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Special Report

Rajiv Solanki Ranjan Mitter
Chairman, Venkateswar Group of Schools, Delhi Principal, The Future Foundation School, Kolkata
A Aversity, BITS-
n alumnus of
business management alum of London University,
Jadavpur Uni-
Rajiv Solanki is the Delhi-based chairman and
director of the Venkateshwar Group of four K-12
schools (estb.2007) — two in Delhi, Raipur and Pune. The Pilani and INSEAD,
group’s Sri Venkateshwar International School, Sector Fontainebleau (France)
18, Dwarka is ranked among the national capital’s Top 10 with a decade’s working
co-ed day schools in EWISR 2019-20. experience in blue-chip
companies (Philips,
NEP 2020 overview. The National Education Policy 2020 Shaw Wallace, Polaroid,
is a welcome document prescribing meaningful school Titan), Ranjan Mitter took
and higher education reforms. The policy is futuristic as charge as principal of the
it promises online content in English, Hindi and regional CISCE (Delhi)-affiliated
languages. Encouraging collaboration between Central The Future Foundation
and state governments to increase public investment in School, Kolkata (TFFS,
education is another welcome feature. Clearly, the NEP estb.1981) after the death
committee has outlined a far-reaching vision to create of his mother Joya in
learning environments that are multidisciplinary and 1999. TFFS is ranked Kolkata’s Top #2 co-ed day school
provide well-rounded in EWISR 2019-20.
education. Proper
implementation of the NEP 2020 overview. The National Education Policy 2020 is
reforms envisioned in a progressive and welcome document prescribing urgent
NEP 2020 will fun- pre-primary to higher education reforms. In a country
damentally transform where policy implementation often falls short of intended
India in terms of better outcomes, all stakeholders should pledge to ensure suc-
learning outcomes and cessful implementation of NEP 2020 in letter and spirit.
employment. Transition of K-12 schools to online/blended learning during the
Switch of K-12 schools to current Covid-19 crisis. The Covid-19 crisis has enabled In-
online/blended learning dian education to take a giant technology leap to facilitate
during the current Covid-19 teaching-learning. It has opened up a whole new space
crisis. The Covid-19 crisis for communication and sharing. If used prudently, it will
has transformed Indian bring about revolutionary changes in school education.
education. With mil- However, physical interfaces have advantages that online
lions of children out of education cannot provide. In our case, the outbreak of the
school, teaching-learning during the past several months Covid-19 pandemic has strengthened our online teach-
has been delivered remotely through digital platforms. I ing-learning initiatives, in place for several years now,
believe traditional classroom and online learning can be through live streaming, video conferencing and other
blended perfectly. This emerging hybrid model of educa- learning apps.
tion will confer significant benefits to K-12 education. Increasing government interference in fees and online educa-
Fallout of increasing government interference in fees and online tion delivery of private schools. Private schools like ours are
education delivery of private schools. Self-financed private finding it increasingly difficult to sustain operations in an
schools have transitioned to online learning and are over regulated environment. Even though we are striving
investing in training/upskilling teachers and also organis- to strike the right balance bearing in mind the best inter-
ing counselling for parents and students. Without regular ests of our students, the going is getting very tough.
fees income inflow, we are under immense financial The Future Foundation School initiatives. Some online teach-
strain and finding it difficult to function. ing-learning practices we follow include flipped classroom
Venkateshwar Schools initiatives. In March, our schools pedagogy; enhanced student-teacher communication;
kickstarted online classes for all students by leveraging online classes on digital security and cyber bullying; live
Microsoft Teams. Five months on, our teachers have streaming of laboratory practical classes for class X and
adapted a range of digital applications such as Microsoft XII children and online counseling for students’ social-
Forms, Class Notebooks, Assignments, Sway etc, to maxi- emotional well-being.
mise the effectiveness of online learning as also online Top 3 proposals for re-inventing India’s K-12 education system.
art, yoga, aerobics, music and dance classes. • Provide seamless Internet connectivity in urban and
Top 4 proposals for re-inventing India’s K-12 education system. rural areas to support remote learning as also affordable
• Do away with rote learning digital devices.
• Redesign the evaluation system to include peer learn- • Restructure evaluation and assessment methods and
ing. processes.
• Revamp teacher education • Incorporate critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Focus on personalised education into school curriculums.

86 EDUCATIONWORLD AUGUST 2020