Datta Meghe World Academy marches ahead

Datta Meghe World Academy follows the principle — ‘No donation,direct admission’ — thereby creating a clear and transparent process of education.

Although just a year old,the school’s many initiatives have created a healthy atmosphere and won the trust of the parent community.

The school has some autistic and specially abled children. To help these students produce results,it has started a mentorship programme under which meritorious students take initiative and help others understand concepts.

Considering the many initiatives it has taken in such a short time and the development and expansion plans it has,it sure appears the school is on the path to creating brilliant students and becoming a name to reckon with in New Mumbai Vicinity.

The principal lists its activities.

What sets the school apart and makes it a viable option?

We started the school in the academic year 2011. It’s a brainchild of Datta Meghe Group. The group has institutions all over Maharashtra and is a pioneer in the field of education.

Our Trustee Reema Bhasim,who took up the task of establishing the CBSE school, wanted to make international education local and create globally responsible citizens with a zeal to succeed.

The school was named Datta Meghe World Academy with a view to provide a world-class platform to students.

We are a no-donation school and promote merit-based admissions. There was a dearth of CBSE schools in the vicinity,as felt by parents and school founders alike.

An institution providing comprehensive education was the need of the hour. Hence,our school.

We plan to expand it to include more students. We conduct classes till grade 7 and will apply next academic year for permission till grade 10.

We are affiliated to CBSE,Delhi,and follow an intensive student development programme.

We believe only education is not sufficient. Development of soft skills is equally important. Sadly,other schools don’t focus much on this.

Grooming needs to start early and our curriculum ensures it does from the primary school level.

Arts,science exhibitions by students are held throughout the year. It’s always advantageous to expose students to practical life than teach only theory.

We keep parents always in the loop regarding progress and programmes of the school. The reason being school is the place where a child spends most time after home.

We are the most student-friendly school with regular parent-teacher meets. We also have a core committee comprising parents,teachers and students which monitors progress of the school and provides feedback.

Unique selling point

USP is for products and goods. Schools are service organisations with the moral and ethical obligation to impart education. Generations are affected by a school.

We have to understand every child is special. Also,the learning capability of every child is different. We need to monitor and understand students and develop techniques to teach them innovatively.

Our target is not to create a generation full of doctors and engineers,but also talented teachers,artists,curators… everything that is possible under the sun.

Students should find their calling.

Our techniques of assessments are varied and do not focus on bookish knowledge. We take pride in the fact that our students excel in sports,drama and other fields. It’s not always excellence in studies that matters.

We have an innovative programme,‘Back to School’,for parents. Parents attend a schooling day and live the daily routine of their ward/wards. This creates understanding and removes barriers regarding school activities.

Fee structure

Our fee structure is balanced and transparent. But if a parent faces any difficulty,s/he can report it to us in writing or verbally. We try to take time out and help deserving candidates.

We had a student who had difficulty managing funds. Our teachers formed a group and are funding his education.

What measures are being taken by your school to stay up-to-date on the happenings in the education sector?

From networking to workshops to bridge the gap between international and Indian education,the school has worked out everything.

Connectivity

The school has started its own social network platform similar to Facebook. The server is open only to registered members such as parents,teachers and students. This provides an open platform to parents to connect with the happenings in class.

This was created in alliance with a company called ‘My child info’ to archive lectures,notes,feedback and tips from varied communities.

The principal has made it mandatory for all teachers to further their skills by pursuing post-graduation.

She says,“We need to constantly upgrade our skills and teaching modules. We have workshops for teachers on behaviour management,emotional understanding and identification and phonetics and communication skills.”

The school understands the importance of books and e-books. It has started providing e-book links to students. Parents can coach kids to visit these sites and read up.

Just like the courseware in IIT includes attention to math,science and English,the school conducts regular online assessment tests. This helps it understand student interest areas.

The school plans to set up digital labs and buy printing machines — a structured curriculum. It has tied up with ‘I discover IX seed’ to formulate methodologies for learning and multiple intelligence techniques.

The school motto is: Learning is complete only when STUDENT has learnt the art of asking questions.

What are your views on the RTE Act provision of not failing students till grade 8. What are its repercussions?

Neither success nor failure is permanent. Our criteria in summative assessments should be that students are well equipped to perform.

One thing everyone should remember,even evaluative techniques are important. The fact that a child knows content but cannot apply it is a big failure in the process of education.

Hence,we constantly try to teach children to apply concepts and rather than learn by the method of rote.

There are always limitations and no two kids can be the same. Some can cope well and some cannot. This cannot be held against them in any case and we need to tailor ourselves to their needs.

But the biggest barrier we face in this regard is parents. They want their kids to excel in everything they do. This is not possible in real time.

Kids need to be gratified with their achievements,not looked down upon. We understand that every kid is talented and needs to use the talent for his/her optimum benefit rather than run behind futile things. This is the sacrosanct principle that we follow.

Children should know modes of communication and have a grasp of happenings in the world. Even judging at grade 10 is not essential.

We advice students everywhere not to vie for tuitions as they are a complete mess. Remedial classes,extra attention from parents and teachers usually solves the problem.

The most important thing the school does is setting papers for various capability levels. If a student fails,s/he starts with lower-level papers and comes to the top level based on performance. This method surely is tedious but helps in the long run.

The principal said schools faced time constraints in mentoring students. Education system is progressing by leaps and bounds and it is mandatory to teach students about all the happenings. Parents are confused and tuition teachers don’t know the actual happenings. Hence,parents should be conversant with school teachers and clarify their doubts.

Parent involvement creates beautiful coexistence in a child’s school life which leads to consensus on most primary issues at later stages.

When a school earns parent confidence,parents entrust children completely to the school.

We realise that a parent is the most important entity in a student’s life. We are in no way trying to usurp that position but enhance it further.

We strike a fine balance between parents and school.

Schooling should not be full of struggles and pressures. We should playfully mould a child into a masterpiece that s/he is meant to be.

What are your plans for next 5 years?

For any school,feedback is very important and we work on that principle. With feedback,we know our exact standing and can work towards progress swiftly. Building a brand is a long process and we believe in imparting quality education.

The principal has started blogging with Edugen and focuses on topics ranging from bloopers in the education system to new methodologies used.

In short,she says: A child is a pillion rider and school the driver.

We plan to introduce student exchange programmes as well. But we want to send our students to villages to make them aware of the rural education scene. They can volunteer to teach rural students and learn from them about life.

We have started a social involvement programme with SEVA as education and social responsibility go hand in hand.

The lower rungs of society do not need sympathy but empathy.

Students should be able to make value-based decisions every day.

What is your view on 25% quota in schools for students from lower classes as stated by RTE Act?

The focus of Datta Meghe Group has always been uplift of lower classes and providing education to everyone.

There is an issue that has been misunderstood. How will students from lower classes cope up with standard differences and prejudices? But the fact is,kids are full of emotions. It’s how you mould and train them that matters. We should let kids be kids. Parents should not teach them social divisions.

We are positive about RTE and will implement it as soon as a copy of the guidelines is received. No one should be denied education.

What is your view on the IGCSE curriculum CBSE plans to implement?

We want the basic CBSE curriculum retained as it is apt for students. It is a perfect mix of information and practical assignments.

This (IGCSE) activity-based methodology is good but complete change is not good. There should be theoretical knowledge as well,otherwise students will forget concepts.

Overhaul will not work but changing structure is a good measure. It will provide exposure and best of both worlds to children and make education uniform throughout the world. Plus,it will provide international opportunities.

It will take time to update ourselves,but the effort will be worth it. CBSE should conduct a basic workshop for parents and teachers. This will make the process of transformation easy.