First, keep kids longer in school – more hours a day, more days a week, more weeks a year. Even as people in India become increasingly aware of the crucial importance of high quality education, the major problem of high dropout rates, however, remains a reality. The number of children dropping out varies from 10 to more than 20 percent for some regions in India – before completing 12th grade it can even rise up to 80-90 percent. It is part of the corporate philosophy that keeping children in an academic context as long as possible lowers the risk of dropping out significantly. Therefore, Takshashila students have shorter holiday breaks and lessons are scheduled also on Saturdays and during summer. Education as a ‘long-term investment’ is explained as well to the parents to counteract social pressures. Some families demand immediate observable progress in school. As a consequence of this impatience, some kids are pulled out by their parents. Nevertheless, 80 percent of the students are 1st or 2nd generation learners; Takshashila’s target group covers the range from the ‘top of the bottom’ to the ‘bottom of the middle’ of the pyramid.

Secondly, they focus on sustainable and successful teaching. Teachers are selected following a strict mixing strategy: more experienced teachers from other parts of the country are mixed with people coming directly from the local community. Both groups benefit from combined training, mentorhip and supervision and are encouraged to become a part of the local community. Takshashila Schools understand themselves as members of the community rather than as externally imposed entities. Consequently, the organization offers a transparent à-la-carte pricing model enabling the parents to choose the desired courses and activities for their children. Recent tests proved this manner of teaching to be very successful showing that Takshashila students performed above national average in important disciplines like Maths and English (grades 4,6 and 8).

Third, the founders concentrate on driving down capital expenditure to make schools more affordable and efficient. Everyday school life – as the core business – is run exclusively by a non-profit society. In addition, Takshashila offers additional programs that are operated by a social business. Such include summer schools, extended day programs and residential programs. This allows for efficiency improvements: For Instance, physical space used by the schools’ buildings and properties are reduced to a rational minimum, a school’s bus system is carefully adapted for the students’ timetables to avoid frictions. Additionally, residential programs providing supplementary help for enrolled children allow for a 24/7 usage of all properties. Again, efficiency and a students’ personal learning progress at Takshashila go hand in hand – each student benefits from being part of a school that has so many options to help children catch up and exceed expectations. Thus, all steps combined lead to a remarkable reduction of capital expenditure. In the long run, this may help to keep academic quality up and tuition fees low.

Outlook

Having opened their first school 2 1/2 years ago, the growth of Takshashila now depends on investors valuing both financial returns and the return on local communities. In its third year, already 600 kids in India’s national capital region chose Takshashila Schools to design their personal futures. Manish Agrawal’s and Melanie Bowen’s plans and dreams are ambitious: Within three years they would like to build three more schools, with the potential to accommodate 10.000 children and offering a complete academic calendar from pre-elementary school up to 12^th grade. Ambitions, a working pilot and a great team: a promising combination for innovating India’s educational sector at the base of the pyramid.

There are reasons for that. For people living from less than 1 dollar a day, education is a luxury they simply cannot afford. In African slums where 64 percent of the children are poor, priorities are set following a simple rule: belly first. Consequently, starving families more likely require their children to work in order to spend the income on a little more food. Imagine you meet one of these tough kids from Alexandra, a township in Johannesburg, South Africa. In the one hand you have a BigMac with large fries and a diet coke – a classy McMenu. In the other hand, however, you carry Brealey & Myers’s “Principles of Corporate Finance 10th Edition”. Seriously: who on earth would be crazy enough to choose the book? Anyway, the Menu-choice would possibly be made by many people regardless of their social and economic status. But I guess you got our point: In places like Alexandra, children do actually not have the choice. It’s belly first.

Fortunately, we can observe several promising approaches. New takes on education deficits involve a paradigm shift from traditional classes to more individual and pragmatic learning models – by always keeping an eye on the cost-efficiency. In the following, two inspiring projects will be discussed in further detail.

Janala Program

Having no significant economic importance, slums are often excluded from a developing country’s infrastructure. In such remote areas, mobile communication networks are frequently seen as the only key to social and economic interaction with its surroundings. A limited infrastructure, indeed, is better than no infrastructure at all. In fact, mobile has therefore already been used several times to provide access to education for the handicapped inhabitants. The potential of mobile phones to boost connectivity everywhere including rural areas gave birth to a range of ambitious projects. Unsurprisingly, these pioneer programs showed a large appetite for creative mobile learning solutions.

