Skilling is just a hobby away, as Tinker Master shows the way

Skilling is in, and as the economy opens to a plethora of opportunities, the need to get Indians ready for the perfect job becomes integral. And why not imbibe the right learning and skills the fun way, quite early on itself?

This little thought is what inspired Rajeev Koyal and Gururprasad Athani to tinker with the idea of Tinker Master — a firm that uses interesting science-based hobbies to get school children, not only prepared for the competition ahead, but also helps them have fun as they learn.

“In the 21st century, with the kind of jobs getting created, it’s apparent that learning in applied sciences, technology, engineering and life skills is mandatory. How we accomplish this is through the simple world of hobbies,” Koyal, who is also Chief Executive Officer of Tinker Master, told DH. The company ran its first pilot in 2013, and in the last two years, has been training 4,000 children per year, across 50 schools in Bengaluru, Hubballi, Chitradurga and Davanagere.

The firm has devised a range of activities and hobbies across new-age interests namely robotics, aeromodelling, fun electronics and fun science, which are used as a separate medium of instruction, by teaching school children key concepts that they do learn as part of some of their syllabi, while at the same time, it helps them equip for technical careers later in life.

According to Tinker Master Chief Learning Officer Guruprasad Athani, “We use something called as ‘Golden Triangle Methodology’ — an approach involving concept, application and skills stages — and in every class, we complete a full triangle where concepts are explained, taught to be applied, and products built, through which skills will be imparted.”

Tinker Master’s approach is co-scholastic, which involves one class a week, as part of a school’s curriculum. Any school which ties up with the firm, can have access to its inventory and knowhow. “We set up a lab at each school called ‘Tinkershaala’, where we store all our supplies, including DIY (Do It Yourself) kits. Qualified facilitators are tasked with imparting the hobby-based skills training for the children. It’s an educational approach with a programme, leading to semester-based assessments, and a competition. We also hold a hobby fest once a year, and certify students,” Koyal said.

The programmes — open to students of classes III to IX — are mandatory for pupils of any school that has tied up with the firm. The curriculum framework is also aimed at spreading vocational applied skills. The revenues that Tinker Master earns from this exercise, is derived from a child’s annual tuition fees at school.  
       
Koyal said that interesting areas such as electric circuits, forensic science, and computer programming are part of the hobby sessions.

“We have an R&D team that is constantly designing and prototyping hobby ideas, following which, our own production team gets about developing kits and equipment for the sessions,” he added.