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creasing government interference in fees and online education
delivery. How much damage has this caused to private schools?
When the national Covid-19 lockdown was imposed in
end-March, the annual/board exams had commenced,
admission process for the new academic year had begun,
and teachers were being recruited. In short, the school
system was thrown into disarray. Despite this, a large
number of private school managements, anxious to main-
tain learning continuity, quickly adopted digital technolo-
gies and started online classes. What followed were mind-
less government diktats. We are in the fifth month now,
and fee collection is less than 10 percent in most private
schools. Unnecessary government interference has caused
severe disruption in private schools.
What major initiatives have the DCM Group of Schools taken to
upgrade teaching-learning?
Since the Covid outbreak in March, we singularly focused
on equipping our teachers and students with the skills • Redesign academic curriculums to enable learners to
needed to transition to online learning. To this end, our translate learning into practice to improve their employ-
schools arranged numerous training sessions for teachers ability. Add a strong vocational education element to all
and students to acquaint them with virtual platforms such curriculums.
as Zoom, MS Teams, Google Classroom etc. • Promote industry participation from the stage of cur-
riculum development to institutional management.
What are your Top 3 proposals for re-inventing India’s K-12 • Revamp teacher education to enable them to meet the
education system? demands of industry.

Bharat Malik The past few months have witnessed increasing government
interference in fees and online education delivery. How much
Chairman, Arya Gurukul Group of Schools, Mumbai damage has this caused to private schools?
harat Malik is the Mumbai-based chairman of the The issues of online learning and fees should be resolved
Education Today Foundation (estb. 2006) which bilaterally by schools and parents. Government med-
Bmanages the Arya Gurukul Group of primary- dling in these matters is causing more harm than good.
secondary schools and preschools, with an aggregate It’s clear there is little understanding within government
enrolment of 6,000 students of the enormous costs incurred
and 180 teachers. Malik is by private schools in building
also a founding member of the IT infrastructure and training
National Independent Schools teachers. My earnest request
Alliance (NISA) and vice to government is to let schools
president of the Federation of do their job to the best of their
Unaided Private Schools As- ability.
sociation of Maharashtra. What initiatives have the Arya
Gurukul Schools recently taken to
What is your overview of NEP 2020 upgrade teaching-learning?
released last month?
NEP 2020 has been announced Designated Microsoft Schools,
after a waiting period of over all Arya Gurukul schools made
a smooth transition to online
three decades. The proposed
shift to the 5+3+3+4 academic teaching-learning when the
national Covid-19 emergency
system, focus on vocational
education and multi-lingualism in classroom instruction lockdown was announced. Online classes, exams and vir-
tual events are being conducted with ease and efficiency.
are all welcome reforms. But their implementation will
require higher budgetary allocations for education and Moreover, we have intensively trained our teachers in on-
line pedagogies and encouraged them to enroll for online
the willingness of stakeholders to change entrenched
mindsets. professional development programmes.
How satisfied are you with the switch of K-12 schools to What are your Top 3 proposals for re-inventing India’s K-12
online/blended learning during the current Covid-19 crisis? Is education system?
this a beneficial development for school education? • Increase government investment in teacher education
Digital online learning is the future of school education and training.
and the Covid-19 crisis has helped hasten this transition • Revamp assessment systems to include students’ indi-
vidual and group learning capabilities.
for many schools.
• Design pedagogies that promote self-directed learning.

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