Ahead of Teacher's Day, LEAD turns the spotlight on the challenges faced by school owners in these testing times

• LEAD pays a rich tribute to School Owners for their Herculean effort over the lockdown
• The campaign is conceptualised by TBWA India.

LEAD's latest digital film Out of Syllabus celebrates the unsung efforts of 'Future Line Workers' - school owners who acted as a mentor to teachers and an educator to students. On the occasion of Teacher's Day, it turns the spotlight on the challenges faced by school owners in these testing times as they continue to empower teachers, reassure parents and find innovative ways to help students adjust to their new learning environment.

School owners often miss out on the reverence reserved for teachers. This film underlines the valiant work of school owners who placed the academic future of our children above everything, ensuring uninterrupted learning as far as possible.

They have put the issues of others above their own - parents questioning school fees, teachers worried about their next salaries, students dealing with the glitches of online education. And managed to hold the entire ecosystem together to ensure uninterrupted online learning for millions of children, despite the changed circumstances caused due to the pandemic.

They helped teachers resolve transitioning issues and managed the financial challenges of running a school. All this in the face of life's toughest exam where everything was out of syllabus, school owners have shouldered the burden of their new responsibilities with a smile and emerged as real heroes worthy of applause.

LEAD's film thanks these Future Line Workers for all that they have done and in doing so disrupts the communication category just as it has disrupted ed tech.

The film gives us a peek into the emotional journey of someone fighting an uphill battle during the lockdown of 18 months. The film also addresses the issue of over 15 lakh schools all over India shutting down due to the pandemic, affecting the academic future of millions of students.


Commenting on bringing alive a disruptive initiative, Govind Pandey, CEO of TBWA\India said, “During the pandemic, we have had so many unexpected and unsung heroes who went out of their way to help others. Passionate school owners who understand that education is important and that every child deserves a good one are also such heroes. They did what they could despite all the odds because they know that education makes a huge difference to the kids futures and we couldn’t let the pandemic impact that. We call these school owners Future-Line Workers.”

Talking about the initiative, Managing Partner of TBWA\India - Parixit Bhattacharya said, “School Owners are the wind behind the sails of the academic infrastructure of our country. And they needed to be celebrated. This is an effort to tip our proverbial hats to their massive efforts in ensuring the education of our children is never compromised. Out Of Syllabus plays into a never before cultural moment of our country when schools cautiously consider opening their gates to welcome back students after a hiatus of more than 18 months. Who better to bring home this message of hope other than LEAD - the organisation that is providing propulsive learning to thousands of children all over the country no matter which strata they belong to.”

Chief Marketing Officer of LEAD, Anupam Gurani said, “We partner with 2,000+ schools across India and we have seen first-hand the commitment of these school owners in educating their students during the pandemic. Our new campaign, Out of Syllabus, is a salute to the indomitable spirit of all these future line warriors who have managed to create a seamless online learning environment by acting as an educator to students & a mentor to teachers.”