Breaking poverty wall for value education

It has its main branch in Thane and is on the verge of setting up a new school to provide reasonable,quality and ethic-based education.

In today’s time when education is commercialised and devoid of personal involvement,this is refreshing. The school has been producing talented students in sports,arts and academics as well.

Set up under the aegis of Shri ma and guided by her principles,the school has stood the test of time to succeed time and again.

The principal explained the importance of values,creating a healthy mix of modernity and old-world culture and living holistically in a world full of hegemony.

Give us a brief overview about what sets your school apart.

Basically,we started under the aegis of ‘Shri ma trust’ in 1975.

We have had a successful run in the field of education for 37 years.

Our aim is to create value-oriented citizens. We have a curriculum encompassing academics,moral values and value education to create fully developed students.

As an institute,we focus on retaining inner values and moulding children’s persona into responsible and articulate citizens.

We conduct regular value-education classes where shlokas and Vedas are recited. This opens a new avenue of learning and growth for young minds.

They are connected to their roots and culture.

In a fast-paced world,stress management is crucial and we conduct yoga classes for the same. Combining yoga with education adds intrinsic value to the whole curriculum.

We conduct yoga and meditation sessions for students from class I to X throughout the year. Class X is a very crucial and decisive year with regard to a student’s career and hence meditation sessions come in handy.

It helps them to make choices with clarity and understanding and cope with stress effectively.

We ensure that students follow what is taught and apply it for their betterment.

We are quite strict about attendance and performance.

We want dedication towards education from our pupils.

We don’t want them to take it lightly and get wayward and lazy as is the case nowadays.

Hence we have made attendance compulsory and it is mandatory for students to maintain attendance decorum.

The best way of inculcating and embossing values is through education and hence special emphasis is laid on it.

On a more linguistic and literary level,Sanskrit is taught from grades VIII to X.

Sanskrit is the mother language and source of all other languages and enables students to comprehend and grasp other languages in future easily. So,instead of teaching any foreign language,we are teaching Sanskrit which is a value addition for every pupil.

Education should never be diluted and comprised upon,no matter the priorities.

Hence,we as a conglomerate of institutions believe in quality education,reinforcement of values and lending credibility to the whole process of educating future citizens.

The rule that states you cannot fail any student till class 8 has created quite a commotion. Is it difficult for your school to cope up with.

What are the measures in place?

The RTE Act comes with its own share of positives and negatives and we have to cope with it.

This Act is definitely affecting the competitive spirit and enthusiasm in children which is a negative development.

As cope-up strategies,we have come up with re-examination sessions that are conducted after vacations. The sole purpose being brushing up basics and knowledge so that students don’t have any difficulty in facing a more broader and difficult curriculum in IX and X grade.

We also have remedial classes conducted by experienced faculty members on a regular basis. Such classes and exams ensure a strong base and clarity in concepts among kids.

Due to RTE,students do not focus on studies till VIII grade and when they reach the IX grade,there is confusion,fear and failure which is unwarranted.

For example,they can opt for either regular or easy maths in grade IX. But most students make wrong choices and end up troubling themselves.

This happens due to pressure and less clarity regarding future choices.

If a student knows his future choices then s/he can work accordingly but statistics show students still prefer the hard version and RTE act adds to the mess.

Parents are hesitant as students cannot opt for science after taking easy maths. It also cuts out engineering and other science-related fields which are highly valued by the parent community.

In fact,a level of desire and competition is necessary with regard to education.

So,instead of making situations more lax,boards should implement methodologies and portions that are innovative and excite a student’s interest in education.

RTE Act sidelines a student’s passion to excel because there is no judging parameter and no appreciation for any effort.

Educational quality should not be hampered but progressed upon and we are trying our best to enlighten students about the importance of education and committing oneself to education leads better results in life.

What is your take on New School Bus Norms? Has any committee been formed and what measures have been implemented after RTO’s guidelines were sent to educational bodies?

Student safety is a concept that has been on our minds since our inception days.

The management has been implementing numerous measures to ensure total student protection and any new measures are totally welcome.

We have received a copy of RTO norms and have been trying to implement them for the past few months.

We have allotted one lady attendant per bus as per the guidelines. They can be contacted by parents in any event or emergency.

We have not yet successfully established a committee to look into these matters but management and authorities are always in tandem regarding these issues.

