Page 66 - EducationWorld March 2022

Special Report

formance in a class/grade has gone emphasis placed on holistic develop-
completely out of fashion — the RTE ment… including soft skills, technical
Act expressly forbids detention of chil- competency, real-world experience
dren in primary/elementary classes via internships or projects, research
under any circumstances — allowing chops, social involvement, entrepre-
children a gap year with a good chance neurship — an understanding of what
of it being frittered away in activities of life entails outside the classroom. We
no academic consequence (co-curricu- may still be stuck in the past. A peda-
lar and/or sports education) is a per- gogical system that focuses heavily on
vasive fear even in liberal households. rote learning does not provide ample
M ADHULIKA MAKAR, and initiative-taking. Parents and stu-
exposure to real-world interactions
whose son Sidarth
dents need to work together to instil
took a gap year after
particularly now when opportunities
completing class XII a culture conducive to the gap year,
in 2019, recalls high anxiety after the are ripe and there is potential for so
gap year began. “Post 14 years of non much progress, even if it is digitally-
stop studies, Sidarth was experiencing based,” wrote Khandelwal in an op-ed
burnout and complete lack of self mo- Bellani: confidence boosting break essay for the Economic Times (August
tivation. While I and my husband had 21, 2021).
no issues with a gap year, a complete venture capital Wall Street careers, in With post-independence India’s
lack of plan and direction was unnerv- the new millennium when awareness moribund K-12 education system
ing. The first few months were turbu- of the threat of climate change to the having totally neglected vocational
lent and forced us to grow as parents global order became widespread, tak- and skills education, in the new mil-
exercising emotional control, patience ing a gap year to address this grave lennium following greater awareness
and willingness to step back . As I look problem has become popular again. of the importance of balanced and
back I am amazed at the initiative, Celeb “gappers” include Princes Wil- rounded education, a large number of
commitment and hard work Sidarth liam and Harry in the UK, and Malia edtech companies of all shapes, sizes
displayed. He completed an Everest Obama in the US. and genres offering a mind-boggling
Base Camp trek, self-taught himself Adarsh Khandelwal, co-founder range of supplementary learning pro-
to trade in derivatives and even hired and director of Collegify, an educa- grammes — co-curricular, sports, ad-
interns to run projects for him. He was tion services company specialising venture, ICT and life skills competen-
so much more sorted by the time he in facilitating student admissions cies — have mushroomed countrywide.
applied for college admissions after a into foreign universities and invent- These new genre start-ups specialise
year. That said a gap year must have ing e-learning products, is a strong in providing resources, guidance and
a broad plan of action while allowing proponent of the gap year. “The lin- mentorship programmes to gappers
children to find their own direction,” ear academic journey is not the only to make the most of a sabbatical year.
advises Makar, promoter of a Delhi- one... As modern students’ progress Among the companies offering
based executive search firm. from grade to grade, there is a greater learning programmes for gap year
The gap year first be- Makar (right) & Sidarth (left): action plan recommendation students is the Delhi-based I-
came popular in the West GenPlus (estb.2019) provid-
in the mid-1960s when ing a range of short-term life
widespread disapproval skills, leadership, mentoring
of America’s Vietnam war and training programmes
prompted legions of college for teens and young adults.
and university students to “Most parents are hesitant
take time off to organise about their child taking a
street and campus protests gap year because they’re not
against the war. Although sure what she will do dur-
it went out of fashion in ing a 12-months break. Our
the 1980s when students programmes for gappers
became focused on careers are carefully structured and
and opportunities in the enable them to learn criti-
ICT (information commu- cal new skills while giving
nication technologies) and enough time and space for

66 EDUCATIONWORLD MARCH 2022