Campus Management System provides the availability of a common platform for management, faculties, students and staff to communicate, connect and share. This obviously reduces the infrastructure gap in the organisation. Bhawna Satsangi of Elets News Network (ENN) talks to industry experts to know the benefits of CMS

Acollaborative platform of different sub-platforms, comprising of a systematic process of getting things done securely and instantly is what is described as the Campus Management System (CMS) for most of the institutes and colleges across.

A modern educational infrastructure is the need of the hour. The colleges, institutes and students continue to grow in numbers and to fulfill the needs and requirements of the students, colleges and institutes, it is essential to streamline the workflow to get maximum benefit out of the job. It is a tedious job of managing a college and different complications associated with daily management of large students’ data and their daily needs at different levels.

To help easy management of an institution’s function, it is utmost necessary to deploy campus management system either through ERP technology or CRM, which are beneficial for the colleges. Most of the modules help in managing the teaching and non-teaching staff, students but there is more to it. The new age modules also helps in handling the registrations, admissions, cafeteria, library, time table preparation, fee collection, examination schedule, lesson planning, question paper, preparation, payroll, student inquiries, progress report, leaves of staff, holidays and much more.

“Campus Management System (CMS) is beneficial in multiple ways. Hundreds of students take admission each year and it is a tiresome job to gather all the data and use it on daily basis for different transactions and processes. Here comes the CMS for rescue as it provides a common data platform for the automation of administrative and academic tasks. Integration between different departments like account, academics, hotel and mess offer a smooth functioning in the campus,” feels Dr Reema Khurana , Professor-in-Charge, ERP Implementation at IMT, Ghaziabad.

“The education sector is witnessing a huge change in the way prospective students are getting to know about them (digital marketing), engaging with them (social media), and converting into paying students (multiple influence points). Many of these students are in their teens or early 20s and hence are some of the earliest adopters of new technology. The dynamic nature of this demographic forces a lot of education companies to rethink how they are reaching out and talking to these students,” says Shreekala Kurup , COO, Crack Verbal.

Students and Faculty Management

In the education sector, ERP has seen some sporadic attempts. The challenges of higher education institutions have changed over the years. Needless to say, as the size of the institution grows, they just need a campus management product as a factor to streamline the workflow. “Students, parents and admin staff is equally important for the implementation of CMS fruitfully. I believe that anything which does not have a metric can’t be managed. In our center we do a timely assessment of the student. A proper assessment is done which a student can also review. For e.g. a paper based online test can be reviewed by student. The teacher can access the time student devote to per question. The teacher gets an assessment which helps him in analysing the progress of the student which in turn helps in improving his scores. Different students have different need so CMS helps in evolving the different needs of different students,” shares Abhishek Anand , Founder and Director, Eptitude.

This system is a suite of non-cognitive motivational assessments and predictive modeling that gauges students’ likelihood of persisting. Campuses use these data to identify at-risk students and student receptivity to institutional support. Using the data, their advising programmes, academic support services, mentoring programmes, and career services programmes target students who indicate both a need and a desire for assistance .

This type of technology can also help in assessing the faculty. All the faculty members connect with the students through the Campus Management System facility. So with the use of this technology, faculties can get the clear identification of learning objectives and communicating to the students even before the session star ts. If a foreign faculty is coming for a lecture session, they may plan their schedule and get in touch with the academics in ad vance. Apart from helping in teacher training, the CMS offers systematic and smooth evaluation techniques.

“IMT is rapidly adapting the concept of paperless and digitisation system but it will take time to come to a full-fledged concept. Currently, the sharing of document is being done through intranet facility and almost all of the documentation work is completed in the form of soft copy. The proposed Campus Management System at IMT, Ghaziabad will also be used extensively for sharing of documents. The document management systems help in versioning of documents, ensuring utmost security and centralised repository of documents. At IMT, Ghaziabad we follow a scanning policy for all-important documents of students, promoting long time preservation of data and space,” informs Khurana.

Teacher-parent interaction is also one of the important aspects that CMS caters to. Through the software the parent and teacher can analyze and keep track of the child’s perfor mance even at times when they are away. There are modules in the market with which teachers can directly interact with parents sending them SMS or email notification on their kid’s performance.

Students, parents and admin staff is equally important for the implementation of CMS fruitfully. I believe that anything which does not have a metric can’t be managed. In our center we do a timely assessment of the student. A proper assessment is done which a student can also review.

“A login user name and password will be given to the parents through which they can access the academic process of their wards and can directly interact with the administration and faculty members.IMT ensures regular feedback from parent through active participation on regular intervals,” says Khurana.