An example for a very successful venture that involves the concept of individual mLearning is “BBC Janala”. Janala (‘Window’) is generating opportunities for millions of people in Bangladesh by offering a language education platform accessible via cell phone, TV or internet. Our example kid from Johannesburg – suggested that she moved over to Dhaka – can now pick the BigMac without feeling bad about it. As she can learn English via her mobile phone while enjoying the burger at the same time, she is actually not missing anything. Basically, all she has to do is calling 3000. She may now choose among thousands of 3-minute-audio lessons, offering teaching sequences from a first time learner to a business English level. In addition, she is able to record her own stories, as well.

Thanks to the Janala program, learning English is no exclusive privilege for the rich any more. For just 1 Taka (1 pence) per minute, more than 50 million mobile users in Bangladesh can afford complementary language skills – anywhere, anytime.

The advantages of mLearning are groundbreaking and applicable to multiple problems. Most of all, it pushes forward the issue of equal opportunities. Many kids drop out of school because they simply do not understand the language spoken in class. Others are not able show up to lessons due to disabilities or alternatively need to contribute to the family household. In this field, the flexibility of mobile learning opens a wide window of opportunities. (Check out this paper on the opportunities of mLearning to get more information about the topic) .

“Balsakhi” – The Child’s Friend

Besides mobile learning, another pragmatic approach raised our interest. Already in 1994, Pratham (NGO) was searching for a cheap and simple way to improve the quality of education. Mainly operating in India, Pratham’s team had a closer look on Indian schools in Mumbai. Their examinations showed clearly: Not every random donation aid automatically ensures effective and sustainable learning success. Having in mind that every school term a child attends makes its future income rise by 20 percent on average, the effectiveness of tuition classes obtains vital importance.

Many people tend to link the buzz words “flexibility”, “effectiveness” and “cost-efficiency” directly to IT-solutions. Indeed, studies like these prove computers to enhance a child’s learning progress. On the other hand, computers are expensive and development funding resources are limited. Generally, Pratham was ambitious in finding a solution that can be financed independently by the Indian schools themselves.

The answer responding to the credo of cost-efficiency was a network of Balsakhi teachers. Every government school participating in the project was provided with an additional Balsakhi (usually a young woman, recruited from the local community, who has finished secondary school). Children identified as falling behind their peers take additional classes 2 hours a day with the ‘Balsakhis’ (‘the child’s friends’). Well trained, genuine and fairly paid, Balsakhis turned out to be a cheap and even more effective measure than IT-donations.

Looking at these two successful examples may lead us to the following conclusion: Neither BigMac donations (you might have guessed this beforehand) will fight poverty effectively, nor will tons of finance books or computers end illiteracy. We need to rely on such unconventional entrepreneurial spirit that fosters a paradigm shift to pragmatic and sustainable thinking in contrast to traditional development aid programs. And we need to keep our eyes open for solutions that really work.

1. Practice regularly but lightly

Develop the habit to engage with the language you want to learn on a regular basis, be it through having a class with one of our teachers or by watching television or reading a magazine in that language. Have a pen pal or set up a lesson plan of grammar and vocabulary that you practice once per week. Or watch a movie once per month. The options are various, but the key to success lies in consistency. And you will only develop consistency if you don’t overdo it in the beginning and lose your motivation shortly after. Start with a regular interval that does not put too much pressure on your other commitments and intensify once you feel comfortable with your lesson plan.

2. Learn via multiple channels

A language is used for expression in various ways: discussions, books, loveletters, plays or speeches are only a tiny bit of the spectrum. While learning a language, best progress is made if you apply it in various ways yourself. This means basically talking as well as listening, reading as well as writing. By adapting this playfulness, you will not only enjoy the learning process more but you will also learn faster.

3. Immerge in the culture

Read a local newspaper and follow culture, sports and politics. Share these stories with your friends. Try out the food of the country whose language you are learning. In that way, you will be even more inclined to the culture you are studying and your motivation will remain high. Furthermore, you might meet new people sharing your interests or native speakers.

4. Keep a learning diary

Write down your successes and vocabulary that you struggle with. Note grammatical issues that you find challenging, quotes that you deem inspiring as well as phrases that you consider eloquent. Write down both things that you learn as well as things that you do not yet understand. Over time, this written reflection of your insights will sharpen your knowledge and increase your understanding.

