serra international explore enhance enrich

"We learned a lot at Edvance" - Students of the Harvard Business School

What can a pre-school teach a Harvard student? A lot, evidently!

As part of FIELD, a Global Immersion Program of this prestigious business school, a team of six young and dynamic women worked with Edvance Pre-Schools.

Along with organisations like Mahindra and Godrej, Edvance was one of the carefully chosen Indian companies to partner with this program - a true honour.

For three months prior to their visit, the Harvard team co-ordinated with the Edvance staff to develop a service beneficial to our organisation and mission. And within a span of one week, from January 8 to 14, the team had an opportunity for a more hands-on approach to their project. They visited our headquarters for a full-day, interactive briefing. "The passion you share at Edvance is infectious!" said Jyll Saskin, and the rest of her team readily nodded in agreement. The energetic group also visited our pre-schools (add names & locations), spent quality time with the staff and parents, and were left impressed by our standards.

Leslie Kurkjian and Celia Bosch Torres summed up the team's impressions:
"There is a happy, positive vibe at the schools. And the people are warm and always welcoming. No wonder we found that parents chose your pre-school for their children, the distance from their homes notwithstanding!

"It is commendable that the focus is on building the confidence of a child, not through comparison with other children but with oneself. Also, the fact that the schools do not harp on achievements but treat them as incidental proves the intent on providing high quality early childhood education is true."

This experience helped the Harvard students put together a presentation, full of invaluable information and inputs, for a well-rounded service that will soon be implemented at our schools. And while we have gained from their insights, the students have also learned a few lessons from Edvance...

Maura Graul: Earlier I would have written off the field of education as a personal career move. But after this soul-searching experience, I would definitely consider being in the position of someone like Mr Arun Arora someday.

Leslie Kurkjian: It is difficult for me to not be actively involved in every stage of a project. But at Edvance, I saw how its leaders provided the right tools to their capable teams and entrusted them to follow through.

Jyll Saskin: I will be a mother some day and will be on the lookout for a suitable pre-school for my child. Now I know what the criteria are.

Celia Bosch Torres: I was full of suggestions that would benefit the pre-schools here, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that what I thought were my bright ideas were already being implemented!

Misan Rewane: I found it wonderful that such high-quality education could be made so accessible to the people. And now I would like to apply this ideology back at my home in Nigeria.

Samantha Ernst: I came with a lot of pre-conceived notions, but am leaving with a lot of cross-cultural learning; the experience has been most rewarding.