Security Utmost Important

Security of students plays a vital role in the infrastructural structure of an institute. Creating a safe and secure environment requires the involvement. Higher education institutions are legally required to mitigate the impact of threats to campus safety and security through effective all hazard emergency preparedness.

Parents should have the knowledge of the security apps that are available. They should review the app which will give a good idea about safety of the app. To have a knowledge of a good secure device is also important. Once the device is secure , it becomes easy to talk to a child about cyber safety. The virtual world is a window outside the world so that kind of education is necessary. Colleges have a secure infrastructure. Colleges need not use public wi-fi, it should be secured Wi-Fi, secure VPN is the best solutions, blockers and jammers have to be placed properly,” says Anindita Mishra, Online Child Safety Evangelist, Cybermum India, Intel Security.

Security is the most important element of Campus Management System, as it is the core of web based cloud systems. The security vulnerability depends on how secure the software is architecture wise. The security challenges in cloud system is high but in private cloud the security issue is relatively low as it is protected by a strong firewall on a private server.

“IMT has its own private cloud server and wider access is given to everyone, which is protected with multilevel password security mechanism. Also, we propose to conduct audit with the support of third party to do security check on regular intervals. Additionally, IMT intends to have a centralised monitoring of servers of all the campuses, based on security policy document,” says Khurana .

“I think campus needs to consider that there are insecurity policies to ensure to provide up-to-date security protection. Security policy should be in place which is very important. There are number of security devices that Intel offers to number of education providers,” informs Melanie Duca, APAC Consumer Marketing Director, Intel Security .

CMS addresses all issues. The ability of an educational institution to implement processes is hindered by the absence of single system. So, there is a need for a solution that is purpose-built to fit the unique requirements of the education industry.

With an aim to revitalise Higher Education, the 3rd digitalLEARNING Higher Education Knowledge Exchange will showcase dissemination of views on how to evolve the segment and its future prospects within the country

Deliberating at Higher Education Knowledge Exchange 2015, Goa

The entire spectrum of India’s Higher Education is going through an unprecedented metamorphosis. At one end India’s ascendance on the global forefront is calling for an amplified leadership in the academic arena as well while on the other catering to an increasingly aspirational domestic population empowering & enabling them to take on meaningful vocations to be able to steer through the economy & society, the demands and expectations from the Higher Education Fraternity are deep & diverse.

This somewhere calls for a serious discourse in strategy beyond the normative ones grappling into mere statistics. By its very purpose, such a deliberation needs to be led & steered through by the members of the fifth estate itself for effective outcomes.

The annual Knowledge Exchange, organized by Elets Technomedia carried duly by its education publication digitalLEARNING is an earnest attempt to this effect whereby eduLEADERS and eduPRENEURS from various denominations congregate and exchange their knowledge in a free flowing environment for over 2 days in a residential setting. Given the participants and the topics being discussed, there is a substantial interest in these Knowledge Exchanges. It’s fast emerging to be the Jackson Hole of India’s Fifth Estate. To help foster the open discussion that has been so critical to the symposium’s success, attendance at the event is limited and is only by invitation.

The third edition of this much sought after Knowledge Exchange is being convened between 18th and 20th of December in the pristine settings of Goa with a focus on Mainstreaming Higher Education as an active constituent of National Discourse Economic, Developmental, Technological etal.

This year’s Knowledge Exchange would felicitate some of the enchanting eduLEADERS & enriching eduPRENEURS who have made a difference by their relentless commitment to the cause of Higher Education and using it as an instrument of subtle but substantial transformation in the form of The Fifth Estate Awards.

Invitations are being across to the select lot of eduLEADERS & eduPRENEURS across the entire spectrum of Central, State, Deemed and Private Universities.

In case our editorial team has missed you out and you are keen to receive one, please drop in an email to digitallearning@eletsonline.com .

Believing that the parental involvement in the education of a child is supreme and impacts the outcome of school education, Abhiraj Malhotra , Founder and CEO SchoolPad informs Elets News Network (ENN) about SchoolPad, an online platform that bridges the gap between parent-teacher communications which helps in setting the productivity of a child

Give us the brief of the various reasons behind starting the venture.

We at SchoolPad strongly believe that parental involvement is one of the most important elements or rather what greatly impacts the outcome of school education. As part of my previous company and out of curiosity I went to a couple of schools to understand the existing set of productivity tools they were using. It was surprising that none of these tools worked towards making parent-teacher communication more effective which was a big gap and at the same time some thing that we really wanted to solve. Going into a little more detail we found that these tools w ere too bulky and complex which instead of making things simpler for teachers, started to become an overhead and eventually lead to minimal or no usage. Also talking to teachers revealed that most of the times when teachers or staff members got stuck and looked for help on using these tools better, it was rarely provided in time.

