SNAPSHOT
- Hippocampus Learning Centres (HLC) aims to address the growing demand for quality education in India by providing a specialized curriculum that will better prepare children for advanced education and employment opportunities. HLC recruits, trains, and manages a network of teachers in rented village centers, and charges an affordable monthly fee for quality educational services based on international best practices.
- In a growing economy such as India there is a severe need for primary education that will prepare students for academic achievement and success in the job market, but the education system has struggled to meet the needs of low-income individuals. While pre- and primary enrolment rates are now greater than 95%, dropout rates are greater than 60% for grades 1-10.
- Those that go to school receive low-quality instruction that often focuses more on rote memorization than on real learning. The challenge is greatest in rural India; national surveys show that more than half of rural 5th standard students cannot read a 2nd standard level text and only 28% can do a basic division problem.
- HLC addresses huge gaps in the local education system by providing pre-school and after-school primary coaching programs to children aged 3-12 in rural Karnataka. HLC also generates local employment by recruiting and training local women to teach their curriculum.
- In areas where low-income families typically spend 10-20% of their income on education, HLC charges a low rate of Rs 100-250 ($2-5) per month, making their education services accessible to low-income families.
- HLC is pioneering a new model for improving learning outcomes by developing a low-cost system to deliver an supplementary education curriculum that focuses on a targeted set of learning outcomes.
- HLC’s pilot in 39 villages has enrolled 700 students and employed 50 teachers across two districts in rural Karnataka, demonstrating potential to scale the model significantly.
- With Acumen and Lok Capital’s co-investment, the company plans to expand to 100 villages with 300 teachers serving over 7,000 students in the next academic year.
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