The Connection Between The Student At The Teacher And That Point Of Contact Is Key In Present Situation: Ishan Gupta, Qin1

Please tell us more about Qin1 and how it helps students.

Qin1 is an online learning platform for students aged 4-14. We focus on holistic development, comprising skills that are critical to learning, but unfortunately are not covered by the current school environment, like communication, tech coding, logic and problem-solving skills. Our mission is to help create 360-degree successful kids, not just academically successful. This we do by creating personalized learning courses for every child, focusing on their need and their strengths and weaknesses. The fact that the curriculum itself is tailored to meet the student’s interests and needs enables a seamless learning progression. The 1x1 class format promotes organic interaction and helps in personality development. Technology, for us, is the medium and not the means for teaching. 

Mention the different programs that are offered to the students by Qin1.

Qin1 currently has two programs – CodeQ and LingoQ. Each program is available for kids aged 4-14, divided into the categories – Starter (4-6 years) - Junior (6-8 years) - Junior+ (8-10 years) - Explorer (10-12 years) - Senior (12-14 years). CodeQ, as the name suggests, is a coding-based program that teaches the kids everything from the basics of computers to the coding languages, to developing apps. LingoQ is an English language program with an emphasis on the practical usage of the language. It focuses on Spoken English and helps kids gain the confidence to use the language in their daily lives. The classes promote regular practice and through conversation, help children identify and minimise common errors that they make. 

How has your business been affected by the COVID-19 crisis?

The COVID-19 crisis is extremely unfortunate and has shaken up the entire world. It has affected Qin1 in a way that it brought us a lot more traction. With the entire world turning towards online platforms and digital learning spaces, especially at a time when children are home from schools and given extra summer vacations while schools recalibrate their modes of functioning, Qin1 has seen 10x growth during the COVID crisis since February 2020, with an increasing amount of referrals that are coming in for all age groups. 

How are you coping with this disruption?

There are a number of problems that have come into consideration because of the increased screen time for all children. A lot of our children have complained of pain in their eyes and they are more jittery and restless because of the 24x7 confinement inside their houses. This is one of the main reasons why we encourage parents to only schedule these classes twice a week so as to reduce screen time. This is especially a problem with younger children, and a lot of our teachers now use energisers that make the children do a physical warm-up before and during the classes.  

What kind of innovations has the pandemic led to?

We have modified the structure of our classes accordingly, in hopes to make these classes a safe space for children where they can find support. The connection between the student at the teacher and that point of contact is key in such a situation. Our classes are both relevant to the happenings of the world and mindful of the inability of the world to deal with the crisis and we use activities to help students express how they’re feeling through the skills they develop. Our LingoQ classes, which are dependent on self-expression, become the perfect outlets for children to productively articulate their emotions, which not only increases their understanding of the current situation but also their comfort levels with the language they are expressing in.

Tell us about your CSR initiatives.

From time to time, we conduct both Coding and English classes for underprivileged children. We also run the LingoQ Masterclasses, which are free classes to promote language fluency, open to anybody with a will to learn. Our goal is to make learning accessible for those who may not have the means for it and in this way, make them better prepared for the 21st century. All this, however, is undertaken anonymously, as we strongly believe that CSR should be treated as CSR and not as a PR gimmick. 

What are your business expansion plans?

We have three kinds of business expansions in mind as of now. Our core business expansion includes the introduction of new and specialised courses like Creative Writing, Reading, Game Design and more. We want these courses to be more than just hobbies for our students. Many of our kids who’ve crossed their one year mark with us are now getting certified at the same level as college students and winning various competitions. All this helps keep them very motivated and helps them think of these classes as career skills and not hobbies. Other aspects of our expansion plan include an introduction of new categories of classes. We are very excited to be launching courses in Video Editing and Design that are currently in their developmental stage. We have also seen a lot of traction from emerging economies like Nigeria, Ghana, Vietnam and the Philippines, so another major goal for us is to tap into these global markets and invite students from all over the world into our classes.