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We really seem to be getting around now Teachable is growing, and last month I was in India as part of the British delegation for the Worddidac India 2009 show in New Delhi.

We now have nearly 1,000 members in India, and a couple of pilot schools. What struck me most on my visit was the vibrancy of the low-cost private schools starting up across every state. Demand from aspiring parents for a better education for their children, but no state subsidy on offer, has let to some imaginative ways of delivering good classes cheaply over long distances.

There were many providers there offering to really ‘substitute’ local teachers with video streams and computer-based learning, but we felt the longer term need is for training and inspiration for the teachers themselves. Something Teachable hopes to get into.

There was a good quote yesterday from Sir Terry Leahy, chief executive of Tesco, on efficiency in schools. He’s not running education, and has no say on how budgets are spent, but as one of the largest employers of school leavers his views should count for something.

“One thing that government could do is to simplify the structure of our education system. From my perspective there are too many agencies and bodies, often issuing reams of instructions to teachers, who then get distracted from the task at hand: teaching children.
“At Tesco we try to keep paperwork to a minimum; instructions simple; structures flat; and – above all – we trust the people on the ground. I am not saying that retail is like education, merely that my experience tells me that when it comes to the number of people you have in the back office, ‘less is more’,” he said.

Whatever you think about Tesco’s takeover of British retailing, you have to admit they know something about efficient organisation and lean management. For a company like Tesco, every unnecessary form-filler in the back office is an extra few pence on your loaf of bread. The same is true in schools; it just isn’t so obvious. Every extra pound spent by central government on ‘initiatives’ and advisors is one less pound going into teaching and teaching resources.

At Teachable we simply believe that every pound of the billions spent on schools each year should count, and that procuring teaching resources from teachers directly is by far the most efficient way spending this bit of the budget.