Life after IIT? Back to school

QUICK, try this on your nine-year-old. What is 102 multiplied by 98? Chances are that your kid is still looking for a piece of paper and a pen to calculate.

But with the right algebraic formula, IIT grads Rohit Jain and Kunal Sharma can get your child to work out the answer in a matter of seconds and enjoy doing it too. This novel venture allows kids to choose what they learn.

College mate Saurabh Saxena, also part of the group called Aakar Educational Services, works in Malaysia to fund the group that was set up in 2004.

For them, education has always been a passion and Kunal says, "The child should be able to experience things and have fun when he learns. In this way, he/she will also remember his lessons better."

"Education shouldn't move out of schools to coaching or hobby classes, therefore we're targeting kids between 11 and15 years. We have zeroed in on around 35 modules like skyscrapers (structural science), headlines (journalism), chromosome (genetics), etc," says Rohit.

While their peers zoom around in fancy cars, Kunal and Rohit have to think twice about spending money on a movie ticket.

"There are tough times when we work 20 hours a day, but after a session with the kids, you'll just know why we love our work so much," Kunal smiles.

Keeping alive the child's curiosity is very important. "Showing them unique ways to do things and activities to make fields like marine science and anthropology interestingly is enough to get a child to figure out what really appeals to him/her," says Rohit.

The 25-year-olds have chalked out their sessions and Kunal explains, "At the end of three months, if it's a robotics session, the kids have to create a robot that walks around the periphery of the room or make an ad campaign in the advertising workshop."

The trio currently works in three schools - Rajhans Vidyalay, Podar School and Little Flower School and hold three-hour sessions twice a week. For Rs 1,500 for three months, the children are even provided with raw material.

"All of our friends chip in - of course a part of Saurabh's salary goes to Aakar, we also get second hand handy cams and cameras from friends," explains Kunal.