Primary education is important for every child. As the child moves up to the Secondary Education, tapping into their unique potential is a necessity. At the tender age, children are fast learners and they need to know their unique capabilities, learn how to utilize such traits in order to grow comprehensively. Parents and teachers need to adopt as well as to adapt the innovative solutions that can enhance their children’s learning abilities and make them future-ready in terms of various career prospects.
Driving innovation with this similar approach is one such institution called PrimeX Ivy Academy. Under the fierce leadership of Bharathi Bhaskaran, a Child Life Architect; CEO and Founder of the company, PrimeX is on its way to complete an endeavor to help children in finding their true lifepath. Let’s read how:
What is your vision behind your startup? Tell us how the idea came about.
The idea of ‘identifying and nurturing future leaders’ sprang in my mind in 2012. By then I had worked in 9 different companies. Every job would be exciting for me in the beginning, I would enjoy my work. I never cared to build a career out of those jobs because it would get boring for me after some months. I didn’t stick to one kind of industry either, I would grab any job that came my way if it had to offer me lot of knowledge. I was fussy too in picking up the jobs. I always looked at those job profiles as a venue to learn something new and more that kept me thriving.
Well, I saw many long and confused souls in those big companies. Painful heart, confused souls. Mostly they were the reason, this idea of nurturing and identifying leaders at a young age made me take an action and give it a form today. To describe more aptly, let me share a quote from Quentin Crisp – “It’s no good running a Pig Farm badly for 30years while saying I was meant to be a ballet dancer. By then Pigs will be your style”
Why would a ballet dancer become a pig farmer and struggle within, feel discontent, instead of being what he/ she wants to be? It shouldn’t be that hard! Why is it so hard then? So, I pondered more on the WHY? What are the factors that are making a musical genius into a banker or a sports-wizard working as a call-center employee? The answer seemed very simple but hard-hitting. It’s our education system! It is so generic and not child specific. Unique children but same education – Artist, sportsperson, musician, physicist, chemist mathematician, doctor, engineer anybody and everybody going through the same education. How can we even justify this system?
The second thing was watching children who were mostly 6th graders & sometimes 7th graders. Those children seemed so lost & disconnected. Parents, teachers, and everyone around them failed to understand them. I noticed unique issues with each child. I also saw in them a radiant light which is normally not perceived or noticed. During that age, children are naturally connected to their source and disconnected from the world around them.
Firstly, the vision behind my start-up was to rightly position the future generation for what he/she is here for on the planet earth. I wish to evade the issue of strife and struggle in (future) Gen Y kids, so that they could create a harmonious world. Peace within is peace outside.
Secondly, to channelize the energies of tweenagers (Pre Teens or Pre Adolescence) in the right direction so that they grow up to become humble, responsible, and creative loving human beings.
Thirdly, the world is progressing vertically, where typewriter becomes a word processor, and a social gathering becomes a Facebook post. 40 years ago, we wouldn’t have thought that we can withdraw money without going to a bank. But now we have ATMs in every nook and corner. In fact, studies have suggested that 2 out of 3 kids in primary school today will grow up to do work that does not even exist today.
So, I decided to give an end to end solution to all the above-mentioned problems. Three targets with ‘One’ arrow. I also know in my heart that this is going to become a huge revolution in the way we provide education or look at psychology or do parenting.
What services/products/solutions do you offer?
- Core Service: We provide an end to end solution to parents of Tweenagers, from identifying their true potential to set up a powerful goal. As simple and easy as it sounds, for parents, setting up a goal is not a guileless task. Goal setting has always been a tedious task for most of the parents; accomplishing it is another challenge in itself. We help in setting Destinations and the path to reach there chalked out. One needs to be very reasonable, committed, intelligent and with a focus on the vision, We help children stay focused, also guide them in building the required skills to achieve their goal. We guide them towards the right education and maybe in the far future we would collaborate to provide placements.
