Just like any organisation, we at ACE were flooded with requests for internships through Covid lockdown days for a variety of reasons. Some had been laid off and wanted to understand working in an alternative industry while they could locked up in their homes, some wanted to understand the nuances of entrepreneurship and felt working with someone who had the experience would help them get there faster, and many post Covid wanted to build a career, so they needed a start.
I remember being fresh out of grad school, hit with recession (what a time to do post graduation I thought then), wanting to do the most with my MBA. Just wanting to get out there and gather some work experience. Because that is what every soul mentioned when you asked for advice. In some cases when you didnt as well!
Reasons are varied but the truth is that unless you find a mentor, or a guide who is truly willing to give you opportunities to work with them, the road is a rocky ride, and that’s my inspiration to pen these thoughts today. My advice is that if you as an organisation have taken someone under your wings, make sure their time is not spent waiting for you to give instructions while you get busy with your work/meetings. Also, internships are concerned ‘passage-of-time’ for some young adults but if you a mentor well you can show them a journey ahead that defines their growth, most importantly you would have done the future work force a huge service!
So, here’s what I did yesterday. I called up many of my friends heading different organisations from law, chartered accountancy firms, sports management to fashion, hospitality, retail and asked them if they were happy to have contributed to the skill development of the interns they so excitedly took on and most of them said, they did not have an idea because it was delegated to the juniors, who they admitted were not trained to mentor someone else. Something they said they would take up with HR when I shared an experience of a 23 year old who was made to wait from 8 am to 8pm in a chair, without anyone to talk to and with no work all day because his reporting authority was tied up in meetings to give him work to do!
‘This happens all the time,’ is what I was told not because no one cares or intentionally wants to be difficult but simply because there isn’t a priority or an appraisal about how that mentoring worked out to create an impact on performance.
So I write this article selfishly as one of the projects I am spearheading is internships for Middle Schoolers and High Schoolers in ACE powered schools with the intention of giving them an exposure to the careers that they are working towards, so that they start to ‘pick’ subject choices based on these experiences. The intention is to get them to realise what it takes apart from the academic performance and therefore would they consider a more open ended field with more effort to include many subjects/skills and not narrow them down to early? ‘A life lesson,’ I call it.
This ‘plan’ of mine would ideally work if the organisations receiving the students would assign concrete work, mid management training was in place to ensure that there is effective mentoring, and HR to put a price on this experience for those who become mentors.
Ideal. ‘On paper’ sounds good? What’s the reality we can change then?
This blog today is a reflection point for all of us excited about the prospect of interns but ensuring that our excitement of an ‘extra hand’ turns into a meaningful experience for the interns and they are inspired to contribute to the industry and in turn add their own dimension. Not to disillusion them.
Think about this. Think about what can you do to help those who come to you for help. Take a moment to think how you started, and who helped you and who did not. And decide with that, which person you would rather be?
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Fatema Agarkar, Founder , 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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