5. Reward yourself

Define milestones with your teacher or set goals yourself on the road to learning a language. Giving yourself a pat on the back in one form or another after reaching one of your goals. This will give you the motivation to tackle the next challenge. Rewards obviously can be various and could range from having a nice dinner (best in a restaurant serving the cuisine of the country whose language you are learning) to a small trip (maybe to practice your language skills in real life).

Finally, to close this list with the most important recommendation of all: have fun! Enjoy your language learning experience!

That’s exactly what happened to some 400 young Namibians in the late 1970s and early 1980s. During Namibia’s fight for independence from South Africa these kids were brought to the former German Democratic Republic and raised there to become leaders in postwar-Namibia. Yet, in 1990, shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall Namibia became independent and these children, then already teenagers, were returned to their home country.

Back in Namibia, they hardly felt like coming back home but rather like being transfered to a foreign country once again. And the socialist leadership skills they were taught were not of much use in a country that decided to ground its future on capitalism.

Feeling at home it is hard when the black population of Namibia does not want to relate to you because you speak German and therefore seem to belong to the white elite (remember, Namibia was once a German colony). And the white elite does not want to relate to you either – although you speak the same language – because your skin has a different color.

Particularly with respect to language the situation holds a special explosiveness (you might also have a look at our post on linguistic genocide in that respect). When these kids returned home they partially went to schools of the German-speaking elite. And while the German of the whites had been influenced by Afrikaans over time and picked up a rather crude character, the German of the blacks was very refined leading to repression and hostility in school.

Today, the grown-ups they have become are scattered over Namibia and even worse: scattered socially. While a few of them found their way, far too many did not manage to get on track in this clash of cultural identities. One, an orphan, was adopted by a white family upon his return but today drowns his sorrows in alcohol in one of Namibia’s townships. Another one returned to Germany for vocational training and made a career as a respected business man in Namibia afterwards.

Being impressed by learning once more how painful it can be to interfere with people’s cultural identities we are currently trying to get in touch with them. We’d like to see whether teaching German online might be an attractive opportunity for them to earn some income on the side and reconcile their conflicting identities. In case you happen to know one of them, we’d be grateful if you introduced us to him or her (customerservice@glovico.org).

What exactly is it that you are doing in your daily work?

The GIZ works on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development. Its worldwide operations are dedicated to human resource development, advanced training, and dialogue. As part of our Human Capacity Development projects we draw back on the use of new learning media, such as computers, networks, mobile devices and multimedia applications.

What occupies most of your attention at the moment?

I am responsible for the further development of the GC21 E-Academy (www.gc21-eacademy.org). With this new portal GIZ strengthens as well as upgrades its unique online programme for development and makes it available to a large number of experts and executives from all over the world. In order to extend the sustainability of our online trainings we also use social networks and m-learning. Cell phones and mobile internet empower people to benefit of information, who otherwise could not access this knowledge because of their living situation. Mobile technologies have become a decisive factor for development. They assist work in the health sector and sustainable economy, they facilitate financial services and improved knowledge management. But most of all, they support learning processes.

Which developments are you expecting in the coming three years in the area of e-Learning?

Mobile learning is just taking off the ground. Especially in Africa, I expect significant advancements in didactics and technology within the next years. However, m-learning needs to be integrated in existing structures, concepts and projects. Blending different learning modalities is therefore another ongoing challenge. One path to follow in achieving success in using virtual worlds for learning is social learning approaches. In fact, the M-Learning-Portal of the E-Academy (www.gc21-eacademy.mobi) shows how mobile services can be developed by means of cooperation. Apart from supporting international network building within our community of partners and course participants the mobile learning platform targets the sustained securing of the specialist knowledge taught in our capacity building programmes and offers learning content generated mainly by users themselves. Synchronous online training is another important trend in e-learning. The number of webinars, e.g., we are organising, is steadily increasing. 

Which subjects are particularly suitable for such learning and which target groups have the highest affinity to study online?

Obviously, the e-Learning readiness of our participants has been an issue for design and delivery mode. Especially for people who live in remote areas, connectivity still is a big issue. They have limited bandwidth and limited wireless capabilities to access learning materials. However, this is changing as more people use mobile devices to access the Internet and to communicate with others. This allows us to address more and different participants. Nevertheless, our main target group are “high potentials” in developing countries.

