Comments on: Instituto Thomas Jefferson

By: Myke's Weblog

Myke's Weblog — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 13:21:29 +0000

Instituto Thomas Jefferson

Atanu Dey visited the Mexico City campus of Instituto Thomas Jefferson recently (excerpts below). He was impressed. I am impressed with what he found. From what Atanu writes and my exposure to Jefferson’s thoughts on education at the University of

By: Patrix

Patrix — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 05:13:12 +0000

The school seems wonderful and almost too-good-to-be-true. Looking forward to the pictures.

By: triya

triya — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 01:40:16 +0000

Great Job. I wish some of our Indian leaders who want to emulate the US Public school system would take a look at this with an open mind. I would say this school is a perfect example of Kirznerian entrepreneurship. No geeky models, find a missing element in society, go ahead and fill the gap and be open enough to change as requirements change. Good job Instituto Thomas Jefferson!! I can see how this interests you Atanu!! I remember when I was in high school in India an Indian couple who had experience in Africa or some place tried to start a nursery and primary school along the same lines as the Instituto Thomas Jefferson, and they were bogged down by so many local laws on many grounds including curriculum. I never found out what happened to their school and concept. It would be interesting to see if they retained what they intended to do or had to give in or give up.

By: Abhijat

Abhijat — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 07:28:36 +0000

Hmmm,

3000 students – good. What are the fees ? How much do the fees contribute to the operating costs ? How is the remaining amount, if any, generated ? What economic class of parents can send their students to the school ? What incentives are in place to encourage poor parents to send their children to school ? Does the school offer such incentives or does it rely on the state ? What constraints does the state put on a school in Mexico ? Is the model realistically replicable on a larger scale – differing geography or economic state and such varied environments so that competition is on the supply side ? How employable is the school graduate perceived to be ?

Just a few questions I don’t know how to find answers to . Hats off to ITJ folks

By: Jeanene

Jeanene — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 06:20:40 +0000

Atanu, what a lovely comment. I feel so proud that you enjoyed your visit. We also talk of you often and hope you can come back for more than two days.
Our school was chosen by Microsoft in Mexico to attend the School of the Future Summit in Philadelphia where we had a chance to present our programs and meet many wonderful people from 44 countries. We are also now working with M.I.T. to do research on creativity. It seems that the more we meet people the more we become motivated to continue working towards the future. It has been a great honor to meet you and build a special friendship. Jeanene

By: dodo

dodo — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 06:04:59 +0000

Thanks for posting ” what makes ITJ different?” I remember asking this question when you posted about your trip to Mexico.

The one thing I wonder, what should be the fee for such a school in India? Will it be within rech of general populace? But I would love to be proven wrong in this regard.

Talking about education please go thorugh this link: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/30/business/worldbusiness/30college.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
It talks about college education in India. The correspondent did not venture out of Mumbai. Coming from a rural place, I can state with conviction, things are much murkier there ( with dashings of misguided student politics and absolute no hope of any job that college degree will earn).

P.S. ( I tried your phone number many times during late october and november. Nobody picked up)