Indians are known to be naturally good in Mathematics but the crammed syllabus is forcing students to approach all subjects to maximize on marks. Mumbai-based Divesh Bathija, an investment banker and an analyst didn’t want to give up. Determined to make learning Mathematics fun, he founded a company called Dinasim Learning in 2012 which now teaches the subjects using popular games in Mumbai area. It has plans to take this to all Indian cities. Excerpts from his chat with ManagementNext.

What was your inspiration in starting this venture?
Education is the foundation, upon which a knowledgeable and prosperous nation is built. Indian education focuses on teaching rather than learning, focusing on marks over a practical skill set and provides miniscule encouragement to students to pursue their creativity. The books are full of innumerable pages of obsolete, outdated theory without any EduprenuerSpeak Divesh Bathija practical work. An entirely new approach has to be adopted which focuses upon innovation and practical aspects of education.

Dinasim Learning is an initiative to shift the onus back to understanding concepts – an approach to re-approach the crucial but much misunderstood subject of Mathematics.

How do you do it?
I have always believed that the early formative phase of a child’s life is crucial, for it imparts lifelong learning. To fulfill its objective of getting students to view Math from a concept point-of-view rather than a mechanical score perspective, the firm employs exciting games and activities in its teachings such as popular sports like cricket, football, basketball, darts, or even virtual games such as Angry Birds. We are open to all school students from Grade V to Grade X along with their parents and teachers. We conduct seminars and workshops at individual, group and school levels for presenting these concepts; the team skillfully fine-tunes the young minds with eye-catching visuals to better absorb the various facets of Mathematics.

We partner with schools, and introduce different programs round the year. The schools either keep the programs optional or mandatory. Once the eager child has witnessed the learning’s in a new light, he or she is more equipped to give meaningful answers in tests as it is easier for them to calculate fractions, decimals etc. Walking away from our program, the child has an intrinsic interest in Mathematics and is less fearful about the subject.

How are you funded?
We recently received funding from an angel investor. This helped us scale up our operations and we are planning to start operations pan India very soon. With a long way to go, the team of Dinasim Learning is on its way to change mindsets toward Mathematics using fun and innovative methods. Ours is an ambitious step forward toward changing the learning ethos of urban Indians.