“Each individual has got a meaning and purpose in life.” A clichéd statement it is, but a group of well-wishers has been walking the talk, touching lives of many, since 2005. Quest Alliance, a non-profit organisation, set up in 2009 and working out of Bengaluru, emphasises on leading youngsters towards self-driven learning.
Originally incubated in 2005 as a programme for the International Youth Foundation, Quest Alliance came to life from a simple thought that developmental mentoring could do a lot more for children and youngsters. “This power gets multiplied when facilitators come together as a community. We have inspired each other and all of us have seen the change we wanted to create,” says Aakash Sethi, executive director, Quest Alliance.
Equipping youngsters with 21st century skills is the team’s major vision and they work to facilitate long-term success of learners. They believe that it is possible only when one takes charge of what they want to learn and ignore the society’s benchmark of success. “We want young people to set their own benchmarks and follow their path to a meaningful life. Educators, who should be unbiased navigators, play a critical role here to enable learners to make successful transition from school to work,” Sethi said.
Battling the opinion that students are growing up only with the fear of exams, the team aims to make learning a joyful experience which increases a student’s motivation and capability to learn. A mix of life skills, career skills and literacy is essential for students to be successful in their pursuits, the team stresses.
Facilitators at Quest Alliance feel that young people should be exposed to real-world work situations as this will help them develop a growth mindset which is more valuable than degrees and certificates. “Till our society adopts this mindset, our demographic dividend is a ticking time bomb,” warns Mr Sethi.
“Instead of building a parallel system and reinventing the wheel, we train our teachers, trainers and educators with the right tools and platforms to enable life-long learning ability, which will be beneficial for both students and mentors,” Sethi says.
Almost a decade since its inception, Quest Alliance is now an alliance of over 20 corporations, 50 NGOs and six state governments, reaching out to a whopping 2,50,000 children and youth every year. Unlike other NGOs, initial funding was not a problem for the trust, but building an alliance with shared values and vision was.
Sethi says that their team has grown from three to 113 now. “We are proud of the foundation we have laid. Here, all of take ownership for what we do and why we do it,” he says.
