Tell us a little about yourself
Hello! I’m Shalini, and I’ve recently joined HundrED as the new Head of Impact. In my role, I support the scaling of innovations in educational systems. Over the last decade, I have worked in the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions to address gaps and challenges in public health, agribusiness, education, and finance.
Why do you want to work at HundrED?
It can sometimes feel like solutions for most problems already exist, in some form. However, so much funding continues to go towards finding new solutions and new ways of addressing challenges. What excites me about HundrED is that, as an organization, we focus on innovations that already exist and have been found to work on the ground, and help them to find ways to grow and scale.
Why should we change our schools?
In the last few decades, most countries, especially in the developing world, have focused on increased access to schooling. However, this increased access has not resulted in increased learning. Now, there is a general recognition that systems must shift in order to ensure that children have high-quality learning experiences that not only teach them to read and write but also prepare them for work and life. While the covid-19 crisis has been hugely disruptive to schools and students, it is also an opportunity for the education sector to radically transform the way learning happens in classrooms.
Why is innovation in education crucial today?
Even though there is a general consensus that educational systems need to change, in many contexts there are limited resources and institutional capacity to be able to facilitate that change. Innovation in education can help systems to break from the prevailing paradigms and adopt new ways to enhance educational outcomes. However, it is not enough to have new ideas and inventions that shatter the status quo. In order to have a meaningful impact, these innovations must also scale - i.e. serve large numbers of students, teachers, and communities.
Three HundrED innovations you love and why
I think it’s really important, in this polarized world, that children learn to respect others and their values and beliefs. I love these HundrED innovations that introduce children to other narratives and ways of being.
Connect with Shalini
- Email: shalini.subbiah@hundred.org
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shalini-subbiah-63536875/
