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Time machine

Kujan announced, "I don't have a computer at home."

"I have a roomful of computers," retorted Smitha, "and I play with all of them!"

"Hah!" grinned seven-year-old Kujan, as he erased the 'horrible' pink from the mask. "A roomful of computers? I don't believe you."

Kujan and Smitha were already waging a small war about the colours

Preeti (sitting), Krithika and Abhishek

that would adorn their mask. But this, for Smitha, was the last straw. She glared at him and grabbed the mouse. Colours changed rapidly on the screen until the instructor intervened and asked them to make separate masks.

Lessons were proceeding normally at Futurekids, Madras, India's first franchise location for the worldwide chain of computer learning centres for children between the ages of four and 15.

Futurekids was the brainchild of a teacher called Peter Markowitz. He sincerely believed that children needed an education system that crossed the limitations of teachers, classrooms and textbooks. He also believed that the children of today needed to be familiar with computers. Thus, Futurekids was born in 1983.

Knowledge, at Futurekids, is packaged with a dollop of fun. For example, they learn about the ocean and the relationship between

Esther (standing), Sruthi and Arjun

fish and water through a curriculum Markowitz developed using word processing, graphics, spreadsheets, etc. Which effectively combines computer skills with general knowledge.

"We learn so much here," says 11-year-old Krithika seriously. "but it's still fun. The atmosphere is informal, we are free to ask questions, we are free to enjoy ourselves. I don't mind coming here every day, even after school hours. I wish school was like this! But then, we are not supposed to enjoy school."

Eight-year-old Siddharth nodded aggressively. "When I learnt about the Wright brothers and aeroplanes, I was so excited. I actually wanted to fly. Why doesn't our school teach us computers like it is taught here? At school, they only teach us languages."

Futurekids, today, has grown from one centre in Los Angeles to 600 operational franchises, located in more than 2000 centres, in 50 countries. They appointed their first franchisee in Japan, in 1989. Markowitz wanted direct involvement from his franchise centres, so he preferred small groups to big corporate giants.

But Futurekids did not have a franchise operation in India. Until two young Madras-based businessmen, Biswajit Babu and Prem Palanivel, chanced upon a news item that sent them racing to Delhi. Futurekids had set up an office in Delhi to sell franchises. "We didn't understand much of what he said since we could only try and visualise everything with the help of brochures. But our friends in the US gave us favourable feedback and we decided to take the plunge in January, last year."

Babu and Palanivel were now the Indian franchisees for Futurekids; they already had plans to open centres in different parts of the

Biswajit Babu

country. There was only one pre-condition to be fulfilled -- the duo had undergo training at Los Angeles. "Futurekids need to know the commitment level of every franchisee before they set up an operation. After all, even one wrong choice could tarnish the image of the centre."

They were never told to do things in any particular way. "Instead, they used indirect, but highly educational, teaching methods. In those 15 days, we took on the roles of kids, teachers and parents. This gave us an all round perspective, taught us how things have to be done."

Though most franchisees run and teach at their own centres, Babu and Palanivel trained other people in the art. Esther Suhasini, one of the instructors, admits that Futurekids is a continuous learning process. "While I was teaching these children about the ocean and the atmosphere, I realised that I too was learning more about it. Besides, you also get affected by the enthusiasm of these kids."

Babu and Palanivel plan to start classes for adults at a future date. For the present, though. Futurekids have enrolled 85 kids for their one year course. This is shortest course they offer,

Siddarth (far left) and Lakshmi

considering that the children are small. "Given an option, parents tend to choose shorter duration courses. This is why we have packed quite a few items into one course."

Eleven-year-old Preeti, who has been studying computers from the first standard in school, always thought computers were boring. Until she signed on with Futurekids. "You know," she chatters excitedly, "between books and computers, I prefer computers. We just learnt a lot of things about the atmosphere and airplanes from our lessons here. While we learn about all that, we are also learning about computers. I wish we had classes every day, I love coming here."

What 8 year-old Lakshmi likes most are the games. Her father, Gopalakrishnan, who works in the sales department of Star Chemicals was the first person to admit his child here. "Today's kids need to be able to use computers. Which is why we admitted Lakshmi here. We did not think about the fees at all; this is a good investment and good exposure for our child."

Yet, with access limited to an hour a week, the course fee at Rs 10,800 does seem a little steep.

But parents who have the requisite finance do not think so. "One of Abhishek's subjects in school is computers," says his mother Aliveni. "But the children rarely ever get a chance to even touch the computer. Since Abhishek is very interested in all this, we decided to admit him here. He really loves this place. I wonder why are schools can't be like this!"

As for four-year-old Arjun, his parents did not want to dampen his obvious love for computers when they migrated from California to Madras "Fortunately," smiles his mother, Mano, "we located Futurekids. Arjun has always looked on the computer as a friend, since his father is a computer professional. He now wants it to be Monday everyday, so that he can come here. He really enjoys himself at Futurekids, that's all we want."

Photographs: Sanjay Ghosh