The last two years have been a bit boring for kids as they have been stuck at home completing school assignments and not meeting friends or taking part in any extracurricular activities. More than boredom, this could lead to a lack of development in their skills, like their cognitive ability, reasoning power, communication and so on. To mitigate this, Anushree Goenka, Kaustubh Khade and Namita Goel came together and started an EdTech platform called Spark Studio. Spark Studio provides classes for children where they can learn and involve themselves in extracurricular activities like music, storytelling and the like. 

Anushree says, "While Namita and Kaustubh have worked in education and academics before, I come from a totally different sector. However, I've always wanted to work in the field of education and make an impact on children. Namita used to be the director of curriculum development at LEAD School, while Kaustubh has worked with BYJU's earlier. I, on the other hand, have worked with Swiggy. Last September, the three of us came together to bring our idea for this EdTech platform to life. We understood that there is a lack of curriculum or quality learning in terms of extracurricular activities for children. Hence, we worked in developing quality content for children. That's how Spark Studio came into existence in October 2020."

When we say extracurricular, there are many activities that go on this list. So, what are those activities that children get to explore on Spark Studio? Anushree, who is an alumna of Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, says, "There are three different categories on our website - music, communication and visual arts. These categories vary according to the age group. When it comes to music, they can learn guitar and Western vocals. Communication involves the art of storytelling, public speaking and dramatic storytelling. Under Visual Art, kids can photography, how to make their own animated films and the fundamentals and techniques of painting."

The duration for these courses also vary but from what we can gauge, it is for two to three months. But Anushree says that a lot of kids have taken more than two courses since they found the first one to be interesting. "What matters to us the most is giving kids a good experience when they take up these courses so that they keep coming back to us. We make the classes fun, interactive and a special attention is given to each child. These experiences have brought about significant changes among parents too because they now know how extracurricular activities are impacting their kids. Many kids across India, the United Kingdom, South-East Asia and the Middle East have taken up various courses on Spark Studio. At least 50 per cent of these students are taking up second and third courses now," she concludes.