EuroKids preschools plans to launch 150 new franchisees in Gujarat over the next five years. The Mumbai-headquartered company currently has 67 centres in the State, of which 38 are in Ahmedabad.
Speaking at a news conference in the city, CEO KVS Seshasai said that company’s strategy is aligned to the government’s National Education Policy 2020, which envisions three years of preschool. “Parents earlier believed their kids could be taught at home before enter the school system. But it is not just a matter of learning the alphabets. 80% of brain development occurs when children are between the age of 2 and 6 and families lack the expertise required to teach them,” he says.
EuroKids is in the process of introducing a new curriculum inspired by Harvard University’s “Zero Project.” “In the Artificial Intelligence age, we need to approach children’s education in a very different way,” says head of curriculum development Anita Madan. “The new curriculum represents a significant shift from teaching children “what” to think to empowering them with the skills on “how” to think.”
Called ‘Heureka,’ the new curriculum emphasises the development of questioning skills among children and listening skills among teachers (EuroKids centres currently employ 11,600 teachers). It uses “Thinking Routines” developed by Harvard in the USA to encourage children to engage with the information presented to them and develop curiosity and critical thinking. “Our aim is to develop our students to become lifelong learners and thinkers,” says Seshasai.
Since it was established in 2001, EuroKids has revised its curriculum eight times, the last in 1918. “The new curriculum is the product of 18 months of research and pilot testing. It is based on extensive discussions with parents, franchisee partners and global experts in education,” says Seshasai.
In the booming market for preschool education, EuroKids is currently the market leader. It has 1600 centres in 400 cities, where annual fees vary from Rs 45,000 (in the larger cities) to Rs 25,000 (in small cities). In Ahmedabad, its annual fee per student is Rs 39,000. Classrooms generally have 20 students, two (female) teachers and an attendant. A EuroKids franchise requires a total initial investment of Rs 20 lakh.
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