https://open.spotify.com/episode/0tFPwi9kigiiIa5asozBZY?si=AN25zc_KQe6ltfHS1DbSew
Our guest for episode 08 of the experimentQ podcast is Abhijit Sinha, a young innovator and the founder of Project DEFY. He has designed many social innovations in India and Africa, including Bodacart – a $500 ambulance, a waterless urinal, an accident detection app and more.
Abhijit believes that high-quality education should be accessible to all and that each person should be capable enough to customise it, to their needs and interests. And all that is needed is to break the fear of making choices.
This episode was recorded in a nook - meaning a self-organized community learning space, hosted at Protovillage, 100 km away from Bangalore, India. We dive into the story of project Defy, take a critical stand on the schooling system and imagine the future of education in India.
I honestly wish I had more time, to stay in the village, to get a holistic experience and understanding of Abhijit's work, as lots of his ideas resonate with my vision for the future of learning, but I needed to run and catch a flight to Moldova. It is my hope the two-hour visit, summarized in this interview, will help me pass on the message.
2:50 - The little village story
5:00 - The hashtag game
6:35 - Wow learning experiences in 2017
9:00 - The drive to build learning spaces
11:30 - On trusting people with their own learning
12:45 - About Project Defy and the meaning of Nook
16:00 - The inception moment and learning to disappear
17:50 - On how communities take over