Finnish reality, not American dream for India's schools: Peter Vesterbacka

The Angry Birds icon says a key concern in India has been to deploy enough quality teachers; making the profession more sought out will certainly help

When he's not proposing to build an $18 billion undersea tunnel between Finland's capital Helsinki and Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, Peter Vesterbacka, who rose to fame for turning the mobile game Angry Birds into one of the most recognisable franchises on the planet, is an advocate for better education.

Vesterbacka's new project, Big Bang Legends, is an app that aims to teach kids as young as five particle physics using gamification in a way they wouldn't even know they're learning it. To do this, his firm Lightneer has roped in educators from Oxford University and even Scientists from CERN.

For India, which is grappling with issues of delivering a quality education out to millions of students in far flung regions, Vesterbacka proposes the country to adopt a more open system similar to what his home country Finland has done. However, he warns against the country adopting the ways of educating kids in the US.

"I always ask people whether they want to follow the American dream or the Finnish reality. If the Finnish way is not suitable, come up with your own (way of educating kids). There is no excuse for denying education to anyone who seeks it and we really need to ensure that such opportunities are created through every possible means," Vesterbacka says.

His passion to plug the educational methods of his homeland aren't skin deep. He explains that what Finland has done is that it has been able to transform teaching into one of the sought after professions in the country, making sure there's no dearth of talent. In India, one of the biggest concerns has been to deploy enough quality teachers, and making the profession more sought out will certainly help.

Vesterbacka explains the reason he chose education as a focus area instead of another billion-dollar game was his passion for pedagogy and says he is engaged with a number institutes across the globe, specifically in China, as an entrepreneurship mentor. Moreover, he believes education too is a huge market, especially in India, but entrepreneurs should not just depend on the government for help.

"Remember, any startup takes time to scale if you're worried about returns. It may have a harder time if it depends on government bodies. The direct to consumer approach works much better in education because the entrepreneur has more control and doesn't depend on a third organisation," he adds.

Apart from undersea tunnels and education, startups are the third big passion for the Finn, who founded an organisation called Slush that wants to organise the world's largest tech events. His most valuable tidbit of information to entrepreneurs? "If you want to build a great product you really have to get the best resources. It's not an either-or choice," says Vesterbacka.