Page 28 - EW FEB 2022

Institution Profile

Millennium National School, Pune

Promoted in 1999 by US-returned educationist the late Sudheer Phatak and his wife
Vaidehi, this CBSE-affiliated school has acquired a good reputation for providing holistic
ICT-enabled education rooted in Indian values

PAROMITA SENGUPTA

ITED ON A GREEN 25-acre
hillside campus in subur-
ban Pune — Maharashtra’s
Sfast-track industrial hub —
the low-profile Millennium National
School (MNS, estb.1999) is perhaps
the country’s first school bags-free
K-12 institution. Promoted in 1999
by US-returned educationist Sudheer
Phatak and his wife Vaidehi under the
aegis of the Pragatipath Educational
Foundation, MNS admitted its first
batch of 150 students in the millen-
nium year. Since then, this formerly
state but currently CBSE-affiliated
school, has acquired a good reputation
for providing holistic ICT-enabled
education rooted in Indian values, to
its 2,942 students mentored by 120
teachers.
“Our institutional priorities are MNS snapshot: ICT-enabled education rooted in Indian values. Inset: Anvit Phatak
to provide a safe, secure, stress-free,
school bags-free and technology-en- learning programme christened the leavers averaged 87.21 percent with
abled learning environment for chil- MyShala e learning project. “We were 32 averaging 90 percent-plus.
dren through our hybrid Millennium among the first schools in Pune to MNS’ excellent academic record
Way curriculum. The objective is to es- upload a website and among the first is enabled by steady investment in
tablish a culture of learning and empa- batch of 200 schools shortlisted to infrastructure upgradation and de-
thy within which all children develop be awarded an Atal Tinkering Lab by velopment. Academic facilities in-
essential competencies through a mix NITI Aayog to encourage a do-it your- clude 75 spacious and well-ventilated
of activities — academics, sports, mu- self and self-learning culture,” says classrooms equipped with Smart
sic, debate, language, wellness, arts Anvit. Meanwhile to equip himself for boards and portable projectors. The
and crafts among others. Our goal is his new vocation, he signed up for a school’s fully wi-fi campus also hosts
to nurture a generation of creators, in- Pune University’s bachelors followed three state-of-the-art science labora-
novators, free thinkers and competent by a Masters in education programme tories, two computer labs, and an AI
school-leavers equipped to succeed in — “a very valuable experience”. (artificial intelligence) lab, sound-
life,” says 37-year-old Anvit Phatak, The MNS management’s early in- proof dance and music rooms. A
who took charge of the school after his vestment in a robust ICT-enabled well-stocked library houses 20,245
parents were tragically killed in a car hybrid learning model has paid off books and subscribes to 22 periodi-
crash in 2011. by way of students’ performance in cals and e-journals. MNS also offers
A computer engineering graduate the CBSE class XII school-leaving students a day boarding programme
of the Vishwakarma Institute of Tech- examinations. In the pre-pandemic which includes three meals and access
nology, Pune, Anvit began his career year 2018-19, of the 45 MNS students to choice of sports and co-curricular
at the blue-chip Texas Instruments, who wrote the exam, the average score education facilities.
Bengaluru. However two years later in was 81.32 percent with eight students Somewhat surprisingly for a day
2006, he relocated to Pune to design averaging 90 percent-plus. In 2020- school, the MNS management pro-
MNS’ pioneer ICT-enabled teaching- 21, the school’s cohort of 77 school- vides excellent sports education op-

28 EDUCATIONWORLD FEBRUARY 2022