Page 67 - EducationWorld June 2020

ally, we shifted to Microsoft Teams State governments’ fees waiver/ defer- Top 3 proposals for reforming K-12 edu-
and Google Classroom, which have ment circulars to private school manage- cation in India.
turned out to be effective platforms. ments. • The prime lesson of the Covid-19
The efforts of our teachers — and At Satluj schools, we’ve paid our pandemic is that old ways of teaching
indeed all staff — needs to be ap- staff, including non-teaching and and administering schools is over.
plauded as they have quickly adapted grade IV employees, 100 percent With blended learning children will
to digital education. salaries since March 2020. Yet there be freed up to pursue co-curricular
is conspicuous indifference about interests and develop increasingly
Major challenges confronting Indian K-12 these people — neither the govern- important life skills.
education in the Covid era. A sudden ment, parents, nor society bothers • School curriculums should inte-
shift to the online medium has led about them. Because if we don’t col- grate technical training and work-
to adaptability problems for parents lect fees how will private schools pay place experience at secondary and
and students while they battle poor staff salaries? How will businesses senior secondary school levels to
Internet connectivity. More than 800 associated with us, such as suppliers, boost the employability of students.
million children worldwide don’t edtech companies, contractors, bus • Train teachers well and pay them
have access to the Internet or smart- operators survive? How will schools well. Teachers are paid a pittance
phones. The digital divide is huge. pay for the world-class infrastructure when compared to other profession-
Also there is lack of parent trust in they’re providing to students? No als such as lawyers, doctors, etc.
the education system as evident from rent, electricity, tax or EMI waivers
the fees payment debate. Moreover have been announced for private Future plans. We’re expanding and
with higher education and the job schools by government. Do middle plan to promote 75 new schools by
market in dire straits, it’s become class parents who don’t avail the 2025. Apart from our flagship Satluj
even more important for educators option of free-of-charge government Public Schools, we’ve launched two
to equip students with employable schools, want private schools to col- new franchise brands named Satluj
skills. lapse? The country will go back to World Schools and Little Satluj
the dark ages. Preschools.

Nikhil Wagh situation. Governments should first
Founder-chairman, Educon International consult with private school repre-
sentatives before taking unilateral
School, Pune decisions and sending out circulars.
Likewise, schools should take parent-
A teacher associations into confidence
science and engineering alum-
nus of Dnyaneshwar Vidy-
before prescribing fees payment
apeeth, Pune, Nikhil Wagh
is founder-chairman of the new-age schedules and options during these
challenging times.
Educon International School, Pune
(EIS, estb.2015) and managing Top 3 proposals for reforming K-12 edu-
director of Educon Consultancy cation in India.
that provides school management, • Redesign school curriculums to
teacher training and student assess- include skills education and move
ment among other services. A highly away from rote learning to promote
respected educationist, Dr. Wagh 21st century critical, computational
served as director of the City Inter- thinking and problem solving skills.
national School, Mumbai for over a students’ readiness survey, to ensure • Make assessment criteria more
decade (2003-2013). that teaching-learning reached all flexible with focus on the student-
centric visual-auditory-kinesthetic
Educon International School’s response students by leveraging the most ap- (VAK) approach theory to identify
to the Covid-19 challenge. When the propriate tech tool. students’ preferred learning styles.
first cases of Covid-19 emerged in Major challenges confronting Indian • Revamp teacher training pro-
Pune, we immediately sensitised K-12 education in the Covid era. Elimi- grammes to effectively implement
our students and staff about the nating the digital divide among all academic curriculums by leveraging
seriousness of the virus and preven- stakeholders; ensuring the mental, technology to engage, motivate and
tive measures through PowerPoint emotional and physical well-being involve students in digital online
presentations, posters and videos. of students, parents and teachers; learning.
Since the nationwide lockdown teacher training and establishing
forced all educational institutions education ecosystems to adapt to Future plans for EIS. Expanding our
to down shutters in late March, EIS’ new emerging technologies. footprint countrywide by setting up
flipped learning pedagogy enabled centres of excellence aligned with
us to seamlessly switch to online On fees waiver/deferment circulars our mission and vision and mak-
learning through our student-centric to private school managements. All ing necessary changes in education
Virtual Learning Framework (VLF), stakeholders must exercise mature delivery to adapt to the new normal
guided by the results of our online restraint in handling the Covid-19 for providing holistic education.

JUNE 2020 EDUCATIONWORLD 67