Page 64 - EducationWorld June 2020

Cover Story

Kush Sakaria
Trust secretary, Vallabh Ashram Group of Schools, Valsad
n alumnus of Sardar Patel University, Anand (Gujarat)
and the University of Ballarat, Australia, Kush Sakaria
Aacquired valuable corporate experience with the Mum-
bai-based Mexus Education Pvt. Ltd before his appointment
as secretary of Shree Vallabh Ashram Trust in 2014. Currently,
the trust’s four schools have an aggregate 4,650 children and
250 teachers on their muster rolls.
The Covid-19 crisis has majorly disrupted the education system. How
have the Vallabh Ashram schools responded to this challenge?
Disruption creates opportunities. The lockdown gave us an op-
portunity to leverage technology to make learning from home
effective. All stakeholders — management, principal, teachers,
parents, and students — are making excellent use of new tech- Bhupinder Gogia
nologies to continue
the teaching-learn- Principal, Sat Paul Mittal School, Ludhiana
ing process. Work- n education and applied maths postgradu-
ing from home our ate of Osmania University, Bhupinder Gogia
teachers seized the Aacquired rich teaching and admin experi-
initiative to connect ence spanning three decades, prior to taking charge
with every child from as principal of the CBSE-affiliated Sat Paul Mittal
preschool through to School, Ludhiana (SPMS) in 2008. Ranked Punjab’s
class XII, mentoring #1 co-ed day school in the EW India School Rank-
them academically ings 2019-20, SPMS has 1,594 children and 105
and emotionally dur- teachers on its muster rolls.
ing this turbulent
period. SPMS’ response to the Covid-19 challenge. This pan-
demic has taught us many lessons. We quickly
What are the major embraced the opportunity to expand our digital
challenges confronting infrastructure to ensure learning continuity. Our
Indian K-12 education dedicated and committed teachers rapidly designed
in the Covid era? engaging and result-oriented online learning mod-
The major challenges are IT infrastructure deficit and poor ules for all classes, leveraging e-learning platforms
Internet connectivity necessary to universalise online educa- such as MS Teams, Flipgrid, Wakelet, OneNote and
tion; changing mindsets of parents, teachers and students O365.
towards online teaching-learning; innovating learner-friendly
and pocket-friendly virtual learning pedagogies, and training On fees waiver/deferment circulars issued by state
teachers for this sea change in education delivery. governments. In my opinion, educators are front-
line warriors who are working hard every day to
Several state governments have issued fees waiver/deferment circu- bring vitally necessary learning into students’ lives.
lars to private school managements. What’s your comment? In SPMS, we are fortunate to have an empathetic
We understand these are hard times for parents. Therefore, we parents’ community which is extending full support
have given our parents the option of paying fees monthly and to the management. Together, we have taken fees
by installments. Parents need to understand that schools are li- payment decisions that are in the best interest of
able to pay teacher and staff salaries and other fixed expenses. our parents, teachers and school.
It should be a win-win deal for all stakeholders.
Top 3 proposals for reforming K-12 education in India
What are your Top 3 proposals for reforming K-12 education in India? • I believe the goal of exams and assessment must
• In the National Education Policy 2020, the Union govern- be ‘grace’ and not ‘grades’. The Covid-19 crisis has
ment should include a roadmap to implement digital/online revealed an urgent need to develop students’ life
learning across the education spectrum skills, emotional and social intelligence and citi-
• NCERT should revise and upgrade K-12 curriculums to zenship attributes. I urge our national and state
develop children’s 21st century skills exam boards to move beyond exam percentages to
• The revised curriculum should also cover development of rewarding holistic education
life skills, values and spirituality starting from early childhood • The Union HRD ministry should take the lead to
years. build a free repository of global best education prac-
What are your future plans for the trust? tices and pedagogies which can be shared widely
We are determined to boost our digital teaching-learning • Lastly, NCERT and the exam boards should
processes, including LMS (learning management system), and revamp K-12 syllabuses and curriculums. Moreover,
rigorously train teachers to deliver child-centred pedagogies they should allow schools flexibility to adapt them to
online and offline. suit children of differing learning capabilities.

64 EDUCATIONWORLD JUNE 2020