Spark Guru

Spark Guru is a comprehensive teaching package for schools serving lower middle class and poor communities. At a price close to the cost of recruiting an in-house Mathematics teacher, Spark Guru provides a total solution that assures dramatically improved class performance. Spark Guru is delivered in partnership with nationally known organizations such as Education Initiatives, The Network Enterprise Fund, Vidhyasthaan and Bharathi Vidyalaya.

Today's private school owners face three major problems:

1. Uneven teacher quality and high teacher turnover

2. Mushrooming of private tutorials and a misplaced emphasis on rote learning

3. Parental apathy and the absence of a supportive study environment at home.

Spark Guru offers the following value proposition to school owners:

1) Bring quality teaching back into the classroom by creating an environment of accountability and discipline

2) Solve teacher quality and attrition problems by availing of qualified and trained teachers at affordable prices

3) Develop confident students who possess sound fundamentals and achieve superior results

4) Assure parents that they no longer need to waste money on expensive private tutorials

The Spark Guru program offers personalized teaching and rigorous testing to provide an insight into the strengths and weaknesses of each student. This is backed by a central strategy team and seasoned experts. This comprehensive package will include board specific curriculum, worksheets, tests and exam preparation materials.

Through a rigorous screening process, we will select Spark Guru Tutors with a firm grasp of concepts, good teaching skills and a personality conducive to motivating students towards maximizing their potential. We will guarantee on-time replacement in case of teacher absence or turnover. To align our goals with that of the teachers, teacher remuneration is linked on students' learning and performance. Teachers are contractually bound to not take private tuitions. To address issues of teacher quality and retention, we offer unparalleled flexibility and support their career progression.

Spark Guru will begin with a prototype offering for Class 8-10 Mathematics. Over a period of 5 years, we hope to extend this program to 13,000 teachers and positively impact the education and development of 3.7 million children.

• The Spark Guru concept is novel and complex. We plan to use advertising to explain the services to our customers.
  • We will partner with premier thought leaders in the field such as Education Initiatives, The Network Enterprise Fund, Vidhyasthaan and Bharathi Vidyalaya who have developed adequate and requisite expertise. This will help us identify the best teachers.
  • As of now, there are no instances of competing products. However, it may not be very difficult for big and established players like NIIT, IMS etc. to come up with competing and clone products. At that stage, we hope to leverage our partnerships and brand name to counter the challenge.

Spark Guru is the first effort of this scale addressing the issue of quality in education for schools serving middle class and poor communities. Led by a professional and highly qualified team of management and advisors, Spark Guru uses private sector techniques to effect powerful, sustainable and far-reaching social change.

The founding team brings to the table over 50 years of experience in world-class organizations like McKinsey, Microsoft, Deloitte and the World Bank. The team has graduate degrees in Economics, Business, Accounting and Engineering from premier institutions like MIT, Yale and IIT. Funded by the Network Enterprises Fund, Spark's advisors hold positions of eminence in organizations like Harvard University, MIT, the Boston Pledge and ICICI Bank.

This is our first entrepreneurial venture. While we do not bring formal experience in the education sector, we have invested over 24 person months as a team in gaining an informed perspective on missing markets in the sector. We have met every conceivable stakeholder in the education sector including school owners, principals, teachers, children, parents, government officials, educationists, policy makers and private agencies.

We have established partnerships with nationally known organizations such as Education Initiatives, The Network Enterprise Fund, Vidhyasthaan and Bharathi Vidyalaya.

Over 5 years, Spark will provide stable and rewarding employment to 13,000 teachers. They will have an incentive to perform at their jobs. Unparalleled flexibility and assistance in career progression can help bring into the sector prospective teachers who are qualified but might not have got a suitable opportunity in a traditional environment.

Over 3.7 million children can enjoy the fruits of quality and affordable education. They benefit from a disciplined, conducive environment where they are motivated to excel.

Spark Guru will deliver to school owners and the government on the promise of performance. There is a greater incentive for edupreneurs to set up quality schools. Parents can expect and get greater value for their investment.

Most importantly, the development impact of Spark Guru moves beyond its immediate stakeholders. Education is a potent catalyst for growth and development. A new paradigm of value, merit and excellence can vastly improve the results of other development initiatives.