There are many individuals around us that are currently serving in respectable positions in their careers. However, for most of them, there is one passion or skill that they were passionate about, which had to be left or kept aside in order to build their careers. Adding to this fact, there are only a few people, who keep such passions alive and leave everything around them to pursue the only thing they love. The story that you are going to read now is of a similar personality, who loves children and is passionate about being a good educator. This dynamic personality is Fatima Agarkar, Co-Founder of KA EduAssociates.
Fatima’s career started in the corporate world after completing her MBA. During her journey, she helmed various roles – as a banker with the European Commerzbank; Times of India and a Swiss-based consultancy, Egon Zehnder. Through each of these roles, whether it was funding or researching, she somehow landed up working with professionals in the Indian education space and the rest was history! Wanting to do more, she soon realized she must amass all the necessary qualifications (hence the Bed and ECCE) if she truly wanted to make a difference and her own journey as a student with an Indian foundation who later benefited from more progressive practices at University in England, she was convinced that there was work to be done and she wanted to be a part of the change she hoped to see.
After the school education call, she was a part of the first educational start-up, where she was one of the partners. There, she managed an education management company that set up several pre-schools, national, and international schools including a school for special needs. After a fulfilling 14 years in that role, and gaining the admiration of peers, and parents and much loved by her students, she plunged into a new role as a Co-founder of another start up that caters to end to end solutions for all stake-holders in the education space. This company has in a short period of 2 and a half years, set up 9 consultancy projects – 4 national and international high schools, 5 pre-schools pan India, conducts teacher training programs Nursery to Grade 12 for teachers at their centre or in different schools pan India, student and parent workshops, curriculum design, school audits and restructuring.
On a personal level, Fatima is a sports lover, and bats for inclusive education. She has the zest for 21st-century learning and teaching and has been invited to several conferences as a keynote speaker for employing holistic education. She has shared plenty of media articles covering educational thoughts and perspectives. Further, she is also a Board of several NGOs guiding them and is the Vice President for the Early Childhood Association in India.
Additionally, she is proud that each school under her stewardship has reached its peak providing the best communication with parents. “Even today, parents consult me for the smallest to the biggest decision given the faith they have in the way we have managed their children in school”.
For her tremendous efforts towards the society, over the years, she has been bestowed with several awards and recognition including Education World’s Top 50 Young educators in 2014, Best of Asia’s “Most Inspiring Educator and Leader” in 2017, and the most recent Progressive Academic Excellence Awards – Best Edupreneur and Best Leadership in 2018. She hopes that one day she will be able to pen all of her experience in the form of a book.
About KA EduAssociates
KA EduAssociates is serving as a pre and high school consultancy for the last two and a half years. In this period, it has set up nine schools, four high schools (national and international boards), five pre-schools pan India, Curriculum design (designing curriculum for national and international schools), school audits, teacher training (training center and online presence), parenting counseling, and student workshops. Concisely, it has customized solutions for owners/promoters, which enables them to customize as per their needs.
The consultancy is all about making things easier for all stakeholders; be it teachers, parents, and students. It believes in communication & critical thinking, life skills, and realizes that knowledge needs to be applied to produce generations of thinkers and creators. The school brings experiences together in classrooms, managing schools and expertise, making it all easier for all its partners.
The consultancy applies life skills, community, action, and service as a part of every school that it associates with. Students from an early age are encouraged to think about the community and contribute towards it. From Cancer Drives to Each one Teach one to Rainwater Harvesting to Literacy, they believe these initiatives make a child stronger and more adaptable.
Producing Self-dependent Students
KA EduAssociates is of the opinion that children need to take ownership of their learning. They need to get reality checks often so that they are life-ready and are not dependent on anyone else but himself or herself to be motivated. Explaining the true role of an educator concerning overall development of students, Fatima asserts, “You have to be able to ‘hear’ them, be patient, understand developmental milestones, set realistic expectations and make sure that there have enough exposure and awareness. Their ability to express freely and emotional security will give them the natural confidence to be self-motivated”.
Guiding towards a Better Future
According to the consultancy, to spread its wings in the education sector, it has to go beyond the private space and reach out to the public schools. It has a well-planned idea to begin with and has the necessary resources, experience, and expertise that can assist children in those schools. It also hopes to have a larger Asia specific presence and eventually own their school that allows them the freedom to do what they truly believe.
