“Education is the key to unlocking the world. It is the passport to freedom.”
– Oprah Winfrey
From BC till the 21st century, human civilisation has evolved in lifestyle, thinking, and working and has seen dramatic advancements. Many bright minds have contributed in various ways and in various fields towards advancements that have shaped what the present looks like, and many will determine how the future will shape.
Development is a disciplined practice that leads to innovation and exploration, which draws the growth arc of a community. With education, people learn about new advancements and implement them to live a better and more comfortable life.
Today, every element of our life has been touched by the development of technology, from banking to interpersonal communication. In fact, technology is now essential to sustaining society, and integration of education and technology is inevitable.
It provides online access to countless resources to students and aids in learning methodologies. And many universities and educational institutions have started adopting technology in their pedagogies. The K12 schools are now also leveraging technology, creating a significant impact on the learning arc of children’s budding years.
The upcoming generation of children is highly advanced and is familiar with the use of technology, so to meet the learning demand of the children, the schools must provide modern-age technological education, which helps them to enhance their skills during their growing stage.
To provide such advanced education, many K-12 institutions are stepping forward to provide more advanced pedagogies. Kalorex Group is one of the leading groups that emphasises academic excellence in K-12 education.
The USP of the Group is using advanced technologies, including blended and flipped class strategies in the synchronous and asynchronous mode of learning, which leads to a paradigm shift towards student-centric methods and also enhances and upgrades the skills of facilitators.
While looking up ‘The Institutes Riding the Tides of the Online Education Revolution in India’, we came across the Kalorex Group’s MD and CEO, Dr Manjula Pooja Shroff, and, in an interaction with her for The Knowledge Review, she shared the incredible journey of the Kalorex Group and also envisioned its future.
A Glimpse of the Inception Story
Kalorex was established in 1995, and it set up its first institute, Delhi Public School in Bopal Ahmedabad, in 1996, under the aegis of the DPS Society. Today it is one of its flagship institutes.
The Kalorex Group has developed dramatically over the years, bringing more than 40 institutions, 13,000 students, and 1300 staff members under its umbrella.
A Dynamic Edupreneur
Over the 27 years since the Kalorex Group was founded, Dr Manjula Pooja Shroff, a vibrant edupreneur, has established a strong reputation in the education sector. So far, the Group has three Delhi Public Schools and Calorx Public Schools in Mundra, Ahmedabad, and Bharuch that provide the CBSE curriculum.
These schools are all administered under the capable leadership of Dr Shroff. The State Board criteria for students are met by Saurabh English School (9–12) and DPS East in Ahmedabad. She fulfils her social obligations for disadvantaged and specially-abled kids through initiatives like the Visamo Kids Foundation and Kalorex Prerna.
In response to the requirements of women, the Vocational and Educational Institute – Calorx (VEDIC) was established to offer skill-based programs to women in order to help them achieve financial independence and stability.
Dr Shroff holds a Doctorate in Business Administration from Commonwealth University, London, and a post-graduate degree from York University. She is an executive alumnus of the London School of Economics. She also holds a post-graduate degree from Utkal University and is a Graduate of the Management Education Programme IIM, Ahmedabad.
Apart from her primary portfolio as MD & CEO of the Kalorex Group, Dr Manjula Shroff also holds other portfolios as an Independent Director at Gujarat Gas Company Ltd., Eimco Elecon (India) Limited. She is also the Co-Chair of the FICCI Alliance for ReImagining School Education (FICCI ARISE).
Over the two decades, many awards have been conferred on Dr Shroff for her exemplary contributions to the Education and Educational Leadership field. Among some recent awards, she was named the ‘Woman Entrepreneur of the Year’ by Indian Education Awards 2017, New Delhi.
Also, she received an ‘Edupreneur Award’ at the 8th World Education Awards, Bahrain, the ‘Person of the Year’ at the World’s Greatest Brands and Leaders Awards 2016-17, Dubai, the ‘Inspirational Woman of the Year’ at the Golden Star Awards 2018. She was also declared ‘Global Asian of the Year’ by Asia’s Greatest Brands and Leaders in Singapore and voted ‘India’s most Trusted CEO Trendsetter of the Year’ by Ideafest in 2018.
