Ameeta Mulla Wattal writes: Poor teaching is a product of systemic deficits that makes the teaching profession unattractive to a large number of talented people. A parallel teacher training programme must be in place to train the educators in the pedagogical practices proposed by the NEP.
Ameeta Mulla Wattal writes: Board examination results are all about numbers, comparisons and competition. They do not prepare the child for the knowledge economy.
Ameeta Mulla Wattal writes: A tribute to Rajni Bala, who taught at Government High School, Gopalpora, in J&K's Kulgam district, and was killed by suspected militants on Tuesday
Ameeta Mulla Wattal writes: Many families have found themselves unable to support their children’s education. Good quality and more government-supported schools could be the answer
Pandemic has slowed it down, needs of children cannot be addressed only online. Every stakeholder at the state, district, sub-district, block level has to take ownership of the policy.
Ameeta Mulla Wattal writes: Teachers should be able to accelerate change, redesign systems with equity in mind, respond to feedback, encourage collaboration, catch and pollinate ideas and create a culture of research and development.
We need to offer spaces to our children, to vent, to throw tantrums, show pain, anger and angst. Our empathy, patience and compassion will help them to cope and contend with the prevailing uncertainty and dislocation.
Hopefully, the debate over the cancellation of board exams will help us identify gaps in the system and teach us how to make it more equitable and resilient
The entire education system will need to have an adaptive approach to ensure that our children succeed and find their place under the sun, nationally and globally.
We must stop worrying about the learning gaps, but think about how our children will cope with anxiety, uncertainty and change. Can our children breathe, meditate, relax, experience tenderness, trust, and do they know if they have a self to find?
If schools do not focus on adapting teaching materials that can reach the last child, then the consequence could be a generation of young illiterates. This will be detrimental for the society at large.
Today, even after a month of announcements and extensions, it is difficult to predict when schools will restart. Schooling is supposed to look after the emotional, social and behavioural health of children, which is diametrically opposite to social distancing.
