K12 Digest – India Edition – June 2021 – Most Innovative Schools in Bangalore

BANGALORE SCHOOLS SPECIAL

INDIA EDITION

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SKEI

SMT. KAMALABAI EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

MAKING A DIFFERENCE WITH PERSONALIZED E D U C AT I O N

K12 Digest June 2021

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12Digest Digest KK12 June 2021 Sept-Oct 2020

K12 Digest Sept-Oct 2020 K12 Digest June 2021

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June 2021

Vol - 2 Issue - 6

Bangalore Schools Special Head of Advisory Board Dr. Varughese K.John, PhD

Managing Editor Sarath Shyam

Consultant Editors

Dr. Johny Andrews Navya Venkatesh Joseph Alex

Naomi Wilson Roshni Rajagopal Emma James

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K12 Digest is a digital magazine published by Connecta Innovation Private Limited. All rights reserved. The opinions expressed in the content and pictures provided are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of the Connecta Innovation Private Limited or any of its members and we do not assume any responsibility. The publisher does not assume any responsibility for the advertisements, its content, pictures, and all representation of warranties made in such advertisements are those of the advertisers and not of the publisher. K12 Digest is a Free Subscription digital magazine strictly not for sale and has to be strictly for internal private use only. Publisher does not assume any responsibility arising out of anyone printing copy of this digital magazine in any format and in any country and all matters related to that.

MANAGING EDITOR’S NOTE

When the Waves Hit the Future of Education

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year back, when a largely unknown virus originated from China put the world under lockdown, education of over 286 million children in India was directly affected, as about 1.5 million schools were imparting primary and secondary education had to remain shut for a while. We thought that it was just an extended summer vacation; the schools would reopen in two-three months. However, the virus and the government had other plans. Now, we are at the beginning of a new academic year, with students and teachers still at home, defending the second wave of coronavirus.

As the virus continues to circulate globally, successive closures and reopening are likely to be a part of our academic calendar. According to the latest data by UNESCO, more than 888 million children worldwide continue to face disruptions to their education due to full and partial school closures. A report published by the UN looked at education during Covid and beyond and noted that several countries were planning to implement a “hybrid” or blended education delivery

model. Other countries were significantly reducing class sizes or providing lessons outside, and in many countries, institutions required that almost all students and their teachers wore masks.

In India, many students are out of online classes now, as we do not have a digital infrastructure that ensures the last mile connectivity to include every individual in our society.

However, in a city like Bangalore, where technological awareness is much higher and internet access is better, the adoption of digital education was rather an effortless affair compared to other parts of the country. It has helped schools to innovate beyond regular online education and make learning more interactive and fun. In this issue, we have identified the ’10 Most Innovative Schools in Bangalore’ that have gone the extra mile to provide quality education during this challenging time. On the cover, we feature SKEI - Smt. Kamalabai Educational Institution, a 90-yearold Institution situated in the heart of Bangalore. Driving innovation, the institute is shifting from brick-and-mortar schooling to co-exist with online learning.

Enjoy Reading.

Sarath Shyam K12 Digest June 2021

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INTERNATIONAL ADVISORY BOARD Chris Wright

Maarit Rossi

Former International School Principal, Former Group Project Director at a World Class Learning Group, Education Consultant - Wright Solutions, United Kingdom

Founder & CEO - Paths to Math Ltd, Former Mathematics Teacher and Principal, Global Teacher Prize Finalist, Finland

Dr. Stuart Grant Colesky Principal, Rundle College, South Africa

Zeljana Radojicic Lukic Exceptional Educator from Serbia, Founder of Association of the Best Teachers of the Former Yugoslavia, Founder of Magical Intercultural Friendship Network, Founder of Creative Magic - Children’s International Festival, Founder of Magic Village, Serbia

Asst. Prof. Dr. Poonsri Vate-U-Lan Assistant Professor in Education, Ph.D. Supervisor and Researcher, Thailand

Stephen Cox

Elena Shramkova

Chief Education Officer, New Nordic School, Finland

Liljana Luani

Senior Teacher ‘Pashko Vasa’ school Shkodra, Exceptional Volunteer, Albania

English and Literature teacher, Owner of “The Smart Teens Studio of English” in Belgorod, Russia

Ralph Valenzisi Chief of Digital Learning and Development, Norwalk Public Schools, Connecticut, United States

Hatem Slimane

Servatius (Servee) Palmans Former Director School Administration & Business Operations (Large Education Group), Chief Operating Officer - BBD Education, Dr. Lilian Bacich Netherlands & UAE Senior Educationist, Author, Keynote Speaker, Co-founder Tríade Educacional, Brazil

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K12 Digest June 2021

Founder & National President - ATAST, General director of IFEST² the international projects competition in Tunisia, General secretary of MILSET Africa, BRISECC member, Tunisia

