· 75% of parents feel academic school curriculum is at odds with the practical world—NEXT School Survey
· 79% of respondents feel that freedom is lacking in our school system
· 59% feel that the school system does not sufficiently cater to every child in the class
· Nearly half of the parents blame education system for not allowing students to discover their passion
· 67 percent described the current culture of tuition class as ‘unhealthy’
NEXT Schools survey on Indian education system
Mumbai, 22 November 2016: Parents are losing faith in the prevailing education system as 75% admit to alienation of school learning from the real and practical world, a study by upcoming NEXT School suggests. Mumbaikars feel that our schools are not preparing our children for their future as learning in schools has very little to do with what makes people successful in the real world job market and economy.
Mr Parmeet Shah CEO & Founder of NEXT School, Mr Elliot Washer Co Founder of Big Picture Learning & Mr Mayur Shah MD of Marathon Group at launch of NEXT school in Mumbai
Mr Parmeet Shah CEO & Founder of NEXT School, Mr Elliot Washer Co Founder of Big Picture Learning at launch of NEXT school in Mumbai
The survey was conducted by NEXT School, with an objective of understanding the perception of education system in India and gaps in the current education system.
In order to bring the paradigm shift in the education system, NEXT school has brought in a US based nonprofit organization called Big Picture Learning, which focuses on building real world skills that go much beyond just academic and bookish knowledge. From an early age students connect with organisations and professionals from the real world, taking up projects and internships in their field of interest.
The project is supported by Marathon Group, the Mumbai-based leading real estate company.
Research from the NEXT School survey conducted by renowned agency IMRB found that 46% of parents feel that the current education system did not help them figure out what they wanted to do in life. 79% of the parents felt that freedom is lacking in our school system and 59% felt that the school system does not sufficiently cater to every child in the classroom.
The Big Picture Learning framework is based on addressing these issues in the education system. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have announced that Big Picture is their favorite program, and has provided them with multiple rounds of funding to replicate their model throughout the world. President Barack Obama has said that the US will “follow the example” of Big Picture schools. Marc Ecko, billionaire entrepreneur and founder of Ecko enterprises, has called Big Picture “The iphone of education to the Walkman of the old”.
Big Picture’s core principle is to personalize education, so that schools can focus on the individual needs of each child, ensuring that every child is given attention. And by personalizing education, Big Picture schools can focus on unearthing and developing the talents and passions of each child. Each student has a personalized learning plan, which captures not only individual needs and areas of improvement but also identifies their talents and passions.
Parmeet Shah, Founder and CEO of NEXT School, who spent over six years researching on the existing education system in India and abroad said, “We are still following a 150-year old school education system at a time when the world has changing rapidly due to technology and globalization. Our education system is desperately in need of new ideas and new paradigms that makes it relevant to the modern world. Every aspect of our lives has undergone drastic change and it is time to revolutionise education.”
The NEXT School survey also says that 45 percent of the city dwellers felt that the examination system is not good enough to measure the students and 54 percent felt that lectures in school are boring. 67% said that marks and examinations have gained undue importance and a similar proportion said that the current culture of tuition classes is unhealthy.
Big picture Learning
Big Picture is a nonprofit organisation that started 20 years ago in the US, and now has 165 schools in 9 countries all over the world. Big Picture schools feature in Business Insider's list of the 13 most innovative schools in the world. It is considered by many to be the best educational model in the world. It has received acclaim from none another than President Barack Obama himself, and has received multiple rounds of funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, who consider Big Picture to be their favourite model for school education. Many other experts and thought leaders have heaped praise upon Big Picture. Big Picture Learning’s mission is ‘One student at a time’. The Big Picture Learning framework personalises each students’ education and connects their learning to the real world making learning more authentic and engaging.
NEXT School
NEXT school is a non-profit school supported by Marathon Group, a prominent real estate developer in Mumbai, through it’s charitable enterprise – Ramniklal Zaverbhai Shah Trust. NEXT will be India’s first Big Picture school. It is currently under construction and slated to open in the next academic year. It’s located in Mulund West. The school is pursuing accreditation from the International Baccalaureate (IB) and will open for admissions for Nursery to Grade 7.Marathon Group’s extensive real estate experience has resulted in a world class school design with state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities.
Marathon launches NEXT School
Brings first of its kind Big Picture learning system of US to the country
• Students to prepare for real life in this school, not just exams
• Bill & Melinda Gates’ favourite school comes to Mumbai
• A school that provides personalised education for each child
• A school that builds the bridge between professional and educational life, well before college
Mumbai, November 22: City-based realty major Marathon Group introduced the Big Picture Learning Concept to India with the launch of their first educational institute, NEXT School, in Mumbai.
Big Picture Learning, supported by Bill & Melinda Gates’ Foundation’s for their novel education system, has been introduced by Marathon Group.