- Through Products: Research on Tweens, Parenting, Child Counselling, Crisis Interventions, Conflict resolutions, Changes in Education Policies, and Changes in placement approach/concepts.
What were the challenges you faced during the inception of your startup?
It was quite easy to set up the company. But as the service is very unconventional and unpopular, we are in the stage of spreading awareness about it. Also, retaining the interest of parents on social media is a hell of a task.
Is your company bootstrapped or have you received funding, or do you plan on approaching investors?
Yes, my company is bootstrapped. I am planning to approach investors in the near future may be in another six months’ time, so that I have data in my hand to show them the effectiveness of my startup.
As the founder/CEO, what is your opinion on the current landscape of startup culture in India?
In my opinion, Start-ups take a form when the founder(s) have a unique solution to a problem as a product or service or if they find a more efficient way to recreate an existing product or service in a unique way. Somebody like me with a dream of creating a conducive environment for children starts working from the comfort of a living room and aspires to make the current education system obsolete or to change the way psychology is looked at. I am sure that the current landscape is pretty encouraging that can make any common person not so common.
India has the second-largest startup ecosystem in the world. As per a survey report by Innoven Capital, this decade is indeed the one that belongs to startups in the world especially India. The good news is that India has joined the race in a prolific manner. According to the NASSCOM report 2017, India is home to 5000 tech startups and the third largest startup ecosystem after the US and UK. It is encouraging to see that India stands abreast of other developing countries. More than 1,200 startups came up in 2018, including eight unicorns, taking the total number to 7,200 startups.
According to you, how important is it to be updated with technology as per your industry sector?
It is the need of the hour. The education is the next booming & thriving sector online after the retail sector. Today’s younger generation prefer studying at their own comfort and like to get clarified on their doubts on subjects instantly. Hence, the coaching and mentoring sector is trending online.
How do you strategize on scaling your company in the future?
The services will be provided completely online. We aspire to grow globally in the next three years. We will initiate our operations in countries like India, Gulf, Singapore, Philippines & China. Given below are the ways through which we wish to scale:
- Helping children get the right education, Admissions for skill-based education
- Placements for PrimeX students or helping them set up start-ups
- Provide Virtual Business Solutions to start-ups
- Spreading wings through Media House – showcasing our own talents (PrimeX Students)
- Bringing Paradigm Shift from Generic education to providing Child Specific Education
- Running Our own Trust helping Tier 3 Children free of cost
Inside Growth
Complete Automation (PrimeX developed Software) encouraging work from home on a large scale.Inspire Psychologists to take up developmental Psychology. Hiring a pool of these experienced professionals and Interns (work from wherever they are)
HOW? for the year 2020 (Using Hybrid Model of Online & offline approach)
- Through Webinar Model – for any business online the social media marketing helps in spreading awareness of the product or service the company offers. Webinar is a tripwire, where the interested or potential customer/client can get clarity may buy product or service
- Through Web-conference –.Gives a networking opportunity to people in the community.
- Through School Model – Sign Up MOUs with Schools for unconventional career counseling for 6th to 9thGraders.
- Through Internship Programs: Internship is provided for students/graduates with analytical mind or critical thinking minds who wish to do experimental research or Problem research or descriptive case study .
PrimeX Aspiration and Ambition
It’s definitely not a thin line between goal setting and achieving. It’s a long winding path.
It’s not the goal that matters; it’s the journey that gets each one of us there. It is what teaches, seasons and refines each one of our existence.
We aim to help children dream big, aim high and toil hard to get where they must BE
Our wish is to instil the desire in children to do the right things, make right choices in order to attain the right results. There are no long jumps. One step at a time is the key to sustenance Slow and steady survives and thrives. That’s why tweenage is the right age. Setting goal and the path to achieving these goals is itself a learning process. It is primal to generate clarity in the pre-adolescent mind to facilitate positive relationships, inculcate healthy decision-making and ensure success in their endeavors.
