Great Companies: How did you get your idea or concept for the business?
TIJAY GUPTA: Back in 2004, preschools and even formal schools were not seen as necessities for a better future. Education was still considered to be a luxury by most people, much to our dismay. Also, I think that the trend of entrepreneurship may have begun in recent times, but it was never a thing unknown. There was no set curriculum, there were hardly any extra-curricular activities, there were no proper school rules and regulations, there were no training sessions for teachers, there was no upgradation in books, and there were no efforts for parental involvement in children's learning—This is all to say that there were gaps, quite a few, and concepts, entrepreneurship, and businesses always arise to fill those gaps to make national progress happen. So did we!
Great Companies: What are the various services provided by BACHPAN & AHPS GROUP OF SCHOOLS?
TIJAY GUPTA: At Bachpan and AHPS Group of Schools, we aim at providing the best-quality education to all children. Our young generations are the future of our country and if that future is not prepared well enough, our country may not transform from a developing country to a developed one! Hence, to make our students future-ready, we deliver various learning technologies such as Speak-O-Kit (at Bachpan), Robotime, Virtual Reality (VR), and Smart Classes. We provide regular training to our teachers so that they stay updated with teaching methodologies. We also come up with many different kinds of programs for our students, like Decode Startups and AHPS Mega Competitions.
Great Companies: What makes BACHPAN & AHPS GROUP OF SCHOOLS different from hundreds of other similar service providers?
TIJAY GUPTA: What makes our Bachpan and AHPS Group of Schools different from others is that the process of research and innovative development is always ongoing for us. We never stop at excellence because there is always room for something greater than that! AHPS Mega Competitions, for example, are held annually and that too on a national level. I do not think that students are given such a grand platform on such a grand scale anywhere else to emerge victorious in different competitions. But then we also came up with Decode Startups for our students and started to instill a spirit of entrepreneurship in them as well as a desire for lifelong success. We also teach Robotic Skills to our students and make STEM concepts easy for them. All in all, I believe that our ultra-modern initiatives make us stand out!
Great Companies: What are the struggles and challenges you face?
TIJAY GUPTA: When someone wants to identify the gaps and address them, there are challenges because people are generally skeptical of changes. While establishing Bachpan as a leading preschool chain, the significance of preschool education had to be emphasized. It had to be shown how preschool education makes a difference in a child's life and how preschools are more than day-care centres. We persevered, we brought about visible changes in every student through our technologies and Montessori play-way methods, and this is how we overcame the initial skepticism with our commitment to quality education. Garnering the trust of Bachpan made it quite easy for us to venture into formal education, for which we feel privileged.
Great Companies: How do you plan to grow in the future? What do 5 years down the line look like for BACHPAN & AHPS GROUP OF SCHOOLS?
TIJAY GUPTA: Change is constant, but growth might not be! I firmly adhere to this belief that if we want to grow, we have to make constant efforts for it, and growth does not come easy like change. Our deep regard for research and development and staying ahead of time is what I see as the foundation of our growth in the future. Five years down the line, we at Bachpan and AHPS Group of Schools aim to strengthen our franchise network and make it even more impactful. We aspire to introduce many more advanced programs and launch remarkable initiatives for our students. Also, we never know what we may surprise ourselves with, five years from now!
Great Companies: If you had one piece of advice to someone just starting out, what would it be?
TIJAY GUPTA: Keep going on and never give up. I understand there will be confusions, indecisions, failures, and lack of self-confidence at times, but when you keep going on despite these and do not give up on your ambitions, confusions dissolve, indecisions start to make sense, failures turn into victories, and self-confidence comes back eventually. It's your undying attitude and determination that matters more than anything.
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