1 . Ajay Gupta suffered from polio (小儿麻痹症) when he was six months old. However, seeing his father and grandfather run businesses aroused a deep sense of curiosity within Ajay to explore entrepreneurship.
While sending his daughter to playschool, he realized there was a gap in the quality of education provided. That’s when the idea of starting a playschool chain struck him. He launched Bachpan Play School in 2004 using his personal savings. Starting with one branch in Delhi, today the school has scaled up to 1,100 branches across India.
According to Ajay, what is unique about Bachpan’s story is the impact it has been able to create across Tier Il and Tier III cities in India. “Education institutes seem crowded in big cities, but when you move away from them, the case is different,” says Ajay. Furthermore, in the smaller cities, many schools were established around 40 years ago, and they lacked quality.
Ajay did not set out to penetrate (渗透) Tier II and Tier III cities exactly. His mission was to make preschool education more accessible and standardized. “I did not want Bachpan Play School to be a place where you send your kid for two months,” he says. “We made clear guidelines for teachers and syllabuses (教学大纲) for the kids monthly and annually.” Ajay adds that the particular curriculum, design, books, and well-thought-out strategy along with professional training are what shapes the core of Bachpan Play School chain.
As offline classes shifted to online ones during the pandemic, Ajay’s company launched Bachpan Live platform in April 2020. It also launched Bachpan Live app to offer live classes, online books, and more.
Since its launch, the platform has witnessed about 65,000 downloads. Ajay says, “The team has to consistently work towards improving the platform as parents of today have become very demanding. You cannot sell them anything. They want to see quality programs.”
1. What did Ajay realize when he sent his daughter to playschool?
| A．There was a gap between his daughter and him. |
| B．His daughter was not satisfied with her playschool. |
| C．He could make a big profit by running a playschool. |
| D．Some children couldn’t have access to quality education. |
2. What is special about Bachpan Play School?
| A．It is not very competitive in big cities. |
| B．It is specially designed for disabled children. |
| C．It is financially supported by the government. |
| D．It has improved education quality in small cities. |
3. What did Ajay do to promote preschool education?
| A．He employed experienced teachers. |
| B．He designed a two-month course for kids. |
| C．He made preschool education more formal. |
| D．He stressed the role of preschool education in society. |
4. What does Ajay expect Bachpan Live platform to do?
| A．Meet parents’ expectations. |
| B．Invite kids to attend online classes. |
| C．Replace offline classes in the future. |
| D．Share more books and classes online. |
