Aditya Patil is founder-CEO of the newly-promoted Ascend International School, Mumbai (AIS, estb.2011). AIS, which is receiving good notices from Mumbai’s cognoscenti, offers the primary years programme (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO), Geneva to 100 K-VI students mentored by 31 teachers. Promoted by the Kasegaon Education Society (KES), which runs 39 education institutions with an aggregate enrolment of 26,000 students in rural Maharashtra, AIS is modeled after the University Child Development School, a highly-reputed elementary based in Seattle, USA.

Newspeg. In August, AIS admitted its first batch of six grade VI students into its middle years programme (MYP).

History. The Kasegaon Education Society was founded in 1945 by Shri Rajarambapu Patil (Aditya’s grandfather) who also laid the foundations of the Sangli-based Rajarambapu group of companies with interests in manufacturing (edible oil, sugar, textiles) and the service sector (restaurants). With KES’ schools, colleges, and vocational training institutes highly reputed in rural Maharashtra, Aditya has imported the group’s 60 years’ experience of innovative education to Mumbai by promoting AIS.

“Having been educated in India, I am deeply aware of the limitations of the traditional teacher-centric education model and its rote memorisation and one-size-fits-all pedagogies. The objective of AIS is to offer an innovative curriculum and pedagogy based on contemporary research which accommodates the varied learning capabilities of children. Each student is enabled to understand concepts through education delivery best suited to her. Through individualised education, we produce real learning and develop confident, creative, reflective, and analytical thinkers,” says Patil, an alumnus of Mumbai University and the Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies, who worked with JP Morgan and in the family hospitality business prior to committing himself full-time to developing AIS.

Direct talk. “We have overturned the traditional education model by placing students — rather than teachers — at the centre of learning. Our primary school children learn through play, projects and interaction with teachers and peers. In particular, we greatly encourage peer-to-peer learning in AIS and have replaced homework with ‘home learning and thinking’ which is child-friendly and engaging,” says Patil.

Future plans. AIS has applied to IBO for accreditation to offer the MYP and IB diploma programmes, and will add a grade each year. “Our enrolments have doubled each year and we hope to reach our full capacity of 520 students soon. More important, we want AIS to become a model of contemporary research-based education and share best practices with other schools. We have already held several workshops where we have shared our peer teaching and individualised education models with primary school teachers,” says Patil.

Fair winds!

Dipta Joshi (Mumbai)