‘I believe education is a two-way street

This school was established in the pre-Independence days, in 1944.

When did you join it, and in what capacity? How has your journey been?

I was a Physics teacher at Sainik School in Kapurthala for almost 10 years before I joined Bal Bharati in 2000. It has been 11 years now, and the journey so far has been wonderful.

How do you think the school has changed in the last one decade? What steps have been taken to improve the quality ofeducation being imparted?

This has been a time of major changes in the education system. The expectations of parents and students as well as the society have changed – making the schools aware about their responsibilities. I think the schools today are more aware of how they can bring about a social change. Moreover, this is also a time of the media information boom. Almost every issue today is available in the public domain for discussions and debates. Bal Bharati has also adapted to these changes. There are 49 ICT-enabled classrooms from I to VI grade. As many as 16 more such classrooms in Classes VII and VIII will be opened shortly. Such ICT-enabled classrooms for X and XI are also in the pipeline.

What is the motto of this school? And what is your philosophy about teaching?

The motto of the school is Hanso Nayatu Na Pragyam. It symbolises how the school embraces knowledge from all sources. All Bal Bharati schools are run by the 'Child Education Society'. So, it is actually the motto of the parent body. Our aim is to provide quality education at an affordable price. My philosophy in teaching has always been that learning is a two-way process. It has to be communicative and interactive at every stage – both inside and outside the classroom. A teacher must be open to all signals from her students; he/she must encourage students and build a child-centred approach. A teacher must not come to the classroom to teach what she knows, but to teach what students do not know.

How do you think this school is different from the others and how?

Ours is an old school. We strongly believe that holistic development of a child can only take place if every child is treated as an individual. That is why it is important to give a wider platform of activities to students. Right now, there are 40 teachers in my school who are specially appointed only for various activities. Facilities for dance, drama, music, arts, sports and yoga are available in our school. The strengths and potential of every student must be recognised. Self-recognition and a sense of identity instill confidence in a child and motivate him to do better.

Are all Bal Bharati schools the same? How is the inter-group relationship?

All Bal Bharati schools come under the same banner of Child Education Society, and have certain common objectives. However, education policies and operating systems of each school are very different. Thus, they are all separate entities.

How has technology changed the student-teacher relationship and teaching patterns over the years? Has it added more value to teaching?

For a good teacher, it hasn’t changed much. Students still look up to a good teacher and trust him/her. If a teacher is good, children will automatically respect him. In fact, I have observed that most good teachers have embraced ICT and added value to teaching with the help of technology. However, for a bad teacher, the relationship has dropped. Definitely, children are much more aware of technology today. And if the teacher doesn’t know more than the child, the confidence in the teacher will obviously go down.

Is there any one incident or story that has remained with you through all these years?

This happened around four years ago. I stay in Rajinder Nagar and was taking a walk in the nearby park. A few days before this incident, an anti-crackers campaign had been going in the school. Teachers and students had put up posters and organised various events to encourage students to have a cracker-free Diwali. That day in the park, I saw a boy studying in the fourth standard of our school. Standing atop a concrete bench, he was repeating to other small children what I and other teachers had said in the morning assembly about bursting crackers. This incident strengthened my belief that schools can add to social reform. We must be very careful about what we do and how we do it, because we are dealing with impressionable minds. And what goes to one child automatically goes to others.

How significant do you think are strong alumni associations for a school, given that most top-ranked schools such as Bishop Cotton and CJM have such associations?

We have a very large alumni association and I must say these are very important for any school. It is more of a community thing, I believe. As much as 40 per cent children studying in Bal Bharati School, GRHM, are children of the school alumni. That itself speaks volumes about the importance we place on alumni associations.

Do you feel that children today are overburdened with studies and school activities?

I do not think students are burdened by studies. They have to plan their time well because the number of distractions in the modern age has increased – phone, television, computers, etc. Successful students tell us that they have always remained focused on their career. Children also indulge in various gender issues, such as forming relationships at a very young age or aggression, which leads to fights. They are not overtly burdened by studies because teachers as well as the CBSE take a number of measures to devise the syllabus. The syllabus is posted well in advance at the website, and children are made aware of what they have to do. Parents are also very aware of the needs of their children these days. The only thing that may cause stress in a child, though, is when the parents expect a child to pick a particular profession of their choice.

What are your views on the Right to Education Act, which was implemented last year?

It is a very good Act, and long overdue. In fact, it should have come earlier. It is the government’s responsibility to provide education to all children. Schools have a basic problem with children coming from economically weaker sections. However, the government must take care of their expenses entirely, instead of expecting other parents to fund their education. Most private schools depend on fees for their income and if students from poor families are educated free of cost, the cost will have to be borne by parents of other students. Right now, the state is ready to pay only the amount it would have spent on each student in a government school. The expenditure per child in this school is Rs 3,000 per month, whereas in government schools, it is just Rs 1,200. So someone has to pay for the difference – either the government or other parents. Till now, we have admitted almost 200 students from economically weaker sections — about 50 each in 2009 and 2010. As many as 92 students were admitted this year. However, we are yet to receive any funds from the government. The government wants to utilise the resources of private unaided schools to teach EWS students.

What are the loopholes in our education system and how can they be worked out?

The major loophole in the education sector today is evaluation. I think most teachers are not aware of the tools of CCE, and it will take time for the system to settle in. CBSE has come up with good publications, but teachers need to be trained in a big way. B Ed colleges must introduce training for them.