So all these factors gave us enough reasons to come together and start SchoolPad.

What is the market size of the services offered by you in India at present?

Our software platform caters to private K-12 schools across India. As per the EY- FICCI report on the education sector in India, we have over 3 Lakh 30 thousand plus private schools in our country growing at a CAGR of 4 per cent. So that’s roughly the estimated market size of the services offered by us at this point.

What are the major benefits for organisations adopting your solutions?

Schools that have signed up with us see significant improvement in terms of teacher productivity and at the same time communication with parents because with least effort teachers are able to keep parents more informed and involved using SchoolPad’s online platform. We have created many happy moments for schools and parents with the experience that we provide and schools love us for the same.

What is the vision of your company for the next two years?

When it comes to creating happy parents through better parent-teacher communication, we want to be the most trusted and accepted tool across K-12 schools in our country. That would certainly take a lot more years but two years down the line we would like to see ourselves closer to it by widening our reach into more cities. That doesn’t mean just selling it to these schools but actually helping them find value and thus helping progress better.

How you can differentiate your services from competitors?

The way we have supported and engaged our customers and users specifically school teachers after selling our product is what has clearly differentiated us from our competitors. That’s where we spend a lot of our time and focus and that has paid off. Other than that we clearly underdo most of our competition in terms of the number of features. How that helps is that it makes our product much easier to implement and at the same time to use by teachers who find value quickly and hence use it more often. It also helps us focus more and build an overall experience because of which our existing customers love us and enjoy working with it.

What are the various initiatives taken by your organisation to emerge as a market leader?

I really believe in the power of focus and to do something really well you have to be extremely focussed and persistent. So, instead of doing too many things we focus on doing just one thing that we are doing right no w and try do it really well. Secondly, we want to consistently deliver great customer support. We have time and again invested money, time and effort on rethinking the ways we communicate and share information with our customers so that our customers can use the product to its optimum and generate real value out of it.

Emphasising on the enquiry and development of critical thinking, social skills through collaborations, Ratna D Reddy , Founder Director, CHIREC informs that the school has been abreast with the latest trends in education and incorporated the strategies and methodologies

What was the rationale behind venturing into the pre-school segment?

It was always my desire to open a pre- school since the time I did my Masters in Early Childhood Education from University of Iowa. During my assistantship in teach ing in the US, I was struck with the stark difference between teaching in the US and India. There was hands on experiential learning, holistic way of learning and student centric education in the US. This was the gap that I saw in Indian education system and when I returned to India, I decided to put m y learning to practice and set up a pre-school. Before start of the academic year, I set up a summer camp which offered total personality development of children, targeting the physical, social and creative development. It was an instant hit and the novel concept started by me 27 years ago was the start of the New Age schooling prevalent in Hyderabad presently.

How does an established pre-school presence help in the growth of the K-12 segment?

CHIREC has been established on The Whole Child Philosophy by Feeney, Stephanie, Christen Doris and Eva Moravick. Parents who decide to admit their children do so because they like the idea. In our school, the approach is towards collaborative and problem solving based learning. This is totally in alignment with the development of 21st Century Skills of 4 Cs Collaboration, Creativity, Communication and Critical thinking.

W e, at CHIREC, incorporate these skills from our pre-primary classes and a common thread and vision is built up. Naturally the students who have been with us since the pre-primary are more adept and set in CHIREC practices rather than students who have come from different learning environments.

How do you perceive the pre- school market in the country?

The specific objective of pre-primary education is to provide all necessary care and education to young children for their development through physical, cognitive, linguistic, social and emotional growth. Pre-school is the time to develop the skills to prepare the students for formal education in class I. Students are provided opportunities to develop gross and fine motor skills, creativity, and social skills in a fun filled ambience which is conducive to learning. Hence, a strong pre-school programme is the solid foundation on which a good education is laid and it is essential for a good schooling.

What are the growth opportunities that you foresee in this segment in the future?

The pre-school segment seems to be most flourishing at this juncture. However, quality pre-schools which understand the science behind the learning process and the correlation with developmental stages, may be limited. The need is felt more in the major cities, but with more and more both parents working in the 2 and 3 tier cities, the need of good quality pre-schools with trained staff is the need of the hour.

What role does quality pre-school education play in shaping the minds of the students?

Early childhood development programme and curriculum should contain all opportunities for development of physical, cognitive, language, emotional and social domains with necessary learning activities. There should also be flexibility in the way these are applied allowing for individual differences to be accommodated.

What are the lacunas, as per you, in the pre-school segment in the country? How can they be rectified?