Juan Manuel Pico Education Soul Co-founder & HundrED Country Lead Colombia, Colombia

Hidekazu Shoto

Dr. Venus M. Alboruto

Angus Duthie

Master Teacher, Researcher, Innovator, Trainer, Philippines

Former Vice President Security (Large Education Group), Former British Army Officer (Airborne Forces), Senior Advisor – Resilience and Crisis Management (Emerald Solutions Group), United Kingdom & UAE

Innovative English and ICT Teacher, Author, Japan

Ian Deakin

Deputy Head and Dean of Faculty, Dalton Academy, Beijing, China

Shady Elkassas Rania Lampou

Global Teacher Prize Finalist 2019, 15 International Awards on STEM, STEM Instructor, Educator, Neuroscience Researcher, Trainer & Author, Greece

Director of Innovation Al Ittihad National Private School-Al Ain, United Arab Emirates

Fethy Letaief Distinguished Senior EFL Teacher, ISA Coordinator with the British Council, Motivational Speaker, Tunisia

Herwin Hamid

Ha Nga

EdTech Specialist, Speaker and Teacher Trainer, Innovative ICT Educator, ICT learning multimedia developer, Indonesia

Revolutionary English Educator, Globally Connected English Studio - Hanoi, Vietnam

Dr. Leonilo Basas Capulso Master Teacher, Speaker and Researcher, Philippines

Kihyun Park Innovative Educator of Online Classroom, Pungsaeng Middle School, South Korea

Mr. Ngô Thành Nam

Technology Academy Manager, Microsoft Learning Consultant, Global Trainer, Vietnam

Dr. Varughese K.John, PhD Former Program Director, MS in Management Program, GSATM - AU, Thailand & India

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Contents

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COVER STORY

SKEI SMT. KAMALABAI EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

MAKING A DIFFERENCE WITH

PERSONALIZED EDUCATION 8

K12 Digest June 2021

Mentor’s Opinion

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FOCUS ON CURRICULUM AND TEACHING METHODOLOGIES OVER DEGREE STAMPING

DR NIRANJAN HIRANANDANI, PROVOST, HSNC UNIVERSITY

Industry Views

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ROLE OF EDTECH PLATFORMS ONCE SCHOOLS RE-OPEN

DIVYA LAL, MANAGING DIRECTOR, FLIPLEARN

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HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN IMPROVE THE ADMISSION SYSTEM IN DIGITAL INDIA

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VIKAS KAKWANI, FOUNDER, AAS VIDYALAYA

JEROLD CHAGAS PEREIRA, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR & CEO, MPOWERO

THE GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS’ READINESS OF ADOPTING ATL

SARANG GAGAN, FOUNDER, EDUPHORIA

EDTECH SECTOR’S EMERGENCE AMONG THE MASSES IN THE COVID-19 ERA

NIKITA SIVAKUMAR, CO-FOUNDER & CEO, ADMITNXT

BENEFITS GALORE: NEWAGE EDUCATION TOOLS – LOWER OPERATIONAL EXPENSES AND MUCH MORE

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Contents Academic Views

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IDENTIFYING STUDENTS WITH MENTAL HEALTH DISORDERS: A GUIDE FOR PARENTS AND TEACHERS ALKA KAPUR, PRINCIPAL, MODERN PUBLIC SCHOOL

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EDUCATORS’ STRESS IS A SERIOUS MATTER THAT NEEDS ATTENTION DR. SOMALI GHOSH, ASST. PROFESSOR, CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY, AND CHIEF STRATEGY ADVISOR, KAPDEC

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CHOOSING THE RIGHT SCHOOL FOR CHILDREN WITH LEARNING DISABILITIES WITH A CURRICULUM SPECIALLY DESIGNED FOR THEM

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56 Admin Perspective

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IMPORTANCE OF COMPETENCY BASED LEARNING FOR STUDENTS

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ROHAN PARIKH, MANAGING DIRECTOR, THE GREEN ACRES ACADEMY

K12 Digest June 2021

AISHA BHARMAL, HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL, THE ADITYA BIRLA INTEGRATED SCHOOL

Best Practices

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RAJIV BANSAL, DIRECTOROPERATIONS, GLOBAL INDIAN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL (GIIS) INDIA

HARSHADA KEER AJMERA, ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS COORDINATOR AND A SPANISH TEACHER, ADITYA BIRLA WORLD ACADEMY

TEACHING METHODOLOGIES THAT SCHOOLS MUST ADOPT TO IMPROVE STUDENT EXPERIENCE AND RETAIN KNOWLEDGE

TOP 5 TIPS FOR SURVIVING THE UPCOMING EXAM STRESS

The whole sTudenT view Our assessments provide a deeper insight into your students’ capability, struggles, learning barriers, current and comparative performance and rate of progress. With this information you are better able to personalise learning according to each individual student’s need. our assessments provide robust, standardised external data for: • Supporting decision-making across teaching, learning and pastoral needs • Identifying areas for school improvement • Preparation for inspections and accreditations.

