In an exclusive interview with Shreyas Webmedia Solutions (SWS), Sneha Biswas, Founder and CEO of Early Steps Academy, discussed how Early Steps Academy is revolutionizing academia with its innovative, Harvard-style curriculum
SWS: Please tell us about your company. How have you shaped the education sector by taking a digital-first approach?
Sneha Biswas: Early Steps Academy is an after-school learning program for school children worldwide. Its unique global curriculum exposes school children in ages 8-18 to a range of modern essential subjects and skills through the famous case study method, pioneered at Harvard, and all put in simple childlike language. The case method enables children to see the application of concepts in the real world, thereby making them confident not just in classrooms and tests, but also in the real world. With students from 47 countries, the digital-first approach to learning through the live online sessions help facilitate global interactions for young children, maximizing their exposure and making them 10X confident in this complex, ever-changing, globalized world.
SWS: The world is changing faster than ever before, and students are smarter and more technologically advanced. How do you keep the next generation up to date with this ever-changing and complex world?
Sneha Biswas: Education, as a sector, is the most important sector to drive the economy and to make sure that the world will be in safe hands in the future. However, unfortunately, the sector has not seen any transformational innovation in the last century. While companies like Netflix, Uber and Amazon have completely revolutionized how we operate, in education we see the same subjects, the same kind of classroom designs with benches, aisles and teachers, the same focus on exams and the same routine for children. Even when we talk about the most progressive schools, the modifications are marginal – a little more interactive pedagogy, better student-teacher ratio and a slightly higher focus on application than theory.
Early Steps Academy is the world’s first program to transform education and learning for children by revolutionizing what and how children learn in the 21st century. With a range of modern essential subjects, focus on skills, one global curriculum and tangible learning outcomes, Early Steps’ mission is to make education relevant (useful) and engaging ( fun!) for the 2 Billion school-going children worldwide.
SWS: How does Early Steps Academy help school children become 10X more confident in the real world?
Sneha Biswas: In this fast-paced, rapidly changing world, children can become 10X confident and maximize their potential only when they are aware of the changes in the world, which means that they must be exposed to modern and essential 21st century subjects from Entrepreneurship, Climate, Space Tech, Applied Math and more. Confidence is not a factor of just knowledge, but also the ability to use that knowledge. This can be done by equipping children with the right set of skills that would enable them to succeed even if the world looks completely different in the next decade.
SWS: How is Early Steps Academy disrupting traditional teaching methods with its 1000+ modern essential subjects and 21st century skills curriculum?
Sneha Biswas: Early Steps Academy is disrupting education by revolutionizing what and how children learn in the 21st century. With the mission of making education relevant (useful) and engaging ( fun!) for children, Early Steps Academy’s unique case-based curriculum for children is a very different learning experience. The learning is practical, focused on real world knowledge and hones critical 21st century skills of thinking and communication in young learners – the key ingredients for success in the 21st century.
SWS: Could you please tell us about your company’s vision and how you are preparing for the future of learning?
Sneha Biswas: By 2030, there will be 3.5 Billion school going children in the world and it is imperative for the survival of the planet to have truly educated and confident children to run it, even as the world is changing at a rapid pace. Therefore, our mission is to reach each and every school-going children and introduce the Early Steps way of learning to them – thereby making sure that every child is able to maximize his/her potential and every child is walking out of school years with 10X confidence to face the real world.
SWS: The founder’s mission is to bring Early Steps Academy to 3.5 billion school-aged children by 2030.
Sneha Biswas: By 2030, there will be 3.5 Billion school going children in the world and it is imperative for the survival of the planet to have truly educated and confident children to run it, even as the world is changing at a rapid pace. Therefore, our mission is to reach each and every school-going children and introduce the Early Steps way of learning to them – thereby making sure that every child is able to maximize his/her potential and every child is walking out of school years with 10X confidence to face the real world.
SWS: Technology is crucial in the education industry. Tell us about how your company leverages technology and how do you see the scenario changing in the coming years
Sneha Biswas: Technology has helped in two things – faster dissemination of information and providing global exposure to learners. Faster dissemination of information is a critical component of learning in the 21st century world where things are moving at an unprecedented pace and knowledge becomes redundant very quickly. Additionally, technology enables a global reach for young school children, like how we do at Early Steps Academy by creating global classrooms for learners where children from different countries can come together and learn together. Increasing the speed of accessibility to high quality learning and expanding the exposure of school-going learners beyond their city is only possible through technology and that is a critical piece of solving a problem of this scale.