New Year, New Beginnings !!!

The ‘Aha!’ Moment in learning, schooling and education in India begins with a goodbye to the hangover of imperialism. When Career Readiness, Leadership and life skills are coupled with academic subjects in schools it will give an immense boost to Indian education system to grasp a new horizon in its wings.  

Today after  73 years of Independence, we are still severely lacking in enhancing our children and equipping them for a global community and workplace of 2040’s. We as a community need to come out of the hangover of the time where getting educated resulted in economic independence, thus becoming a cog in the industrial ecosystem.  

This issue stems from the fact that the majority of the parents of today’s school and college going students  are the second/third of a pre-independent India. The pathetic economic condition of the nation with famine followed by starvation in the 1900s brought the Maslow theory of survival before all other dimensions of life. 

In the ears of today’s middle aged man, it still echoes to study well and earn a job and be a cog at the industry and supply chain system. Not to blame anybody other than the horrific exploitation of Company/ British Raj of around 300 years. 

However, do we still have to carry the crummy linen of those times ? 

The ray of hope to overcome obstacles and rise to a new world of opportunity must begin  from schooling. A child’s life from year 3 to  18 revolves around schooling. It is well proved that the mind is the silo of past memories and the first 18 years of life construct the inner and outer elegance of one’s life.  This leads us to think about the importance of what to teach and learn in K-12 schooling. 

Without ignoring the importance of the economical aspect of Education, we can’t forget the other three equally important purposes of education: social, cultural and personal fronts. 

Today while the world is galloping to equip their new generation culturally, socially and personally along with the economic front through schooling for the cosmopolitan, vibrant global community, the world’s largest manpower provider, our nation and its schooling can’t ignore this fact. 

NEP 2020 is inspirational; however, we can’t waste time for the elephant to turn around for another 10 to 15 years in its implementation. The best way is that Indian ‘schooling system needs to adapt to the required change and phase with its global counterparts.

So how do we do it?

Multiple research conducted across the world proves that starting early with leadership, life skills and career readiness skills among children from as young as 3 years old makes a visible difference. 

You may wonder how a child of three years old can be taught leadership skills?

 Well let us look at the various skills a kindergartner learns:

•  Exhibiting self-control 
•  Developing empathy 
• To be effective listener
• Cooperate to resolve conflicts 
• Gain and give respect 
• Develop integrity 
• Create a positive attitude 
• Understand fairness 
• Work as a team 
• Learn positive coping skills
• Become responsible 
• Foster good friendships. 

These essential skills are the stepping stones to those jargons of ‘3 C’ of 21st century skills. Don’t they look very similar to the skills we look in for a leader as well?

This informal but well-designed curriculum parallel to academic and co-curricular will lead students to learn 

• Conflict resolution 
• Controlling emotions 
• Empathy 
• Getting organized 
• Handling peer pressure 
• Identifying strengths and weaknesses 
• Maintaining a positive attitude 
• Presenting yourself
• Problem solving 
• Reading, listening, and note taking 
• Respect for self and others
• Responsibility 
• Stress management 
• Study and test-taking techniques 
• Teamwork 
• Techniques for addressing bullying 
• Time management  in the higher classes.

Looks impossible is it? 

High cooperation and collaboration between schools and families play the crucial role in bringing the above lifelong skills among our children for their future workplace and a successful life ahead.  Every school is a micro climate of possibilities. It is an ecosystem that can be developed by an inspiring team of teachers and parents to flourish our children. It is my humble prayer and submission to the school communities to adapt this change without waiting for the system to enforce these required changes with realization that every system or community basically originates from individuals.  

By:
Mr. Pramod Kumar Pillai
Principal
MERU International School