A graduate of Sydney Business School’s Global Executive MBA is looking to take his humanitarian mission across the world to help educate millions of underprivileged children.
Clary Castrission completed his GEMBA late last year, while simultaneously working as the co-founder and CEO of the growing social enterprise ‘40K’.
Castrission helped to found 40K after taking a trip to India with a fellow student in 2005, where the then 21-year-old Sydney arts/law student saw the painfully obvious separation between the villages of Bangalore and the technology centre less than an hour away.
From that point it became Castrission’s mission to shatter India’s restricted learning environments and provide quality education for any child who wanted something more.
In 2010, after raising around half a million in funds, Castrission and a small team helped to create the Banyan School outside of Bangalore.
The 40K program works by charging an accessible fee, usually $2 – $4 per month, for 75 minutes of English tuition after school, five days a week. The small fee covers the facilitator’s salary and accommodation without the need for charitable or government support.
Castrission was reportedly able to continue to advance 40K after winning the Technology against Poverty prize offered by the Australian government and Google and support from the Australian software company Atlassian.
There are currently 1,200 children enrolled in 40K’s English language course across 34 Indian villages.
Mere months ago, news broke that 40K, now called 40K Plus were opening a new ‘learning pod’ in the Attibele village, 20 kilometres outside India’s IT capital of Bangalore. The facility offers 40K’s typical education model, which consists of the five-day-a-week schooling with the help of small tablet computer that helps break down learning barriers and help facilitators teach the kids at a consistent level.
“This solution shifts education delivery from a teacher to a tablet. The tech delivery enables consistency and quality at scale, as well as allowing multi-ability students to learn different concepts in the same classroom, at the same time.” – 40K
Up to 50 kids will have the chance at education at this new learning pod, each paying 120 rupees, or $2.40, a month.
By 2021, 40K hopes to have spread to 15 countries while educating 1 million students. Through their education program, the aim will be to see all children prepared for the future by international learning standards.
Castrission revealed in November 2017 that plans were set to begin a new 40K initiative in Cambodia, delivering English language education in Cambodian schools.
Castrission was a recipient of the Business School’s Alumni Scholarship for Social Enterprise Excellence and the Order of Australia.