A Statement of Objectives
Dr Shroff shares the Group’s all-encompassing vision statement as being “Shaping Glocal Learners with a commitment to provide a safe and stimulating environment, to prepare competent, compassionate and creative thinkers in this rapidly changing world.”
Sketching down the Group’s mission, she asserts, “Our Mission is to achieve excellence in K12 education through a sound vision, innovation and professionalism in our endeavours.”
She further shares the core values of the Group and mentions, “Kalorex’s Core Values exemplify the organisation as being Kinetic, always striving towards Academic Excellence, continuously Lives in the gaps, high on Ownership, questions Raison D’etre, it Empowers its staff and also demonstrates the X factor.”
Modern-age Technology-based Pedagogies
The major USP of Kalorex is the proper utilisation of the technology. In contrast, teachers get demonstrations and training for emerging classroom technologies, encompassing the knowledge, attitudes, and skills of digital age work and learning.
The teachers implement curriculum methods and strategies that use technology to enhance student learning by using Blended and Flipped class strategies in synchronous and asynchronous modes. These are the new-age global classroom methods being implemented in schools keeping in mind the huge variety of online resources available.
Technological innovations influence how students learn, and the Group is doing its bit to keep abreast with the advancing demands of students learning, evaluations and assessments.
Moreover, teachers apply technology to facilitate various assessment and evaluation strategies using the ERPs to communicate with students and parents. The mobile apps enable the parents to know the learning outcomes and receive daily assignments and notes whenever required, or if a student misses their classes, they get updates on the portal.
While stating further about the technological pedagogy, Dr Shroff asserts, “The time has come when we are seeing a paradigm shift towards a free open national knowledge base. Tech-based pedagogies will no longer be out of reach for every student.”
“Our teacher’s training programmes which include tech-based pedagogies to help teachers cope with the fastmoving pace and demands of students learning were of tremendous value in this pandemic. Online medium of teaching is now being offered daily through our school curriculum instead of being offered as an extra learning resource earlier. A lot of data-driven technology for continuous assessments for classroom teaching, incorporating blended learning, simulations through technology in class and collaborating with the best companies for these solutions is now happening in school.” further she said.
The Plethora of Ideas to Overcome the Challenges!
When we ask Dr Shroff about the challenges which the Group came across since the beginning, she states, “There were all kinds of challenges that kept us stronger and more determined in our beliefs. The challenges of establishing a new venture in a new city and getting acceptance in the rigid government systems all added to our experiences. They kept building up our resilience as a group. But difficult times don’t last, and things smooth out eventually. Small bumps and hurdles obstruct the journey, but it is important not to lose focus of the final objective.”
Stating detailed information about the challenges, she postulates, “Today, over 27 years of the Group’s establishment, with a competent team, all hurdles are crossed with professionalism and expertise. Principals of all the schools are empowered decision-makers. The team works, and brainstorming sessions usually throw up a plethora of ideas that may be applied to overcome challenges.”
Unique Pedagogies
The digital learning platform eKal Academy is the latest offering of Kalorex to students. It was conceptualised during lockdown when students found it challenging to acquire extra assistance for their Board exams. Today, this platform provides live and self-paced modules for all types of courses for students in all age groups. This includes hobby classes, skill-building programmes, webinars, and expert sessions geared toward job counselling and coaching.
Holding the Future Endeavours
After sharing all the details about the Group, Dr Shroff shares her vision and states, “We have been ahead of our times in adapting to online education. Even before the pandemic started, our students and teachers were regularly learning and teaching through various online platforms, so there was seamless switchover during the lockdown.”
“Even today, when schools are open, many aspects have remained online where the online connections are working well, and exchange programmes between schools are taking place on a national and international level. So, we may say that classroom teachers and students will always be important. Still, many online activities may bring the global classrooms together to make teaching-learning more effective,” she concluded.
