Piggyback

Innovation is often a creative response to a problem. Disabilities have sparked numerous inventions that have benefited man-kind: the concept of smart homes, audio books, typewrites, bendy straws! Innovation, to some degree, has helped us understand that a disability is a part of human diversity, and that when we are open to creating solutions rather than fixating on limitations, we create wonders. 

In India, since Globalization was introduced to the economy in 1991, we have seen a shift: a previously agrarian economy is now moving towards being heavily dependent on the service industry, creating demand for skilled human capital. This calls for a change in the way we look at the scope and purpose of education to understand how we can fully realize the potential of human capital that the country has to offer. 

According to the Constitution of India, Education is a fundamental human right. The National Education Policy 2020 talks about inclusion and diversity. However, when it comes to the education of children who are differently abled, we see that there are numerous gaps - the absence of a central special education policy, the disconnect between public and private enterprises, the lack of use of technology. But the greatest gap is the dearth of special educators. 

According to the 2011 national census, 2.21% of India's population is specially abled in some capacity, 7.62 percent of which were children which equates to approximately 2.04 million children. In October 2021, during a Supreme Court session, a bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar said there were only 1,20,781 special educators registered with the Rehabilitation Council of India (RCI). A majority of these educators got their certifications in the early 1990s and are out of touch with current technology and shifting perspectives regarding special education.

The lack of interest in special education stems from the low regard for the value of those that are differently abled. While it is politically wrong to say so, but people with disabilities are viewed as 'less than' in most societies. The low numbers of special educators is therefore not a surprise, but a well understood outcome of that bias. 

In order to find a solution, we must look at those affected the most by the problem. Often, that is where the solution lies. In order to solve the paucity of Special Education, we teach specially abled children the complete national curriculum and advanced skills, and then pump them back into the system as peer mentors and educators. 

The tech for a venture like this already exists in abundance - EdTech platforms like Bijus, Duolingo, Coursera, Unacademy - to name a few. 'Piggyback' is a platform similar to these ventures. Piggyback enables peer learning tailored for those who are specially abled. Audio-visual aid, touch responsive hardware, are already in use, Piggyback would also incorporate sign language with the use of motion detection software. This would enable learners to learn, teach and communicate using sign language. 

Piggyback is also an on ground program that can be brought to rural and semi urban areas which do not have access to tech. This can be done by partnering with Not for profits, start ups and government bodies that are already engaged in the education sector.

Piggyback's target audience is focused and yet extremely diverse - focused in the sense that it caters to children who are specially abled and diverse in the sense that disability is a vast spectrum. 

A 2019 UNESCO report stated that 75% of children with disabilities in India never even attend school. There are currently nine national institutions in India, each dedicated to a specific disability. They offer special education to some extent, but in the absence of a concrete national policy, special education is no where close to being accessible and substantial. There is very little community awareness and involvement. As a result, the number of trained personnel who can actually impart quality education to children with disabilities is extremely low. 

There is a need for children with disabilities to be able to help themselves. Piggyback offers a two fold solution - one, it solves the scarcity problem when it comes to special educators and two, its a self feeding system where those that are benefitted as learners can then work as teachers. 

The taboo around disabilities in India is largely driven by the feeling that a disabled child is a burden. But with education at their fingertips, these children stand a chance to make a life for themselves. Their journey for independence starts with learning from peers and continues when they become teachers, equipped with the right to say "I understand where you're coming from."

In India, families are quiet close knit. My only experience with specially abled children is my cousin who I've watched struggle with mainstream education for years. I also have been in conversation with, Eno Okpo, for nearly 3 years. She is the founder and CEO of Enabled to Enable - a not for profit based in Nigeria that helps specially abled children learn life skills to attain financial independence.

My solution is in its nascent stage. I do not have a team, or access to the thoughts and opinions of people living with disabilities, other than research articles, documentaries and podcasts. 

The greatest challenge would be garnering interest in Piggyback. The gestation period is long, there is little to no precedent on the matter and I do not have a team, or investors. Solve would help with visibility and perhaps give me access to others working towards similar solutions. 

Piggyback views disabilities as an opportunity to be creative. At the moment, there are very few platforms that cater to special education. We are operating in a blue ocean. 

Diversity and Inclusion have been popular themes in education over the past few years. However, minorities are still highly underrepresented in all aspects of education. By creating a platform that caters to children with disabilities, we're setting the tone for what diversity and inclusion truly mean. 

Over the next five years, we hope to collect data to determine the current state of individuals with disabilities. A huge gap in the field is the absence of statistics that could help us recognize operational patterns and make projections. 

We aim to partner with local NGOs working with specially abled children and identify the first group of young adults that will become peer educators. 

Successful partnerships, public and private, would be a good indicator to measure progress. 

Everything belongs to the majority because of the popular belief "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few." However, when we ignore the needs of the few, we create little cracks in social systems that eventually become drivers of inequality. Upon closer inspection, we realize that sometimes even the needs of the many are ignored for the needs of the powerful, which brings us to the question - who drives progress?

The greater good is unattainable if our actions do not reflect small changes that can improve our immediate environments. There is a need to understand that no action is without consequence - everything snowballs into something greater that we could ever imagine. Take for instance the story of a 16 year old girl, Mayuri from a small village in Maharashtra. Mayuri's 13 year old brother Nikhil suffers from a disability that has left him immobile but Nikhil is an exceptional student. Due to his disability, he kept missing class and so Mayuri attached Nikhil's wheelchair to her bicycle and now takes him to school with her everyday! The prototype was picked up and presented in a science exhibition at the district level and then went on to participate in a sate level competition. 

Coming back to the question, who drives progress, I believe it is the small actions and good intentions of people that act as catalysts for change. While this might seem like a utopian, almost naïve outlook, it cannot be denied that human beings thrive in the face of necessity. For thousands of years, we as a species have gotten by, with small actions that have brought us to where we are today. 

AI is already being used for improving the quality of life of people with disabilities. For piggyback as well, AI combined with machine learning and virtual reality would be at the core of the program. 

Piggyback thrives on diversity and inclusion. There are no limitations to who can and cannot be involved in some capacity with the program. 

At the moment, there is no business model. 

Eventually ad revenue, membership and subscriptions would act as major sources of funding. In the initial stages though, there would be heavy reliance on government funding. 

No funds have been generated thus far.