Pre-school segment faces challenges of non-availability of trained teachers, high real estate cost and vague government rules and regulations, lack of regulatory mechanism for this segment. Design of a proper curriculum is necessary to ensure smooth transition to formal schooling with meaningful and progressive learning experiences. Lack of awareness on pre-school education is a major challenge. All these will need concerted effort and proper regulation to be set right. Setting of proper training centres for specialist pre-school teachers is a must.

Anurag Vij , Director, The Chintels, says that the early years of learning helps in making a bond of proximity not only between the child and the school but also makes a strong association between the school and the guardians

What was the rationale behind venturing into the pre-school segment?

‘Life affords no greater responsibility, no greater privilege than the raising of next generation’.

One of the most beautiful sight I have been seeing every morning from past 25 years now is when the child enters the school gate with a big smile, wish good morning and many of them hug me tight. The child who joins the Chintels school is no more only the parent’s ward he is our child. My love for children and the smile that these little wonders bring to my face is what pushed me towards opening my own venture in the year 1988 after serving as a principal in a pre-school. With belief in God and trust in my abilities I ventured into this segment and now The Chintels School is counted as one of the finest schools.

How does an established pre-school help in the growth of the child in K-12 segment?

‘I am a little star, shining bright. Growing bigger every night When I finish pre-school, I will shout I am a STAR; So you just watch out.’

This I read recently and thought this is what my each child becomes when he graduates to the primary section a star. And we try our level best that the gleam of this star continues to shine not only during his school but throughout his life. Each child w ho comes through the Chintels pre- school door joins a community of children, families and teachers engaged in the joy, work and wonder of childhood. If a child enrolls in pre-school the bond of proximity is knit right from the early years not only with the child but also a strong association is built between the school and the guardians and vice-versa. This results in better grooming of the child in all spheres.

How do you perceive the pre-school market in the country?

‘Anything you do with full heart and full belief is sure to become a success’Every individual understands the importance of education, and lately have also realised that a strong foundation is very important for a successful tomorrow.

Pre-school where the building blocks are laid have immense opportunities in the education market. Though, competition has increased for the same but so has the demand of good pre-schools where a child enjoys coming and exploring the fun opportunities of learning varied things.

What are the growth opportunities that you foresee in this segment in the future?

‘There are no great limits to growth because there are no limits of human intelligence, imagination, and wonder.’ Growth in the pre-school segment is mo ving at a rapid pace. Opportunities in this field in terms of growth are immense. Our school at present has nearly 650 children. The way of expansion what we are now looking forward to is through franchise. Likewise, many pre-schools running across the country started with a single school and now ha ve franchise throughout the country. Parents look forward not only for a name but also in this competitive era they look for quality where the child learns in a play way.

What role does quality pre-school education play in shaping the minds of the students?

Pre-school acts as a potter to the argil. Researches have shown that how early childhood learning is embodied in the child’s mind can change its architecture. Early lessons definitely leave lasting impressions and visionaries do begin at the a ge of two. 80 per cent of a child’s brain develops during the age of 2-5 years. These pre-school years give a foundation to the future learning. In some countries of the world in pre-school it is judged that where or which field a child is most interested in and then the child is trained in that specific field as well. Lessons of life- like sharing and caring are taught at a very early age so that the child when grows up continues to share his things. Right from holding the grip of a pencil to scribbling with a crayon, drawing the first standing and the sleeping line to the first fancy dress competition, listening to fairy tales and mythological tale, every little bit is embibed in a child’s brain which keeps on developing and as we know that the tallest building has strongest foundation.

What are the lacunas, as per you, in the pre-school segment in the country? How can they be rectified?

‘No matter how perfect a thing looks, if you look deep it will have a mark’. As the scope of pre-school education is gaining importance lot of pre- schools are opening up without a proper knowledge. Pre-schooling is quite beyond ABCs and 123s. Sometimes children are restricted to just the four walls of classrooms and the journey of rote learning begins right from childhood, which is quite a sad stage. Children are not made to explore rather it is like what pre-school education should not be ‘filling up of pail’.

There should be a team of board which can provide certain guidelines on how to teach children in a playful manner. The head of the institute should take care that the child is not under pressure of any kind. Pre-schooling should be all about learning while having fun.

Background of the Group

JGI Group is an education provider and an entrepreneurship incubator in India. The Group successfully operates 85 educational institutions with 51,600 students and 6,450 employees engaged at the K-12, undergraduate and postgraduate levels spread across 64 campuses pan India. A leader in the education sector and a pioneer in the venture sector, JGI Group is constantly in search of new opportunities to expand its horizon.

Genesis of the Company

Creating educational opportunities and promoting entrepreneurial ventures. Jain Toddler’s has been granted international affiliation based on the standards of its environment, curriculum, learning resources and faculty. The school’s team comprises a group of experienced and passionate early childhood practitioners with extensive training by international instructors in all areas of child development.

