Written by Nethra Singhi “Learning by Doing” is a motto many educators are adopting today, aiming to make their classrooms more interactive instead of a lecture space. This is the motto Agastya has followed since its inception. But this then brings up the question: “Where to do?”. Our answer to this is our state-of-the-art Innovation Hub, a makerspace for students, where they sate their curiosity, conduct interesting experiments, and make working model solutions for real-life problems they face. Makerspaces? What are those? A makerspace is a place where one can use ready materials to experiment with and gain information from. It is born from the constructivist movement that believes one learns by creating and building upon existing knowledge. Simply put, it is a workshop or lab type of area where children can be curious, create and make their ideas and knowledge tangible. From films, engineering and architecture models to a robot or a mechanical eye, many things can be made in a makerspace. While the traditional classroom lecture format lends itself nicely to some subjects, many others need a new approach to cement understanding. Here, makerspaces aim to provide resources and areas for children to use their imagination and rationale to build their knowledge. They encourage them to experiment and create rather than merely consume. Keep in mind that what children create is not for an end project or done at the end of learning. It is in the process of creation that they study and what they make of the result. Using makerspaces is thus a way of student-centred learning that encourages them to nurture their spirit of inquiry. It also adds to their creativity and innovative thinking, something that is quite stifled in a traditional classroom. Moreover, makerspaces provide a unique opportunity for collaboration. When a group of students is learning the same topic, it gives them a way to discuss their opinions and provide tangible examples. For example, if they are learning about light and refraction, they can use objects in the makerspace to create a mirrored tower with different angles and intensities of light and study its effects. They can also create low-cost lighting solutions for houses that don’t have electric connections with daily use objects like aluminium foil, batteries, etc. What does it take to make a makerspace? The possibilities are endless. A makerspace can take many forms, from an entire library transformed into a learning commons with blocks and areas for children to create their own storybooks to a science lab where children can make the experiments instead of using pre-made models to study a phenomenon. The central idea is that a child should be able to MAKE it on their own and internalise a concept in that process. Thus, before transforming a physical place into a makerspace, thought needs to go into the pedagogical implications of it and what resources are being provided to what end. While all schools need to create makerspaces, one can do it in their own homes on a smaller scale. Find a corner that can safely store tools for your child and has space for them to use said devices, and voila! They have their personal makerspace. We at Agastya have Mobile Science Labs in buses that travel all across India. The “Mobile Innovation Bus” is a makerspace that provides the Kuppam Innovation Hub tools to lakhs of children in the country’s remotest corners! The Innovation Carnival was conceived to take the spirit of innovation mobile and start a program that could travel to create a more creative, curious, constructive, innovative new generation of students.

Written by Nethra Singhi From a barren land with a limited water supply and fluctuating electricity, the Agastya Kuppam Campus is now a lush green ecosystem with sustainable and eco-friendly sources for water and electricity. How did we do it? Read below. An aerial view of a section of the Agastya Kuppam Campus The vision behind the Kuppam Campus Ramji Raghavan, the co-founder and chairperson of Agastya, understood the importance of harmonising with nature while learning, or rather, the importance of the environment in which one learns. His vision was that the campus must have beautiful views and calming natural spaces that aid education. Hence, the idea from the start was to build a sustainable space for learning rooted in the local biodiversity of Kuppam. We took the help of renowned environmentalist Dr Yelappa Reddy, to do this. The Execution First, Professor Renuka Prasad, Head of Geology, Bangalore University, helped conduct a soil assessment study to assess the type of rocks in the area, its hydrological layers, the type and porosity of the soil present, etc. to determine the kind of landscape they were working with. In accordance with this, multiple check dams and irrigation channels were constructed that increased water storage in the area and replenished water levels underground. To combat the electricity problem, the primary natural resource of the area was harvested. Meaning they installed solar panels, windmills, and biogas fueled structures. Thus, the campus became sustainable, which improved the site’s natural landscape. From barren land, it was now land on which life could flourish. Many species characteristic of the Deccan Plateau and flora and fauna local to all the three states the campus borders (Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu) are now present and well nurtured. Flora introduced to the site includes Neem, Jamun, Peepal , Red Sanders, Bamboo, and Bulea Monosperma or Flame of the Forest. These aided in recharging groundwater levels that in turn helped native species grow. The campus is now overrun with shrubs and greenery that many visiting children and teachers love and think is integral to the Agastya experience. Children observing a plant. Source: https://issuu.com/agastyasparks/docs/the_roots_of_creativity-ecology Agastya has not stopped here on its mission to be environmentally conscious. It also introduced ecology