Page 62 - EW JAN 2022

Cover Story

“Government needs to partner with private schools” None of us anticipated that children
would be confined within four walls
of their homes for more than a year
ilip Thakore interviewed Dr. due to the pandemic. But we have
B.S. Rao in the Sri Chait- coped with the lockdown challenge
Danya Group of Institutions very well in the past year. In SCGI
(SCGI) head office in Hyderabad. schools and junior colleges, we
Excerpts from the 60-minutes inter- started online classes as soon as the
view: lockdown was announced. So our
In 1986 after practising medicine in the children never fell behind the cur-
UK and Iran for 16 years, you and your riculum. Moreover, we provided our
wife Dr. Jhansi Lakshmi Bai Boppana students counseling and clarification
returned to India to start the first Sri Chai- sessions followed by exams through-
tanya school in Vijayawada. What were out the shutdown of schools.
your aims and objectives at the time?
The inception of SCGI was the What is your assessment of the National
outcome of a long-cherished dream. Education Policy (NEP) 2020? How ben-
We had observed that students — eficial is it for school — especially private
especially girl children — from rural school — education?
Andhra Pradesh had very limited One of the prime objectives of NEP
access to professional education 2020 is improvement of learning
because of lack of awareness or outcomes. Greater focus on early
resources. Therefore, we took the child education under the 5+3+3+4
initiative to address this lacuna Our concept-based pedagogies structure and a three-tiered insti-
by establishing the first Sri Chait- which equip students to top national tutional architecture in the higher
anya Girls Junior College 36 years and international olympiads with education segment — research and
ago. Our objective was to prepare unparalleled consistency, has caught teaching focus and autonomous
students who were deserving and the attention of the students’ com- degree-granting colleges with strong
meritorious get access to top-ranked munity. Our students are encouraged employability focus — are welcome
higher education institutions and to participate in the NSOs, ISOs, features of NEP 2020. However,
become successful in their careers. KVPY, NTSE, NEET, JEE MAINS, almost 50 percent of children in
This required a fresh approach to JEE Adv etc to assess where they India are currently enrolled in pri-
intermediate-level education. stand in fields of intellectual com- vate schools. The Central and state
petition. Participation in olympiads governments need to partner with
Almost four decades later, how satisfied and internal assessments serve as private schools to attain the aims and
are you with the evolution and progress of motivation to do better every time; objectives of NEP 2020.
the Sri Chaitanya Group of Institutions? thus instilling fierce competitive
The growth of SCGI since then has spirit that is essential for winners. Looking at the big picture, how optimistic
been tremendous. After we estab- are you about the future of Indian educa-
lished a boys’ junior college in Hy- Some critics say Sri Chaitanya institu- tion and India’s 260 million school-going
derabad in 1991, we quickly launched tions are essentially exams-focused cram children?
several junior colleges (classes XI- schools that don’t provide well-rounded We’ll see the lasting effects of
XII) in other towns of then unified holistic education. What’s your comment? digitisation in education. Unlike
Andhra Pradesh. Currently, there On the contrary, our goal is to focus offices, schools will go back to in-
are 321 state board-affiliated junior on the holistic development of every person instruction except perhaps
colleges and 322 K-10 Sri Chaitanya child supplemented by enriched cur- for limited remote learning options
Techno Schools in Andhra Pradesh riculums and dynamic ICT-enabled for older high school students. What
and Telangana. In addition, we have pedagogies to give our students will change though, is utilisation
established 107 CBSE-affiliated Chai- competitive advantage. Today, we of digital tools to enhance the way
tanya schools in other states of India. are proud that we have contributed children learn.
This is very satisfactory progress. towards the foundational education The ability of new digital educa-
of thousands of world-class doctors, tion tools to transform the classroom
In your opinion, what are the distinguish- engineers, IAS officers, chartered is, of course, dependent on children
ing characteristics of a Sri Chaitanya accountants who are involved in the having access to technology at home.
school education? national development effort. The access gap has narrowed since
In SCGI, we have created a unique the outbreak of the pandemic and
blend of world-class curricula, Schools across the country were shut for will continue to narrow. But a lot
contemporary teaching methodolo- 65-70 weeks forcing many to switch to of children still don’t have a decent
gies with equal focus on intellectual, online education. How satisfied are you computer or reliable, fast Internet at
physical and personality develop- with the pandemic management of Sri home. Finding ways to expand access
ment of students to produce future Chaitanya schools? What’s your learning to digital learning is as important as
leaders ready to take on the world. loss estimate of Chaitanya students? innovating new ways of learning.

62 EDUCATIONWORLD JANUARY 2022