Our Mission

To provide quality education from cradle to career thereby creating human assets.

To fuel economic growth by developing new generation entrepreneurs.

To create a globally networked community of leaders, technocrats, scientists and sportsmen.

Jain Toddler’s has been granted international affiliation based on the standards of its environment, curriculum, learning resources and faculty. The school’s team comprises a group of experienced and passionate early childhood practitioners with extensive training by international instructors in all areas of child development.

USP

Creating educational opportunities and promoting entrepreneurial ventures. Our child centric curriculum ‘PEARL’ (Play, Engage, Activity, Reflect, Learn) helps us to focus on personal care, parent’s involvement, besides traditions and values. We believe in holistic development with nutritious food and structured sports.

ABOUT US

Founded as an educational institute in the early 1990s, JGI Group revamped the prevalent methods of education and focused on innovation and entrepreneurship. It created ripples in the educational sector and enabled JGI Group to establish itself as one of the leaders in the education sector. Jain University, Jain Colleges, Jain Heritage Schools, Jain International Residential School, Jain International Schools, Jain Public Schools, and Jain Toddlers stand testimony to the vision and commitment of JGI Group towards educational excellence. Education combined with entrepreneurship is the stated aim of JGI Group. The organisation encompasses an enthusiastic team of business and financial experts who help in the development and growth of nascent enterprises. Several start- up enterprises have established their businesses through JGI’s entrepreneurial vision. More than 100 entrepreneurs and 50 ventures from various domains like IT, Financial Services, Home Decor, Hospitality, Music, Education, and Engineering were incubated by JGI’s entrepreneurial wings so far. Moving forward, the JGI Group will continue to innovate, evolve, and challenge the dynamic realms of education and entrepreneurship. Educational and Professional background of Managing Director: Ph.D (Education) & IIM, L Alumnus

Expansion Plan

50 locations by 2016

Area and Investment required by the Investor

2500 sft, 10-12 Lakhs

Deliverables for the Franchise Owner

• Academic Support (Academic Audits, Regular Orientation & training of teacher)
• Oper ations Support (Property Search, Entire School set up, Transfer Know-How)
• Financial Suppor t (Planning your investment, Budgeting,etc)
• Mark eting Support (Marketing Know-How, Event planning,etc

Educational and Professional background of Managing Director/ Founder/Chairman:

Certified on Master of Computer Application by Anna University, Chennai. Suganthi Arulmurugan co- founded Aerokids in 2012. She has hands on experience in running and operating a pre-school and setting up processes for Aerokids. Prior to founding Aerokids. She has worked for multiple years with leading corporate like Infosys at leadership position.

Background of the Group

Aerokids Pre-school is a venture of Aerokids Education Private Limited. Aero Kids was incorporated under the Indian companies act, 1956, the latest educational initiative from CHRDT (Centre for Human Resource Development Trust), one of the leading non-profit educational organisations in Tamil Nadu who also made substantial contribution to the cause of the under privileged children in the state specifically in the domain of education. The group has been present in India since 1999, through its welfare activities.

Genesis of the Company Aerokids is a chain of pre-schools, incorporated in the month of August 2012. It is a Karur’s based organisation, hence we established franchisees initially in Karur and gradually expanded all over South. Today we have 40+ franchisees pan India.

At Aerokids we aim to provide a creative environment, which is both stimulating and challenging. Children learn best through doing and we give ample opportunities to explore experiment and discover with hands-on equipment and materials in an adult directed setting.

• August 2012, Foundation And Start of company owned pre-school at Karur
• January 2013, Started the Franchising of Pre-schools
• October 2013, 9 fr anchisee pre-schools across India
• April 2014, 24 franchisee pre-schools across India
• January 2015, 29 franchisee pre-schools across India
• October 2015, 40 franchisee pre-schools across India

USP

• No Royalty
• Low Investment franchise
• Complete exposure to our training methodology and curriculum
• Running successfully across 40+ centres
• Creative team
• Attractive themes & brand mascot to help children learn with fun
• Attractive child-friendly environment

NEW EDUCATION VERTICALS

Present Presence & Expansion Programme AeroKids is a popular pre-school especially in Southern part of India and already 40 + branches are running successfully in Bangalore, Chennai, Madurai, Sattur, Salem, Karur, Vellore, Coimbatore, Erode, Tumkur, Pune, Navi Mumbai, Jammu, Varanasi, Bhopal, Baikunthpur, Belgaum, Chinthamani, Patna, Dindigul and Sivagangai.

We run on no royalty model and after initial investment which is itself very low and no royalty is paid at any time. Entire market is open for Aerokids franchise and the scope of expansion is too high and one can even get a State Master franchise of Aerokids play school with minimum cost without any royalty.

