Page 46 - EducationWorld June 2020

Cover Story

Bunker Roy we are united.
Founder, Barefoot College, Tilonia What are your Top 3 recommendations to revive K-12 education
in the post Covid-19 era?
First, government, society, should make teaching a truly
aspirational profession. Currently, except for a small
minority of mavericks, it is a fallback profession. From
investment in training, higher salaries, stronger qual-
ity checks at entry, to high-visibility recognition and
well-marketed campaigns in media, a concerted national
effort is needed to elevate the profession and bring back
its value and dignity. It’s important to reiterate that one
good teacher can change an entire community in one
generation.
Secondly, democratise education by bringing parents
and learners into the education system. Children learn
a lot outside of school and empowering parents to teach
values at home, integrating learning from nature, and
adapting learning in day-to-day living will create empa-
thetic individuals with respect and admiration of local
communities and cultures.
n alumnus of the blue-chip Doon School, Dehra- Third, educators need to balance technology with
dun and St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, Sanjit (‘Bun- environment preservation and sustainable development.
Aker’) Roy, experienced an epiphany while digging Conversations on digital citizenship — beyond digital lit-
wells in rural Rajasthan. This resulted in the registration eracy and skills — in their formative years will equip our
of the SWC Trust, aka Barefoot College, Tilonia (BC) in children to maintain that balance.
1972. Since then over the past 48 years, Barefoot College What are your future plans for Barefoot College?
has developed a unique basic literacy and skills educa- We are witnessing validation of our decentralised, sus-
tion model which has transformed Tilonia district into a tainable, self-sufficient, low-cost and community-centred
prosperous oasis. Moreover, the Barefoot College rural
development model has been replicated in 93 countries non-formal education model in real time. We have fo-
cused on building citizenship, environmental stewardship
and 14 states of the Indian Union. However, for myste-
rious reasons, the Indian establishment, including the and critical thinking skills, integrating technology and
gender equality principles. It is time to scale our reach,
academy and media, has studiously ignored the BC model
of education. content and impact. For this, we need strong and vision-
ary partners, genuinely willing to invest in the next gen-
The Covid-19 crisis has majorly disrupted the education system. eration and its innate resiliency and innovative talents. It
How are BC aided primary schools responding to this chal- is also time to strengthen rural life as a viable and heroic
lenge? option for the children of India.
The positive flip-side of the crisis is that it presents an
unprecedented opportunity for democratising educa- Ramya Venkataraman
tion through last mile technology. This is the direction Founder, Centre for Teacher Accreditation
in which we have moved BC’s formal and non-formal
schools. We are at the cusp of educational transformation n alumna of IIT-Delhi and IIM-Calcutta, Ramya
in a nation where, even in remote rural households, there Venkataraman is founder and CEO of Centre
is acute awareness that education is the key to future Afor Teacher Accreditation, Bangalore (CENTA,
jobs that will lift the next generation out of the cycle of estb.2014) which certifies teacher competencies. Former-
poverty. ly with McKinsey & Co for 15 years including five as edu-
Our challenge was to provide effective tools to parents cation practice leader, Venkataraman quit the corporate
to facilitate learning and to students so they learn to learn world to promote CENTA six years ago. Currently, its My
by themselves. We have witnessed unprecedented effort CENTA learning platform attracts 150,000 teachers from
in our parent and student communities to leverage any 6,000 cities countrywide and abroad.
available technology for continuous learning.
CENTA’s Covid-19 response. CENTA is addressing the chal-
What are the major challenges confronting rural India in the lenge of quickly equipping teachers with digital compe-
new Covid-19 era? tencies through a six-week online certificate course on
Livelihood, food and medical security are the major online teaching. Moreover, the CENTA Teaching Quotient
concerns reported by our ground workers. These con- (TQ) test is available anytime, anywhere and is also the
cerns stem from deep uncertainty about the future. These first stage for the CENTA Teachers Professional Olympiad
uncertain times have unleashed some of the deepest 2020. The centre is also launching two online postgrad
human insecurities which have provoked violence against certificate programmes in partnership with Manipal Uni-
women, children and minorities. Therefore, a major chal- versity to upskill teaching professionals.
lenge is to keep grassroots communities strongly unified
in the belief that we will get through this crisis together, if Government tuition waiver/deferment directives. Salary cuts
and job losses are happening across sectors. Though very

46 EDUCATIONWORLD JUNE 2020