On a constant endeavor to improve and upgrade,we have asked parents to provide constant feedback. Meetings are held with parents and teachers to discuss issues and provide solutions.

We have a bus pass system where each student is provided a pass containing his personal details and contacts.

Hence,in any event of emergency identification and reach becomes easy.

A manager,bus authorities and attendants manage the travel system for kids and make sure that it is safe,optimal.

We plan to upgrade the whole system and install GPRS and CCTVs in the near future.

What is the current scenario regarding RTE Act that states providing 25% reservations to students from lower rung of society. Have you received guidelines and what has been done regarding the same?

Basically,our schools were started with the aim of providing education to economically weaker sections and we have been extremely successful in doing so.

We will definitely follow rules prescribed by the government as education is a must and everyone deserves it. We have been raising the bar every year and providing quality education and plan to continue the pace in our upcoming schools as well.

Any student from lower class can still avail educational waivers and scholarships by submitting the required documents. They can prove their inability to pay fees and avail 100% freeships.

Meritorious students are provided scholarships and waivers.

What do you feel about the topper system? Do you think media hype surrounding the students is justified?

There are equal number of advantages and disadvantages.

First of all,just like finding hay in stack,how would you figure out the meritorious from the normal?

If there is no ranking or topper system,efforts put by students cannot be distinguished.

Hence,a practical approach is necessary wherein credits should be given in a very sensitive and positive way.

Positive feedbacks to a student’s performances boost his/her morale to perform better. It also motivates students from other batches to pull up their socks.

Point two is,such appraisals are used as marketing gimmicks by classes. There are numerous instances where such classes have been found vying to take credit for a school’s and student’s efforts. This is sad.

Students learn to equate money with education and stop valuing schools in the whole process. Do we really need commercialisation of education to such an extent?

We strongly discourage students from attending classes as schools are competent and can provide necessary coaching.

But the feedback has been negative. The overall attitude needs to be changed as education is not only about scoring well but overall development.

So,we made it mandatory for students to attend lectures. If they try to just attend practicals at junior college level,they need to be present for the whole day. This has curbed the menace of low attendance.

How important are extra-curricular activities in holistic development of a student. What activities are conducted by school?

We try to involve kids in numerous activities so as to make them confident and interactive.

We have numerous clubs and students can select their favourites. Environmental clubs,science clubs,arts clubs and so on.

These clubs help channelize a student’s inner thoughts in the right way with cause and effect.

We take them to numerous treks,wild-life sanctuaries and camps. This brings out many facets of a student’s personality which is graceful and endearing.

Such events help students to become better individuals.

We host an inter-school event that usually takes place around November and nearly 60 schools participate.

Students prepare and perform. Whatever they learn at such podiums is for life and can never be forgotten.

In literary events,artistic endeavors,posters,hand-writing,elocution,narrative skills are conducted to fine tune a child’s talent.

This allows them to compete,mingle and nurture in a healthy environment.

Such an atmosphere brings many varied individuals and promotes healthy exchange of ideas,knowledge and world ideas.

Sports: They are crucial for physical and mental development of a child and we understand its importance.

But we lack in resources and hence are not performing to output capacity.

Every child should be able to play every kind of game irrespective of age or class. It hones their skills and capabilities. We as a nation can create more sportspersons as students are variedly talented and just need good resources and coaching. It all starts from micro level like schools.

We do our best and use our sister school,Shri Maa Vidyalaya’’s ground to train and conduct sports activities.

We even take our students to DAV and Hiranandani grounds on a regular basis.

We approached numerous authorities without any result and are figuring out future probabilities.

There are no open spaces in and around the school that acts as a major hurdle and we hope to get clearances soon.

What is your approach to value education and inculcation? How important are values in today’s trending times.

Indian values are diminishing and deteriorating among students which is quite distasteful.

Ordinary day-to-day values and mannerisms are taking a backseat. Definitely we cannot enforce them on a student but need to teach them their importance.

When a school and its teachers take it upon themselves to inculcate values to students,it definitely works.

Value education and morals are important for this fast paced world where people barter values for worldly gains. We teach ‘Sthotra Sudha’ and ‘Vishnu Sahastranama’ to students. It has an old world charm and keeps students grounded by teaching them about our past,values in today’s time and how to anticipate the future.