Aerokids play school franchise provides different packages of investment depending on the support system you require.

Area and Investment required by the Investor

The total investment for starting AeroKids pre-school is about 3.5 to to 5.5 lakhs INR. The premise size for Aerokids franchise should be a minimum of 1000 sq ft. An area of 1000 to 3000 square feet is preferred. The area must be on the ground floor in a residential building. Existing nursery school sites will do. However, since it is a pre-school where children will come to have their future minds and bodies built, a pollution-free location with an open playground is going to be ideal. The environment should be calm with proper ventilation and attached wash room.

Deliverables for the Franchise Owner

Aero kids Pre-school Investment Includes:

• Franchise fee for 3 years
• Initial training for the franchisee
• Curriculum and syllabi
• Franchise kit l Furniture for the children
• Cost for decorating the school
• Outdoor play equipment
• Educational toys
• Cushion vinyl flooring
• Cost of advertising and printing stationeries
• Wall art painting or Printed foam board
• Office use material
• Operating Manual
• Please note that the investment does not include tax

Background of the Group

The Little Elly Play school was established in the year 2004, when Global Learning System Private Limited, who are into the field of publishing Children’s Books for over 25 years and marketing the world’s Best Educational Aids, ventured into the preschool business in India and partnered with Salmiya playschool, developing a learning programme that was suitable to Indian learning needs. August 2005, saw the collaboration with Glen Tree UK for providing technical and curriculum inputs and support.

To have a larger presence in the pre-school space, and to provide a greater thrust in reaching out to the community, the founders formed a new company M/s Learning Edge India Private Limited, to take over the preschool business from M/s Global Learning System Private Limited.

Genesis of the Company

Little Elly is a pioneering initiative of Learning Edge India Pvt Ltd who, in association with Glen Tree, UK (frontrunners in serving kid’s education needs since the last decade) follow the system of teaching kids in a relaxed, playful setup, where children learn without actually being aware of the teaching process.

From a single Preschool set-up in BTM Layout in 2008, the Little Elly Group of Institutions which comprise Franchisees and Training Centres, are spread all over the country, providing individualised and well researched learning methods to aid in the overall development of a child.

At Little Elly, our strong belief lies in the fact that the childhood is meant to be enjoyed and cherished. At the same time, incredible growth and learning takes place during this period, a crucial fact backed by numerous studies and well established by considerable research. Since the fir st five years of a child are the most formative and the vital mental and cognitive growth happens during this period, children have the capacity to imbibe and flourish a t an incredible pace. This well-rounded development is essential to every child, even though their uniqueness means that each of them have their own pace to learn important skills.

At Little Elly, our constant endeavour is to make your child’s initial formative years memorable, by acting as a support system that will shoulder the responsibility with parents in making their wards develop a genuine love for learning.

Educational and Professional Background of Managing Director/Founder/Chairman

Vittal Bhandary has 25 years of rich experience with single-minded focus, in leading an accomplished team of professionals, in developing an organisation whose prime focus is early childhood care and successful diversification of the business, and into the areas of children’s publications, learning aids, pedagogy support, early schooling, day-care and corporate affiliate programs.

USP of the Group

Little Elly provides a nurturing and stimulating environment responsive to the changing needs of children, parents, faculty, staff and the neighbourhood. The school’s Early Learning programme provides something unique for each age group, with a multitude of activities and experiences encouraging children’s natural curiosity and sense of learning. In Little Elly, we instill and encourage passion in teachers because building relationships with the children and teachers has allowed us to continuously improve ourselves and influence a positive change in the school culture.

Preschool Franchise Little Elly Year of Inception 2004 Name of Managing Director/ Founder/Chairman Vittal Bhandary Email: vb@littleelly.com Phone: +91-9900083813

Head Office Learning Edge India Pvt Ltd No 2, Honeydew Mansion, Above Pizza Hut Near BDA Complex HSR Layout, Sector VII Bangalore, Karnataka – 560102, India No. of Franchisees: 120 Contact Details for Franchise Enquiry Phone: +91 9900064613 Email: franchise@littleelly.com

Little Elly Approach

Little Elly is built around a strong belief that childhood of our little ones is precious, and is meant to be enjoyed and cherished. Our approach is:

• Ensuring that the child cultivates a lifelong love of learning
• Building a sense of confidence and strong life-skills
• Encouraging and supporting social and communication skills
• Developing a lasting love of reading and writing
• Focused, thematic activities and learning for developing key academic skills
• Using creativity and play to develop social skills and build self-esteem
• Developing strong reading and writing for seamless transition to higher academic roles

Little Elly Curriculum

Key areas covered under Little Elly curriculum:

• Learning by play and exploration
• Building communication and social skills
• Encouraging positive peer interaction
• Theme based learning
• Equipped with mathematical concepts
• Equipped with language skills
• Fine and gross motor coordination skills
• Cognitive development promotion
• Structured thematic learning and knowledge based activities
• Learning with art, music and play
• Building complex communication and social skills
• Encouraging positive peer interaction
• Under standing of mathematical concepts
• Grasping complex language skills
• Enhanced fine and Gross motor coordination skills

Teaching and Learning

Preschool curriculum framework is designed for continuous school guidance and support. To engage the young learners, teachers should be committed to their own learning and know how to go about it. Presently, teaching-learning methods have transformed immensely in pre-schools with innovative teaching strategies and technology enhanced learning.

Little Elly programme provides something special for each age group with multitude of activities and experiences, encouraging children’s natural curiosity and sense of learning. In choosing a learning experience for a child, knowing what’s age-appropriate, our teachers are sensitive to every child’s needs. They observe and understand each child’s ability to grasp skills and facilitate the learning process accordingly.

At Little Elly, we provide career opportunities to people who are ready to impart knowledge and educate the new generation through our Initial Teachers Training (ITT) Programme.

The eligibility criteria for our teachers is the commitment to and excellence in their work and involvement in the children’s overall welfare. They should be able to contribute to the fundamental building blocks and build parent comm unication and their personal growth as well.

New Education Verticals

Present Presence & Expansion Programme Today, Little Elly is present in 6 states with 120+ centres, 6500 students, well-qualified faculty and excellent facilities craft – ed around the needs and skill sets of these children, giving them a stimulating environment that combines learning and play. We are aiming 30 more centres for this year.

Required area: 2500 sq. feet

Total Investment: 8 -10 lakhs

Deliverables for the Franchise Owner

Little Elly’s dedication in helping our franchisee is second to none.

As a Little Elly owner, you will have a rewarding and challenging career where you’ll see the results of your caring and creative efforts every day.

In the beginning, they will work with a team who will lend their expertise in areas such as real estate, marketing, education, operations, and accounting.

Franchise Support

• Assistance in survey, study and site selection
• Assistance in interior s and layout
• Assistance in suppl y of teaching aids, toys and equipment
• Assistance in recruiting and training staff
• Extensive franchise, curriculum and teacher training
• Parents Orientation Programme (POP)
• Structured curriculum and ongoing support
• Marketing support
• Ongoing operational support
• Research and development

Background of the Group

In April 2011 Maple Bear in India entered into a joint venture with Modi Edutech. The promoters of Modi Edutech and Maple Bear form part of a leading Modi Group in India with Alok Modi as the Chairman of Maple Bear in India and the region. The group, which shares the vision of its founder Rai Bahadur Gujarmal Modi, has always believed that education is significant and integral to India’s development. In the 80 years of its existence, the Modi group has promoted several educational institutions including playschools, schools from Kindergarten to standard XII, post secondary and vocational education centres.

Genesis of the Company

Maple Bear was born in 2004 with its first few pre-schools starting its operations in 2005.The Maple Bear Education System was developed by Maple Bear Global Schools Ltd, Canada with the purpose of bringing Canadian early learning programmes to children around the world. The programmes were designed by Canadian experts, and are being regularly upgraded to ensure that the Maple Bear Education System reflects the very best in early childhood education.

Educational and Professional Background of Managing Director

Hazel Siromoni has a rich educational background. She has earned a degree in Clinical Psychology and over 20 years of experience in education sector. She has also got a rich experience of 17 years in Canadian education space. She was the head of The Canadian Education Centre in India, which was set up with the support of the Government of Canada. Currently, Siromoni is the Managing Director of Maple Bear India, a Canadian early childhood education and elementary programme to showcase Canadian Education strengths.

In February 2014, she has received the Governor General of Canada Gold Medallion for the contribution towards promotion of Canadian Education in India.

USP

• Child-focussed system in order to bring Canadian early childhood, elementary, and high school education to students around the world
• Global Brand Positioning
• International Curriculum
• 24*7 Dedicated Support Team
• Easy Interschool transfer Globally
• Referral Programmes for Existing Franchisees

NEW EDUCATION VERTICALS

Present Presence & Expansion Programme Currently with 73 franchisees in pre-school and elementary space covering more than 25 cities. We expect to grow to 100 plus in 2016 and to more than 300+ within next 3-4 years.

