This 21-YO IIT Madras Student is Helping Children Develop Life Skills Using Peer Learning Methods
A 21-year-old dual degree student from IIT Madras, Divanshu Kumar has been successful in initiating his idea of peer learning. He started a social enterprise called ‘Involve’ to create an affordable ecosystem where students are empowered towards self-driven learning.
Academic knowledge is not just sufficient for a student to excel in a career in the 21st century. It is imperative for them to develop some much-needed life skills. A 21-year-old dual degree student from IIT Madras (Indian Institute of Technology),Divanshu Kumar started to think on the similar lines two years ago when an idea of peer learning struck his mind.
In 2016, Divanshu Kumar along with his teammates started a social enterprise ‘Involve’, a not-for-profit organisation that aims to create an accessible and affordable ecosystem where students are empowered towards personal growth and self-driven learning.
Expressing his views on the concept of peer learning and ‘Involve’, Divanshu Kumar revealed that most graduates are failing to secure employment due to lack of certain soft skills like the ability to deal with failure, problem-solving, communication and teamwork. Even though students have technical skills, lack of soft skills is becoming a barrier in securing employment. Most of the students graduating from colleges/ universities are accustomed to rote learning and are clueless about what they learnt in all those years, he added.
The concept of Involve originated from Divanshu’s vision, which made him realise that being good in academics is just one aspect of a good education. He observed many of his peers struggled to communicate in front of people and lacked confidence. The major reason for such instances was lack of exposure during school days, he noted.
For the first time, Divanshu and his team piloted the concept of peer learning in ASN Secondary School located in Delhi in 2016. Within the six weeks of the pilot project, the educators (Peer Teachers) improved in terms of communication skills, confidence, management skills and learnt behaviour besides prospering in their academics. Divanshu and his team were astonished to see such great result in the first attempt.
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Divanshu also observed that the average academic scores of students went up by 20% in just six weeks. After the successful first attempt, the team was unstoppable in experimenting with the initiative in different schools.
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At present, ‘Involve’ has collaborated with two schools – one in Bangalore and the other in Chennai. The social enterprise is also in talks with four other schools in Chennai and Bangalore. If everything goes as per plan, Divanshu and his team are expected to roll out this initiative in six schools.