So far, most applications and projects have shown that e-learning and m-learning is particularly useful for informal learning and that it works best when added or linked to existing systems. Therefore, the first deployment of technology-enhanced learning in capacity development programmes works out best for providing information to support the traditional curriculum, rather than replacing it.  And this applies to our learning programme. It enhances chances and opportunities of the online or blended learning scenarios and it focuses on managerial aspects thus fostering the transfer of knowledge and professional practical competences. 

What do you consider the most inspiring project in this area in Africa at the moment?

There are many inspiring projects going on. Projects related to improve financial services and knowledge management systems, projects targeting sustainable business development and environmental issues and many more. A few weeks ago, I met a colleague from Arusha in Tanzania working at the Tanzania Training Centre for Orthopaedic Technologists. Partnering with us and the University of Don Bosco, El Salvador, they were able to establish a fully accredited blended learning course in Spinal Orthotics. 

Are you studying anything online yourself and if yes, what?

In fact, I participated in the Masters programme in Open and Distance Education of the Open University/UK. This was an amazing and very encouraging experience. Last year I obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Sustainable Development Cooperation from the Technical University Kaiserslautern, which follows a more traditional distance education approach. However, switching on my mobile phone usually means learning for me, be it a research of geographical data in Wikipedia, checking on Portuguese grammar or following colleagues by twitter. It’s all about learning!

Thanks for your time, Volker!

Fortunately the United Nations published the UN International Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (E793, 1948) which has five definitions of genocide and two of them are frequently cited to judge ills in the treatment of minorities:

Article II (e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group;

Article II (b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group.

Clearly, one needs to discriminate language death from linguistic genocide. In the former case a person or group decides to just switch to another language for communication voluntarily (which deem completely okay and part of the natural life cycle of a language) while in the latter case some majority group decides to repress a minority group on the basis of their language. This is not acceptable and falls under the upper definition of genocide.

One case of linguistic genocide is the case of the Uyghurs. East Turkestan, home of many Uyghur speakers, was occupied by China in 1949. Following this Uyghur language was banned in kindergartens and primary schools. Furthermore high potential Uyghur kids were promoted to schools in the Han China to live and learn among Han Chinese. Furthermore the budget allocated to either Han Chinese schools in East Turkestan or Uyghur schools in East Turkestan has been heavily favored towards those schools teaching and Han Chinese during the past 50 years. In a next step only some years ago Uyghur teachers in East Turkestan were tested with respect to their Han Chinese language capabilities. Those considered unqualified were replaced by Han Chinese teachers not speaking any Uyghur. (Skutnabb-Kangas/ Dunbar: Indigenous Children’s Education as Linguistic Genocide and a Crime Against Humanity? A Global View, Journal of Indigenous Peoples Rights No. 1/2010). To get some further impressions of modern cases of linguistic genocide take a look at this list on Listverse.

We believe that culture crystallizes in language and protecting minorities means protecting their languages. Telling the stories of these minorities and their languages puts them back on the cultural landscape. Our contribution to fight lingustic genocide will therefore be to once in a while publish examples of languages being banned from official use or being repressed in more elaborate forms.

What could you do? While travelling closely watch minority cultures as well as languages and treat them respectfully. Follow policy-making and culture in your own country to see whether and how minority languages are getting repressed. And if you shared these stories with us to give us a better idea of linguistic genocide worldwide we will be happy to collect and spread them.

Well, basically it is two reasons. On the one hand, people keep coming back to us asking tons of questions around starting up a social business (which we always try to answer). And on the other hand, we just encounter so many exciting people and facts around this beautiful globe that it would be shame not to share these stories. Particularly, as we are now moving into more regional languages (see our first venture in that respect here if you wanted to learn Wolof) and are tremendously looking forward to the upcoming Skype conversations with potential teachers.

Naturally, we have some topics in mind that we want to dedicate this blog to: languages, cultures, social business and entrepreneurship, development cooperation, e learning and start up issues are amongst what we have in mind. To see whether we will manage to stick to this agenda stay tuned. And of course, we are always happy to receive your feedback.

Thanks to all of you who have supported our journey so far. We are looking forward to continue it with you…