Chetan Mahajan IS the president of HCL Learning Ltd (HCLL, estb. 2010), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Noida-based HCL Infosystems Ltd (estb. 1976; annual revenue: Rs.8,297 crore), the well-known IT behemoth. HCL Learning offers ICT (information and communications technology)-enabled mapped curriculums and supplementary development services for K-12 schools, as well as training and education solutions to higher education institutions and corporates countrywide. The company’s curriculums-mapped DigiSchool programme is installed in over 4,000 schools in India and abroad with an aggregate enrolment of 4 million students.

Newspeg. In early June, HCLL planted its first flag overseas by installing adapted DigiSchool programmes in 11 international schools in the Middle East and Africa, and eight in Nepal, which will impact more than 22,000 students. Prominent among the schools abroad which have installed DigiSchool are DPS, Ghana, Indian Language School, Nigeria, DPS Academy, Dubai, Indian School — Al Wadi Al Kabir, and the Euro School, Nepal. Earlier last August, HCLL launched two innovative products — My IIT Tutor and MyEduWorld-Drive — self-learning, plug and play devices pre-loaded with two and three dimensional content mapped with the syllabi of CBSE, ICSE and selective state boards for class I-X students and apps for JEE-IIT aspirants.

Direct talk. “The objective of our international initiatives driven by latest ICT innovations is to impact India’s ICT capability in education upon the world, and to provide ICT-enabled K-12 education which delivers learning with measurable outcomes. We have invested heavily in our state-of-the-art HCL Learning Development Centre (HLDC) in Mumbai which has a 130-strong technical resources team for developing learning programmes for schools affiliated with exam boards such as CBSE, ICSE and a number of state boards, and adapted for boards in Africa as well,” says Chetan Mahajan, an alumnus of Northwestern (USA), Punjab and Calcutta universities, with 20 years corporate experience in India and abroad.

Future plans. With the company’s 50-plus career development centres nationwide which were started in 2008, HCLL has expanded its portfolio to provide in-campus and offsite IT and employability skills to graduating students. “We are a 360 degree learning solutions company spanning K-12 and higher education, and are looking at South Asia as our new focus area. We also intend to extend our footprint to 6,000 classrooms worldwide during the next five years,” says Chetan Mahajan.

Wind in your sails!

Paromita Sengupta (Bangalore)