in its curriculum before the state government and has conducted many environmental programs on the Kuppam grounds. One such notable program is the My Tree Program, where students visiting the campus are each given a tree that they observe and help grow every time they come to the campus during their course. This makes them conscious of the nature around them and also helps their analytical skills. While the whole campus is deemed the Ecology Lab, the in-house ecology lab hosts several automated models that demonstrate several animals and plants’ life cycles and processes. It also provides sustainable solutions to life problems such as drip irrigation systems for farming, biofuel to reduce the carbon footprint etc. There are also several conceptual gardens like the Mulikavana and Saraswati Kund designed for specific learning processes and highlighting the different natural features of the campus. The Mulikavana Conceptual Garden: a herbal garden “designed to bring an umbilical connection with human anatomy” according to Dr Yelappa Reddy The Campus Today An IISC team consisting of nine researchers, including Mr Harish Bhat and lead scientist Dr Ramachandra, published a research report of the Agastya Campus. This report recorded the environmental and ecological developments on the campus between 2008 and 2014. There was a detailed analysis of all the species of flora and fauna existing on campus. The study concluded that the campus and areas around it reported increased vegetation cover from 11.9% in 2001 to 18.76% in 2014. Today, there are around 600 plants and about 223 animal species, including birds, spiders, amphibians, as well as 104 species of butterflies (as recorded by Dr R Bhanumati). We built a Butterfly Park in 2014 on our campus in an effort to increase environmental education for teachers and students. Several endangered species of the Eastern Ghats were also found in the vicinity. Some notable ones are the Indian Jackal, Pangolin, Spotted Deer, and subspecies of migratory birds like the Harriet and the Rosy Pastor from North America, Siberia, Tajikistan, Russia, and the Himalayas. The Brown Awl photographed by Dr R Bhanumati in the book Butterflies of Agastya Agastya won the Andhra Pradesh Green Award in 2018, recognising its efforts in creating an ecologically sustainable preserve that serves as the seat of learning. You can read more about our environmental plans here: https://issuu.com/agastyasparks/docs/the_roots_of_creativity-ecology

Written by Nethra Singhi What is peer-to-peer teaching? Stanford professor Rick Reis defines peer-to-peer teaching as “students learning from and with each other in both formal and informal ways.” Peer to peer teaching involves students imparting knowledge to other students. There is no distinction between student and teacher like there is in conventional classrooms. Students work in groups to solve problems, with a group leader guiding discussions. In a traditional classroom, the teacher is an expert on the subject and is in a position of authority to lead the classes. On the other hand, peer teachers are in equal standing with the students, as they are one of them. The benefits of peer learning and teaching Encourages teamwork and dialogue Peer Learning encourages students to work in groups and take part in group discussions, something a lecture format does now allow. They learn how to discuss, debate, and help each other out. It makes them better team players who can communicate their ideas successfully. 2. It helps students learn more effectively and actively There is a wealth of research to show that teaching something is an effective way to enhance your own understanding of the material. Moreover, discussing something allows others to add to your knowledge through their inputs. It also helps retain information better, as you discuss and relearn subjects actively in a peer-learning environment. 3. Increases confidence Peer to peer teaching and learning improve one’s public speaking skills. Since they have practised putting forth their ideas before a group, they are not fazed when facing it later in their workplace. Peer teachers gain leadership skills through leading the discussion and activities. Research suggests that because peer-to-peer teaching is less rigid than teacher to student teaching, it helps students be less tense about potential doubts and reduces the fear of failure. Hence, children are more likely to actively take part in the learning process and try their hand at new things without inhibitions. 4. Scope for improvement Participation in group learning activities helps children’s critical thinking and analytical skills. They feel easier asking for help and feedback from their peers rather than a teacher, as they need not fear authority. There is also more scope for personalised feedback, as their peer knows the student personally and can help target the exact areas they’re struggling in. 5. Improves academic performance When students are more engaged in the learning process, have confidence in their knowledge and skills, and have received more individualised assistance, it makes sense that they’ll perform better in studies and tests. So should all learning be done through peers? This is not to say that teachers are not required or are less important in the classroom. Of course, at the initial stage of learning a subject, an expert who can impart knowledge correctly is necessary. Where peer-to-peer teaching comes into play is the second stage. It supplements lecture learning by reiterating important concepts and helping students revise their knowledge. Moreover, in places like India, where schools cannot reach remote areas, peer teachers can reduce the burden of traditional teachers by acting as a force multiplier. One educated child can teach countless more children. This is the rationale behind Agastya’s Young Instructor Leader Program , which trains students to become effective, hands-on peer teachers and takes the Agastya way of learning far and wide.