Home-schooled city teenager pursues science degree at MIT

MUMBAI: The acceptance of 17-year-old Malvika Joshi in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the leading science and technology institute in the United States,

MUMBAI: The acceptance of 17-year-old Malvika Joshi in Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the leading science and technology institute in the United States, even though she didn’t clear Class 10 examination, has put the spotlight on the little known and practised concept of homeschooling.

HT Image

The city teenager who was pulled out of her school four years ago by her parents has been home-schooled since she passed Class 7. She is now pursuing BSc at MIT.

But it was not admission into MIT but the happiness and “real learning” that Supriya Joshi, Malvika’s mother, had in mind when she persuaded her and her younger sister to drop out of school. “Whenever my daughters complained about school, I would ask them to leave school. They thought that I was threatening them but I was being serious,” Supriya said.

She has been working with a NGO that helps cancer students study outside of school. This gave her the idea of home-schooling her daughters.

For Supriya, home-schooling is all about allowing students to decide what they want to learn. While initially she tried replacing the school with a simulated home school complete with a uniform and a time table, it did not work. Within a year, she developed a more flexible approach and allowed her daughters to learn whatever they wanted.

“The school model does not match with the natural cycle of children” she said.

Soon, Malvika developed a liking for coding and started appearing for international olympiads. As a non-student, she was not qualified for the exam but the organisers made an exception for her. Malvika’s prowess with coding was noted by many in the Olympiad circuit and she received many offers from colleges and IT companies. She applied at MIT and was selected.

Supriya said proper learning does not happen in schools anymore. “In schools everything depends on marks. I wanted my daughters to learn from life.”