Page 85 - Education World November 2022

primaries in 16 cities countrywide every year. The upshot creased to 14 and include the digital readiness and mental
of our consistent advocacy of foundational ECCE was that and emotional well-being services provided by schools.
the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 acknowledges Currently, the annual EWISR, which rates and ranks
the critical importance of pre-primary education and the country’s most reputed 4,000 primary-secondary
has formally incorporated it into primary education. The schools in four main and 22 sub-categories in 392 cities
long-standing 10+2 primary-secondary school system has and towns countrywide, has evolved into the largest and
been reconfigured into 5+3+3+4 to mandate compulsory most comprehensive schools ranking survey worldwide.
foundational education for all children starting from age Perhaps more significant, it has impacted the vital im-
three. portance of providing well-rounded, holistic education to
A second notable achievement of this publication (to- children.
gether with stable mate ParentsWorld) has been to suc- Evidence of general acceptance of the imperative to
cessfully impact the importance of well-rounded, holistic, offer holistic education to children to arouse and nurture
primary-secondary education upon educators (promoters, their multiple intelligences is the nationwide enthusiasm
principals and teachers) to develop the multiple intelli- stimulated by publication of the annual EWISR in print
gences of children. In 2007, EducationWorld ideated and and online media. In addition, the annual EWISR Awards
introduced the sui generis annual EducationWorld India Conclave staged in Delhi arouses great enthusiasm within
School Rankings (EWISR) survey. the educators’ community with over 1,400 school leaders
In sharp contrast with the global practice of assessing thronging the conclave every year (see pg. 92). This is
schools on the single criterion of learning outcomes, in proof that the importance of dispensing holistic — rather
the annual EWISR, schools are assessed and evaluated than mere academic — education has been internalised by
under several parameters — teacher welfare and develop- the school leaders and teachers’ communities.
ment, leadership, faculty competence, co-curricular and In higher education as well, by persistently commis-
sports education, curriculum and pedagogy, individual sioning ratings and ranking surveys, we have alerted
attention to students, special needs education, commu- India’s laggard higher education institutions to the
nity service etc. Over the past 15 years since the annual widening gap between our best and Western and Chinese
EWISR was introduced, the number of parameters has in- universities.

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