Name: Alka Kalra | Designation: Founder & Academic Director | Company: Eduscan Group | Place: Dubai
(August 22, 2024) When life gave Alka Kalra lemons she went right ahead and made lemonade. The Dubai-based Indian-origin sexagenarian has taken every hurdle in her stride and worked hard to turn life around even when the going got incredibly tough. Whether it was her husband’s accident and subsequent amputation, her younger daughter’s debilitating illness, or her own cancer diagnosis; Alka chose to approach it all with a positive attitude. Instead, she chose to focus on her work and is today a force to reckon with when it comes to educating and empowering those with learning disabilities in Dubai.
Born in Delhi and raised across Sagar, Kurukshetra, and Varanasi, Alka had quite the rosy childhood. Her father, who worked in the Indian Education Services, encouraged her to pursue a degree in Math (Honors) from Sagar Univiersity. “Both my brothers had moved out to do their MBBS and Engineering. So my parents wanted me to stay back at home. While I pursued Math (Honors), I was also a part of the NCC. I was chosen as the All India Best Cadet and went to Canada on a six month exchange programme,” she says. It was here that she had to choose a specialising and got the opportunity to work closely with renowned psychologist Martha Stanton. “I was drawn to the subject and would work even on the weekends, spending time at old age homes and institutions for people of disabilities. When I came back home to India, I decided to pursue my post graduation in Psychology, much to my parents’ chagrin.”
Alka Kalra
She later went on to do her PhD in Education Psychology from Pittsburgh and worked as a psychologist at Delhi University after her marriage. “By 1993, my husband, a chartered accountant, moved to Saudi Arabia for work. However, women weren’t allowed to work there back then; which is when I decided to move to Abu Dhabi as one of the first counsellors in the country,” says Alka. Given there was no competition at the time, she soon became the talk of the town and business proposals were soon pouring in. “Learning disabilities were not really understood at the time. There was once a case of a mother branding her child with a hot knife following a PTM session. That prompted me to look at the larger picture and not restrict myself to one institution.”
When she first began Eduscan in 1996, finding even the first 2 or 3 parents to enrol was a huge challenge. The lack of understanding and awareness surrounding learning disabilities was huge. Alka tried various strategies, but to no avail. Four months in, she decided to conduct a free talk in a hall that could seat 60. “It was a leadership training programme. We were packed and by the end of the talk, every single family wanted to buy the course,” she beams, “There has been no looking back ever since. We broke even in the first year.”
Around the same time, her husband, an amputee, lost his job and visa status in Saudi and joined them. To overcome this challenge, the mum of two continued working her steady job at the Abu Dhabi school as well as ran her business. “We needed one steady salary given the situation at the time. I would get my girls to school and work my day job before rushing to the centre to work there,” she says. Around this time, her father, who’s also her role model, went to helo her for three months. “I had gate crashed the MoE office to get my father a visa,” she laughs.
“It was a struggle,” she admits, “but as an NCC cadet, I get a kick out of things when life is tough. You find the resources and strength to deal with whatever challenges come your way. I don’t give up easily. I believe that you have to go through a struggle to get to where you are.”
As business flourished, Eduscan tied up with established schools such as Aspen Indian International School, Apple International School, Bright Riders, and Birds Public School. The company ties up with schools to provide therapeutic intervention to students with challenges across UAE schools, apart from organising summer camps, and prep students of determination for life and financial independence. “At one point we had centres across Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, and Al Ain. Post covid though, we’re cut down to just Dubai and Sharjah,” she says.
“Typically, we assess and identify challenges in students when noticed by schools. We suggest intervention programmes and parents can then decide to enrol their children at our centre for after-school programmes or even full-time ones where required,” she says, adding, “There’s a lot of work involved in caring for these kids and educating their families. I find it very fulfilling and hopeful when I see the students feeling understood. We have so many success stories and have students who are now famous DJs, RJs, and are even executives in the hospitality industry.”
While Alka started off as a counsellor, she now trains people to do the job and has donned a more managerial role. “However, I do like to work on very tricky and complex cases. The programme is still designed by me, but I now have a team of 42 spanning various ethnicities taking charge,” she smiles.
In the midst of all this, her younger daughter was diagnosed with Friedrich’s Ataxia, a debilitating nervous disorder. However, Alka refused to let it get her or her daughter down. Instead, they navigated the challenges and found their new normal to lead fulfilling lives. Incidentally, when Alka had gone to London a couple of years ago to help her elder daughter with her first child, she was diagnosed with Stage I cancer. The fighter that she is, she took it head on and beat the disease.
On a typical day, Alka begins her day by 5 am. “I usually read and then do some meditation or go to the gym or practise my yoga. My health has now become a huge priority since my cancer diagnosis. After my workout routine, I head to the office for a full day’s work, meeting people and organising things, before I head back home to spend time with my family. My 94-year-old mother-in-law lives with us and I like to spend time with her and my husband and daughter,” she smiles, saying her time off is dedicated to spending time with her toddler grandson and also travels to India to visit her mother and brother.
- Follow Dr Alka Kalra on LinkedIn.