What can city schools learn from the first open-syllabus, online-only school, which has gone from having 300 students to 3,000 kids in just one year
Parmeet Kaur Mehra with her daughter, child actor Delissa, whom she enrolled in the school
Child actress Delissa Mehra can shoot anywhere in India for her serials or movies, and yet, never misses school. Agnes Lobo has the liberty to homeschool her two sons where the focus is on personality development. Both Delissa and Lobo have what they want due to the common factor — the 21K School, which the founders say is India’s first online only school. It has students from all over the nation as well as international students and teachers.
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The online school with open syllabus is gaining ground especially during the pandemic. Due to the pandemic, student enrollment at this school has gone up in just a year. With the option to appear for board exams privately, this guided home-schooling option is gaining popularity among new-age parents who feel regular schools are more draining. Even as regular schools are heavily depending on the online mode of teaching learning amid the pandemic; this online school is becoming a preferred option due to other added advantages.
Yeshwanth Raj Parasmal, co-founder and director
As Delissa has to travel for her shoots, it was becoming difficult for her to be a regular at her school. Her mother took admission for her to 21K School last year. “Till Std IV, Delissa was in a regular school. But she missed a lot of academics due to shoots. Now there is no chance of missing anything. Firstly, everything is online so she can attend from anywhere; secondly there is complete flexibility of time as lectures can be recorded,” said Parmeet Kaur Mehra, Delissa’s mother.
Students with other goals
The 21K School has many students who have a completely different focus in life such as performing arts, sports, etc. The online school that started in 2020 allows them the time to dedicate to their actual goals. “We don’t have land or buildings. We replicate physical school online with ed-tech solutions. This model offers great transparency to parents in affordable rates which is why we are growing,” said Yeshwanth Raj Parasmal, co-founder and director of 21K School.
Agnes Lobo with her sons Aaron and Aaden, students at 21K School
The school has grown from a total of 326 students in the academic year 2020-21 to 2,874 students in the current academic year. They have students in 400 cities and 17 nations. “Children with career choices, parents with jobs that require them to travel all over, and children with special needs who have challenges in attending regular physical school – these are different types of demographics of our students. With the pandemic, there is a set of parents who prefer this online school over a regular school adapting to online,” said Parasmal.
He added, “You may not want to admit your child in a value education class or a typical craft class at school, because you want him/her to learn a different set of life-skills. This school allows that time. We teach core subjects to students as per their grade and the curriculums that they opt for. They appear for board exams privately.” Interestingly this school is on for all 12 months a year. It offers several extra-curricular sessions online along with academics.
The school has students in 400 cities and 17 nations. Representation pic
Admitted older son too
For Andheri resident Agnes Lobo, choosing this school for her children was the most important decision. Her elder son Aaron studied in a regular school till Std VI last year. “I have seen how children go to school, then for tuitions and other activities. They hardly have time to spend at home and learn from their family. The schools give importance to academics but the child is not able to communicate well once back home. You can’t even push them for anything post that as they have no energy left. So I was looking for another way of schooling for my younger son Aaden. Home school has been on my mind but we definitely do not have all the expertise to teach core academic subjects. The 21K School allowed me that opportunity where my son can learn academics from the experts and other things from me,” said Lobo, adding after her younger son’s experience, the family was thinking of shifting Aaron to the school. “When I saw the fun Aaden was having, I was interested to shift to this new school. Now I have time to play with friends, even after studies,” said Aaron. The Lobo family feels this school is more effective in this mode of teaching-learning than a regular school.
2,874
No. of students at the school
2k
No. of approx students in the school
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