Area: 3000 – 4000 square feet (carpet area)

Investment: 15-20 Lakhs Deliverables for the Franchise owner

Advantages

• Globally Recognised
• Inter nationally Acclaimed and Designed Curriculum
• Efficient Aid and Support by Team
• Smooth Global Inter school Transfers
• Referrals about Existing Franchisees
• Multi-Dimensional Support Mechanism

Setting up a Branch

• Site visits
• Ad vice regarding the selection of site
• Aid b y vendors
• Elaborate Training

Recruitment Advantages

• The Headmistress, counselors teachers etc. will be recruited with special assistance
• Complete and trans parent HR policies are guaranteed for hassle- free operations

• Training, academic or otherwise, will be provided at the beginning.
• Observation and coaching on site will be carried out; online aid may be provided on demand
• Access to the imperative workshop carried out by a Canadian professional, will be given, which will be held locally on an annual basis
• Advice will be provided on operational procedures and updated policies
• Support will be provided throughout the year by resident director and designated team
• Parents’ workshops will be held

Branding And Marketing: The Basics

• The right to use the brand in compliance with the regulations of the corporate identity guide
• Online campaigns and e-Marketing
• Guidelines for marketing and brand collateral already in place
• Social Media a wareness and marketing through monthly E-newsletter ‘Bear Talk’
• Designs for leaflets, pamphlets, poster s, invites etc. available
• Aid in media and print management and merchandising ideas
• Aid in event planning (annual functions etc)

IT Support

• Free designs for websites, updating, mapping and related functions
• Free creation and maintenance of email account
• Free maintenance of social media accounts and portals

Round-The-Clock Support

• Frequent visits to branch.
• Efficient team to ad dress all queries
• Frequent audio and video conferencing

Academic Support

• Access to syllabus designed by Canadian professionals
• Access to centralised curriculum followed by all Maple Bear Schools around the globe
• Intricate and detailed academic calendar USP
• Child-focussed system in order to bring Canadian early childhood, elementary, and high school education to students around the world
• Global Brand Positioning
• International Curriculum
• 24*7 Dedicated Support Team
• Easy Interschool transfer Globally
• Referral Programmes for Existing Franchisees

Targeting the early childhood education sector, Dharmesh Kapasi , President, Shanti Juniors started this pre-school with a vision to nurture holistic development of a child. With the concerted efforts to provide qualified team of teachers, Shanti Juniors has expanded to 200 pre-schools pan India in just five years of its running

What was the rationale behind venturing into the pre-school segment?

Shanti Juniors pre-school is an initiative started by Chiripal Group, (a Gujarat based ` 4000 crore conglomerate) started with a clear objective of working towards the welfare of the society. Targeting the early childhood education sector, they believed that this is being the most unorganised segment of education with minimal guidance from the central or state government and also absence of quality education at the founding years of a child. We felt, there is a correction needed there.

The whole idea and objective of starting Shanti Juniors was to contribute towards nurturing holistic development of a child along with the celebration of childhood in the pre-primary sector of education. Our journey had started in the year 2010 gradually by setting up a team of highly qualified development and research team. This team launched six pre-schools together in Ahmedabad. Today, it has franchised more than 200 successful pre-schools across India.

How do you perceive the pre-school market in the country?

Pre-school market in India had tremendous growth in recent past and the future also seems productive. India being the second largest populated country in the world and with the highest number of youngsters makes it one of the potential markets for pre-school.

Rise in disposable income, increasing working couples, working mothers, nuclear families, escalating demand for high quality pre-school education for toddlers are other several reasons which are raising the demand for pre-schools.

What are the growth opportunities that you foresee in this segment in the future?

There are huge opportunities in the pre- school segment but there are challenges, which need to be carefully analysed and counter measures needs to be planned. Pre-school being the most lucrative segment of the Indian education market, there are lot of young entrepreneurs who want to invest in this segment.

Hence, franchising became a wonderful concept of expanding the idea in a planned and structured manner which is resulting in pre-school franchising. It’s catching up fast as a business model. We have a vision to become one of the largest pre-schools of India and based on the same we have set our YOY targets.

What role does quality pre-school education play in shaping the minds of the students?

As these are the most important and founding years of a child’s education tenure, quality pre-school plays a very important role . It is even proven scientifically that 75 per cent of child’s brain develops till the age of five, therefore, pre-schools play a very important role in shaping the minds and future of India. The early three years, parents will be the main influence in a child’s learning experiences. What they do and expose their child to will have a vast impact on his/ her developmental journey.

What is the lacuna, as per you, in the pre-school segment in the country? How can it be rectified?

The industry in India falls divided between the organised and unorganised sector. Recruitment of under qualified and in experienced academicians is the challenge. There is a challenge of safety of children, because of non-regulation or absence of governing body in this segment.

As there is no guidance from the government in terms of curriculum or academics for the early childhood education, the local pre-schools take the advantage of the system as they do not have the strength or capacity to invest on the research and development of the early childhood programmes.