Most countries are successfully implementing a 4-day work week post Covid, and I remember proposing this to educators in 2022 as lockdown was being relaxed that we may need to consider a 4-day school week with the 5th day a ‘flex-block’ to pursue passion projects, or being outdoors be it sport or field trips. For older students this could be internships as students find this a huge challenge during holidays. Or this 5th day used for revision, recap, solving queries, homework?
I felt that our traditional thought process of 5 day week needed a review in wake of all that we learnt during lockdown times, and the exponential growth with generative AI meant technology warranted us to teach differently, and surely develop more problem solving skill sets than the knowledge based focus alone. We needed to evaluate what we are teaching, how we are teaching and review assessments to nurture more life ready students graduating from our schools and transitioning into university.
The thought was simple – to make learning ‘beyond the classroom,’ environment, allowing athletes, musicians, dancers or tech guys to deep dive and pursue their passions which require time and energy with the weekend to carry through, also providing downtime which is necessary in this hectic world, more experiential experiences factored in and field trips to understand real life relevance of content taught! Also the creativity that the 5th day would provide for more immersive learning through field trips and ‘application’ aimed summative assessments had me excited about scaling the relevance of what we teach. Time is what educators needed to be creative. And also help students clear their doubts, revise, course correct, practice independently which they simply outsourced to ‘tuitions.’
More importantly allow teachers more time to collaborate, brainstorm, to create and providing them with some downtime as well. They cannot be operating with efficiency and personalise learning with the dogged documentation and customisation we expect. For creativity and research, they needed time too!
I remember in a ScooNews conference in 2017 as a key note speaker, I proposed a leaner time table and not obsessing with content, proposing flipped classrooms to discuss how to solve problems fave to face while listening to podcast type recording of a concept introduction, more integration and less silos and project based learning focused on research and outcomes. Somehow, free inquiry was going to save the generation next, and I feel we missed many tricks when we normalised the world post Covid and went back to ways that highlighted our lack of empathy towards these children and their pace!
I promise you that article had the least number of likes for the idea was too radical and only ‘post worthy’ and not implementable they told me. Parents want a 6-day week they told me as they want the kids occupied ‘all the time’ to gain some
head-start as the world is too competitive and their children wont stand a chance unless they do . Teachers smiled with a recognition that managements would negotiate this as salary and basically my idea was left on paper ‘ to be discussed.’
As I work with some new age entrepreneurs looking to begin their journey in education as investors in 2026, these are thoughts they are excited about. Believe ‘quality’ will be the game changer and not quantity and they are prepared to ‘risk’ and invest in improving systems to enhance wellness, productivity and also creativity for students and teachers.
Mind you while planning and discussing, we recognise that the structure we create must support every child, and add value to their understanding and learning, and this requires more effort and precision planning, more manpower and strategic implementation plans that can be reviewed and adjusted, and subject matter integrated seamlessly to achieve learning outcomes. Not easy, and requires expertise, experience and a great deal of thought process.
And yet, what we are envisioning will have schooling in a new avatar which has more depth, meaning and joy.
Let’s bring the joy back into the mix, where childhood is dedicated to free inquiry, wellness and life skills while becoming an all-rounder!
Any takers?
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Fatema Agarkar, Founder and Chairperson , Agarkar Centre of Excellence (ACE)
Veteran of 3 educational start-ups , now Founder of the Agarkar Centre of Excellence, Fatema’s passion for teaching-learning and children defines the different roles she has crafted in 20 years – as an edupreneur, educator and mentor.
Fatema who is a State and University topper as part of the prestigious Mumbai based Sydenham College of Commerce & Economics, holds a degree of Masters in Business Administration (MBA) from Birmingham (UK), apart from her B.ED and ECCE degrees amassed when she decided education was her calling. Having kick-started her career in the corporate world and working with premier organizations like Commerzbank, Times of India and Egon Zehnder International, she always had an inner urge to bring about an enhancement in the sphere of education..
As an educationist and life-long learner, she has come a long way to intertwine modern methods of learning, teaching and customizing education as per the student’s intellectual requisites thus eradicating stress that stems from the education system. She has been sedulous in making comprehensive alterations in the education field in India. Being a risk-taker, Fatema has been focusing on the generation of innovative educational modules and her in-depth academic know-how, nothing but truly defines her ceaseless passion. Her name is synonymous with successful education models of the country and she is adjudged as Education World’s top 50 Educators in the year 2020. Adding more feathers to her hat, she has also been the recipient of several prestigious awards for her outstanding contribution to the field of education in the years 2013 and 2015.
Fatema has been awarded by Giants Group for her outstanding contribution to the field of education in 2012, the Young Achiever’s Award in the year 2017, Singapore based, Best of Asia’s, ‘Enterprising Educator in the year 2018 and as an entrepreneur ‘Best Edupreneur 2019 and Best Leadership’ by Progressive Academic Excellence India (Maharashtra 2019) and one of the 10th finest inspirational educators in 2019 by TKR, India . Her name is synonymous with successful education models of the country and she is adjudged as Education World’s top 50 Educators in the year 2020. Adding more feathers to her hat With close to 2 decades of experience in education, Fatema is the recipient of several honours including the Indian Achiever’s Award 2021. In July 2023, Fatema was also awarded the ‘Mumbai’s top Women Leader’ award by the CMO Asia National Awards’ (10th edition). Fatema is also a Jury Member for Cambridge School Recognition Awards 2025.
Having being associated with leading high school brands like DRS International, Hyderabad, NSS Hill Spring International, Mumbai, The Gera School, Goa, D Y Patil High School, Talegaon (Pune), SVM, Ratnagiri by the Gadre family, The Excellere World School, Gurgaon, JBCN International Schools, Mumbai, Fatema has now close to 40 pre-schools and high schools that she has set up from the grassroot level including a school for special needs’.
Fatema is on the Advisory Board of several Trusts including EduTech India, Wockhardft Foundation as well as a jury member, Education World Awards, a platform that recognizes the efforts of educators pan India. Fatema is also the Vice President for Early Childhood Association (ECA) and the Mumbai Territory Head for Association for Primary Education & Research (APER) in India. Fatema has been appointed as the global ambassador of the Commonwealth Entrepreneurs Club. . Fatema is on the advisory board of the All-India Gaming Federation (AIGF) and currently appointed as the National Council Member for Financial Literacy & Management by WICCI. Given her access to parents and her ability to provide age appropriate strategies to enable them to make more informed choices, Fatema’s passion remains counselling in the hope that effective parenting will enable children to benefit the most.
Fatema is also the special advisor of the Child Chapter Association (CCA), a non-governmental organisation registered as a Section 8. company under the Companies Act, 2013 whose mission is to spread awareness and eliminate child abuse, including child sexual abuse. Her role as a special advisor of CCA includes providing advice and guidance for their special outreach programs for Schools and teachers that tap into the child psyche and help them raise their voice against abuse. Fatema also played an instrumental role in the development of the CCA comic books and characters for their global campaign for child abuse awareness and prevention.
Currently, Fatema is the Advisor & Mentor to Finland International School, Race Course and on course to start her own school in 2026. As a TedX speaker, and a avid blogger, Fatema is passionate about sharing her knowledge amassed and inspiring stakeholders be it teachers, parents or students.
Her vision includes set up up of Soup Kitchens, Foster Homes and a community centre for the elderly under the Agarkar Foundation in time.
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