The 20-year-old US based non-profit that has more than 150 schools in 10 countries, has been admired by US President Obama, for ‘providing individual attention’ and ‘real-world, hands-on training’.
India’s first school of this kind, NEXT School, was launched under the umbrella of Big Picture India and is funded by the 45 year old Marathon Group.
NEXT school aims to personalize a child’s education, while giving them experience in the real world through mentors and internships. With a dedicated teacher working individually with 15 students, they get more attention for their specific needs and get to learn at their own pace, unlike the traditional classroom lectures. More importantly, NEXT School focuses on developing students’ interests and passions.
“Schools today are too disconnected from the real world. For me, this started as a mission to identify the best educational experience in the world for our children. One that prepares them not just for today, but for a future none of us can predict. After 6 years of research and development and searching Netherlands, Thailand, Australia, UK and USA, I am proud to say I have found the best educational experience, what I consider the futute of education; Big Picture Learning.” said founder Parmeet Shah, a graduate of Yale & Columbia University.
“So we give teachers 15 students and ask them to start not with lectures and syllabus, but with their interests - ask the students what do they care about. Whether its cars, or football, or metaphysics - we let them follow and develop their interests. We want to make sure they learn the important things like math, science and language etc. but we start with what they care about and build the learning into that. Learning through something you care about can be the most powerful motivation and can give students a head start on life. There are students coming out of Big Picture schools who have already started multiple businesses, built a virtual reality game engine, produced & directed a film, even built a functional prosthetic limb!” says Parmeet.
The Pre-K-12 school that will open in July 2017 will start with Pre-K-7 in first year and is pursuing accreditation by the International Baccalaureate (IB) and plans to offer the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP), Middle Years Programme (MYP), Diploma Programme (DP) and Career Programme (CP) curriculum. The school has the capacity to accommodate 700 students.
While this is the first school of Big Picture India in Mulund, in the words of the founder, their “goal is to redefine education in our country”. Big Picture India has a consulting division to support other schools in adopting the framework.
Big Picture School highlights
• Personalized learning, 1:1 time with the teacher and individual learning plans
• Learning 21st century skills through real world experiences - creativity, communication, collaboration while working with experts and professionals, or doing internships. Getting a head start on life!
• Assessment based on presentations, portfolio and real world work, not just tests
• No examination but students will be assessed based on the projects they prepare
• Will be pursuing IB accreditation
Big Picture Learning
Big Picture is a nonprofit organisation that started 20 years ago in the US, and now has 165 schools in 9 countries all over the world. Big Picture schools feature in Business Insider's list of the 13 most innovative schools in the world. It is considered by many to be the best educational model in the world. It has received acclaim from none another than President Barack Obama himself, and has received multiple rounds of funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, who consider Big Picture to be their favourite model for school education. Many other experts and thought leaders have heaped praise upon Big Picture. Big Picture Learning’s mission is ‘One student at a time’. The Big Picture Learning framework personalises each students’ education and connects their learning to the real world making learning more authentic and engaging.
NEXT School
NEXT school is a non-profit school supported by Marathon Group, a prominent real estate
developer in Mumbai, through it’s charitable enterprise – Ramniklal Zaverbhai Shah Trust.
NEXT will be India’s first Big Picture school. It is currently under construction and slated to
open in the next academic year. It’s located in Mulund West. The school will be run by Big
Picture India, a nonprofit organisation instituted by the Marathon Group that is committed to spread the Big Picture model far and wide. The school is pursuing accreditation from the
International Baccalaureate (IB) and will open for admissions for Nursery to Grade 7.
Marathon Group’s extensive real estate experience has resulted in a world class school
design with state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities.
PARMEET SHAH - Founder and CEO, Big Picture India and NEXT School
Parmeet is the founder and CEO of NEXT and is also a Director at Marathon Group. He has been leading the project for the last 6 years. His goal was to bring the world’s most innovative educational model back home to India. As part of his R&D process he connected with schools and experts not only across India but all around the world including USA, UK, Australia, Netherlands, Belgium, Singapore, Thailand and many other countries. After considering many different philosophies, paradigms and programs he, along with his team of educators, identified Big Picture Learning as the best model that would address the issues in the current education system and would truly prepare our children for the modern world. He holds a BA in Economics from Yale University and an MS from Columbia University, USA.
ELLIOT WASHOR - Co-Founder, Big Picture Learning, USA
Elliot Washor is the co-founder of Big Picture Learning, USA. He is the coach, mentor and guide for the NEXT School team. He has been involved in school reform for more than 30 years as a teacher, principal, administrator and writer. He leads Big Picture’s international endeavours and his work has spanned across school design, pedagogy, learning environments, and education reform and is supporting others doing similar work throughout the world. Elliot’s interests lie in the field of how schools can connect with communities to understand tacit and disciplinary learning both in and outside of school. He has recently been selected as one of the Daring Dozen – the Twelve Most Daring Educators in the World by the George Lucas Educational Foundation.