Solution to the problem

For many of us, maths is something we’ve run away from for as long as we can remember. A multitude of puzzling formulae, algorithms and hypotheses to be memorised for exams have taken away from the joy of this subject and seen a lot of us barely scrape through it somehow. That’s exactly what motivated Manan Khurma, an alumnus of IIT Delhi and an author on the subject, to start ‘Cuemath’, a platform that aims to make the subject fun and interesting. But there’s much more to it than just that.

“Being great at maths is increasingly becoming a must-have skill. But the way the subject is taught in schools and other avenues is quite flawed. The focus is on having students memorise facts and formulae but not understand the ‘why’ behind the ‘what’. The result is that students end up building an aversion to the subject or even hating it. This directly impacts their academic and professional success in later life,” says Manan adding, “We want to make kids great at maths from a very young age. Through a ‘why’ before ‘what’ approach to learning, ‘Cuemath’ aims to tap the kids’ natural curiosity and engage them in the subject, in the eventual hope of making them fall in love with maths and have a transformative impact on their subsequent lives.”

Manan has taught maths to several IIT-JEE aspirants. During this time, he says, he realised what an important role maths plays in shaping the future of children and how a solid foundation can only be built when children are young. “If the child learns to think from first principles, they can rationally analyse any new situation and figure out the best way to deal with it,” he feels.

The striking feature of this platform, started with a team from leading universities across the world, is that two distinct groups of people benefit from it. As Manan explains, “On one hand, many highly educated homemakers can choose to become ‘Cuemath’ teachers, thereby becoming financially independent, earning immense respect and carving their own niche in their society through a home-based occupation. We support them with training and certification and help them start their maths center. On the other hand, we have thousands of students who are falling in love with maths more and more everyday and learning to ‘think mathematically’. This is because of the unique customised learning system that caters to every child’s need. It comprises engaging workbooks, activities and interesting puzzle cards which together ensure that a child receives holistic maths learning.” 

The recently launched Cueparent app provides a one-stop solution for parents to monitor their child’s progress at ‘Cuemath’. The startup has around 2,000 centers across the country, with more than 400 of them being in Bengaluru alone. “Our student base has grown tremendously in the past three years, a strong testament to the fact that parents and children are thoroughly enjoying the programme. We plan to expand to most of the major cities of India, building a big network of home-based centers through which there is mutual benefit,” says Manan.