Divya Lal
Managing director, Fliplearn Education Pvt. Ltd

A psychology graduate of Delhi University, Divya Lal acquired two decades of valuable work experience in blue-chip edtech companies including NIIT, Educomp Solutions and Ebix Smartclass prior to her appointment as managing director of Fliplearn Education Pvt. Ltd in 2019. This Delhi-based company provides online learning solutions to 1,500 schools and 3.5 lakh students.

How has Fliplearn responded to the Covid-19 challenge?

On March 24 when the government ordered closure of all education institutions, the schooling system in India was disrupted overnight. Since then, edtech companies have stepped forward with innovative solutions to ensure learning continuity. Fliplearn provides 68 schools with 79,683 students in 25 cities countrywide with virtual learning programmes integrating high quality content, assessment and feedback, live online classes and dashboards to track student performance.

What challenges do you foresee in delivering quality online education to all children in India?

The major challenges to delivering quality online education are suboptimal Internet bandwidth, lack of access to digital devices and untrained teachers. In Fliplearn, we are actively addressing these problems. The Fliplearn app optimises low bandwidth and is device agnostic. Simultaneously, we are intensively training teachers to use our platform while supporting parents through detailed manuals, videos and a dedicated call centre.

Several state governments have issued fee waiver/deferment circulars to private school managements. What’s your comment?

State governments are doing the best they can to ease the economic pain of parents hit by the lockdown. However, this will adversely impact the ability of schools to pay teacher salaries. I urge parents who can afford to pay, to understand that schools and teachers are working tirelessly to ensure learning continuity for children, and pay fees on time.

Top 3 proposals for reforming K-12 education in India…

We need a multi-pronged strategy to manage the Covid-19 crisis and build a resilient Indian education system. Three areas which need immediate focus of the Central and state governments are: make digital devices available at discounted/reduced price for students and educators; declare Internet access an essential service and rapidly make bandwidth available in rural areas; implement a ‘phygital’ education model to enable anytime anywhere learning.

What are your future plans for Fliplearn?

We are committed to providing affordable and personalised online learning solutions to schools and students across the country.