A class apart: This Gurugram-based pre-school wants to make learning a fun exercise

Making toddlers be genuinely interested to learn new things can prove to be a real challenge. While there are many ways to teach children in their early days, making learning more engaging and fun becomes crucial.

Pradeep Jolly was faced with mixed emotions when he had to admit his daughter to a pre-school. “I felt uneasy and was disturbed to see children reluctant to go to school. It affected me all the more when I had to admit my daughter,” he says.

While being a serial entrepreneur with multiple thriving businesses such as owning a movie theatre and partnership in various hospitals and real estate projects, Pradeep decided to embark on his new journey into the educational sector.

“I wanted to develop and deploy a method to foster learning and growth without compromising on the child’s freedom and happiness. The only way I could do was to have my own school,” he says.

With an investment of Rs 2.5 crore, 37-year-old Pradeep Jolly set up Early Learning Village in 2016 in Gurugram for children between the age of 1.5-4.5 years, where he claims every child can decide on what he/she intends to learn.

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Pradeep Jolly, Founder, Early Learning Village

“Every day the school is turned into a playground with a diverse set of games like an obstacle course, a messy play, or a sand pit. The children come in, get enticed and make a choice. The teachers join them in their activities and impart learning by structuring their play," says Pradeep.

Pradeep believes that playing is an integral part of a child's development. Unlike conventional pre-schools, where playing and teaching are separate, at Early Learning Village, teaching happens with playing and every child is a decision maker, adds Pradeep.

While acknowledging that admissions happened at a slow place at his school initially, Pradeep says that word-of-mouth appreciation worked wonders and he could break-even within the first six months.

Starting with just seven children, Early Learning Village, which follows the Montessori programme, today has more than 200 children enrolled with it. It currently has a turnover of Rs 1.6 crore and maintains a teacher-child ratio of 4:10.

Pradeep says, a feather in the cap moment for the school was when it was awarded by industry body ASSOCHAM for its best learning and teaching practices this year.

According to Pradeep, the success of any venture depends on its core team.

“We pay our teachers well and we don't compromise on the quality. In fact, investment breeds quality,” he says.

While marketing and infrastructure are equally important, the core team, which comprises of the teachers, have driven our success, adds Pradeep.

When asked about some of the challenges plaguing the pre-school sector, Pradeep says, the education sector has become very capital intensive and getting returns takes time. Also, finding the right teachers who enable you to consistently stand apart is another major challenge.

“We took months to form our team,” adds Pradeep. He says entrepreneurs must think out of the box. "Look for the problems around, you will have an idea. Do not look for ideas in isolation," says Pradeep.

“I want to start a bigger school myself. It will take some time and the idea is difficult to achieve. But it is definitely on my mind though,” he says.