MONASA: NOT JUST ANOTHER COACHING CENTRE

The Monasa Learning Centre is an after school programme which is quite different from the countless coaching centres. It is a new addition to Dhaka's education sector, having opened on September 1, 2013. It caters to children, from 6 to 14 years of age (Pre-K to Grade 6) -- remaining open every day except Fridays from 10 am to 6 pm. Monasa encourages most kids to come 2 or 3 days a week. 
“We don't want them to be bogged down with academics, there is so much more to do than just study,” says Mary O'Connor, CEO of Monasa.
Monasa has a flight theme for their education system called the 'Sky Miles Game'. Students are 'pilots', the different rooms are numbered 'gates', the teachers are called 'flight directors' and their lesson plans are called 'flight packets'. The centre itself is also loyal to the theme. Entering, I see a glass board behind the reception counter with names of different pilots, their arrival times, the gate they should report to and their designated flight director neatly jotted down. To my right there's a large world map taking up the entire wall made of a few layers of coloured foam. On the map are several labelled cities marked with stars and airplanes with the names of the 'pilots' written on them. This shows what stage of learning ('city') they are in, the final goal being Dhaka. There is no fixed route to Dhaka.
 They bring to my attention how they take care to use the term flight director and not flight instructor. "Because this is not a classroom with your traditional teaching mechanics at work," says Ambreen Lakhani Miraly, director and teacher. "We encourage independent study; we only guide them."

Monasa also provides a social platform for the kids to interact. They don't talk during the study periods, they're usually too immersed in their own work. But as they arrive, and while they're waiting to be picked up, they will talk and meet new people they wouldn't have met otherwise. "We know that there really isn't much to do here in Dhaka," says Mary, and that's the truth. After showing me around, Mary and Ambreen give an interview to SHOUT.
People might say that this is just a coaching centre and most wouldn't be able to tell the difference. I am one of them. So could you inform me on the differences?
Ambreen: We at Monasa aren't here to help your child complete their homework. Rather than dealing with the immediate problem and being done away with it until it resurfaces, we address the roots of it so that the problems cease to be.
How does one start off at Monasa?
Mary: When a child comes to register, we first give them a free assessment in English and Maths to indicate their strengths and weaknesses. Then, for each child, we create short and long term goals. English and Maths, we believe, are the two most vital components to one's education and we work on these subjects. We don't just teach them the basics of Maths and English, our methods also teach them how to solve problems. 
When you say 'solve problems', what exactly do you mean?
Mary: Techniques that can be used in more than just these two subjects; for example, process of elimination. When they come across a word they don't know, what we've taught will help them to accurately gauge the meaning of the word. They will look back on prefixes, suffixes, and where words originate from. Our final goal is to create independent thinkers.
So what is it that you teach them? Do you bring in textbooks from abroad?
Mary: We looked into various curricula from different countries, took the best aspects of each and merged them to create our own custom-made curriculum. We created our text books and work books ourselves. We also have a good idea of how the education system works in Bangladesh. We've talked to the principals of several schools here.
What's it like inside a classroom here?
Ambreen: Within a classroom we'll have pilots from the same age group. They'll be working on their own, almost like they're in different cities. Because they aren't doing the same things, they are in different 'cities'. When kids are good at something, we challenge them by having them tackle tougher problems. When kids have a problem with something, we go back to the basic and fill the gaps in their education, anything they might have missed or overlooked. We use different learning strategies for different kids.
 Mary: Some of them respond better to graphics. For others it helps them to rewrite the sentences by themselves. With strong foundations, progress is easier. Our children work with paper and pencil, and when the time comes for quizzes to test whether they've successfully grasped the concept we test them on our iPads.
Monasa aims to hold at least one special event per month. Representatives of the learning centre were present at the International Club's Halloween party, the Dutch Club's Silver Jubilee Bazaar and the Aga Khan School's Meena Bazaar to name a few. A 'Monasa Kids Day' was held at the Canadian Club and an Illustrated Storytime was held at the Bengal Art Lounge. On 'Kids Days' anyone is free to come in and participate in activities, provided they're kids, of course. Monasa is holding a drama workshop on December 13th at Red Shift Café (Road 23, Gulshan-2), from 3 pm to 4 pm for ages 6 to 10 and 5 pm to 6 pm for ages 11 to 14. It would cost Tk 500 to participate.

More information about the Monasa Learning Centre can be found at its website www.monasalearning.com and Facebook page www.facebook.com/MonasaLearningCentre