• Benchmarking and value-added • Informing staff professional development requirements • Showing prospective parents what the school has to offer and he effectiveness of teaching

international@gl-education.com

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gl-education.com

MENTOR’S OPINION

Focus on Curriculum and Teaching Methodologies Over Degree Stamping Dr Niranjan Hiranandani, Provost, HSNC University

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The education curriculum of today needs to focus not only developing better job seekers but to also introduce actual job creators

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he Indian Education system is archaic and in dire need for a complete overhaul. Students, today, are unable to translate the education received to secure a job, leading to a substantial gap witnessed between the degree acquired and the industry requirements. In fact, the India Skills Report 2020 found that only 42% employers say “most” job seekers satisfy their requirement in terms of quality of the talent. The sector now must move from the teacher-centric teaching pedagogy to a learner-centric one. It’s time to let go of the old chalk and talk methods, and bring India to the forefront of the global education landscape. The talent in the country has always been limitless, and the focus should be to nurture the same to create an economy that shifts gear to becoming unstoppable.

The Government of India announced the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020, a comprehensive framework for elementary to

higher education which includes vocational and skill training. The idea is to create a multidisciplinary and blended learning model that enables holistic learning and development of all students. It is meant to help bridge the gap mentioned earlier, between formal education and the needs of Industry 4.0. Redesigning the obsolete education syllabi and degree stamping in the context of globalization and technological disruption is vital, eventually leading to an overall revolution in the history of Indian Education System.

The NEP 2020 approaches teaching pedagogies in a way to empower students as individuals; individuals equip with critical thinking, independent learning, entrepreneurial abilities and knowledge of the new IT data disciplines and the active learning of the rich, complex and every changing environment of today. Learners must be able to self-assess in an effort to understand the advancement of their own

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The importance of academic excellence in the making of a highly successful first-generation business entrepreneur is perhaps best personified by Dr Niranjan Hiranandani. As a student, he had the distinction of standing second during his graduation from Mumbai University in his Bachelor of Commerce Degree Hons.

This was followed by completing F C A from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India. Adding a new dimension to his versatile personality, it truly befits the new role of academician for one who started his career as a teacher to the students learning Chartered Accountancy. Over the years, he has set up the Hiranandani Foundation School, successfully run the academic institutions of the HSNC Board - it is only in the fitness of things that his wish to go further and become an educationist comes true as Provost of the newly set up HSNC University in Mumbai. Excellence was not confined just to his studies as the ‘Developer extraordinaire’ as also ‘the one who redefined the skyline of Mumbai’, he has evolved into not only an industry leader but also an Industry Knowledge Guru.

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skill-set. To stay relevant in the industry, NEP 2020 aims to provide an approach that encourages the commitment towards lifelong learning and conscious up-skilling.

However, this must be undertaken while ensuring the sound know-how of the industry by emphasizing on the practical application of knowledge through internships and projects.

The Program also lays impetus on vocational skills in the curriculum which will help boost the sector and create better industry ready employment. The new teaching pedagogies and the overall syllabi must now be designed in association with local employers to make them industry relevant.

With more internships and apprenticeships being offered, students are trained to be job ready. The cultivation of more diversified talent, skill execution and bright entrepreneurial minds, will lead to an overall surge in job creation, leading to nation building and an eventual higher GDP growth.

Today, the job market is more dynamic than ever with path-breaking innovations being introduced constantly.

Likewise, the education curriculum of today needs to focus not only developing better job seekers but to also introduce actual job creators.

In an effort to introduce this collaborative industry, the Government has already put in place a regulatory mechanism that allows dual degrees, joint degrees, twinning arrangements among others that encourage academic collaboration with foreign higher educational institutions. This

allows for the introduction of new teaching and learning pedagogies, broader critical and collaborative thinking opportunities, and most importantly, fosters Indian students to collaborate, compete and triumph on a global scale.

The multidisciplinary approach undertaken by NEP has the potential to align the generalists and specialists together.

It empowers students with the freedom to choose subjects from various disciplines, including sciences and humanities with sports and fine arts. This freedom to cultivate ones passion allows for an all-inclusive development of a learner’s personality in terms of Intellectual, Emotional and Social Intelligence Quotient.

Similarly, the blended education approach helps students to simultaneously pursue masters and skill development courses. This cohesive integration of curricular and extra-curricular activities makes room for an advantage to the effectiveness of the HEIs in this new model of education.

NEP 2020 works towards creating a paradigm shift within the existing educational structure of India. The onset of this disruptive and contemporary process will definitely produce the genius minds which are much needed in current societal scenario. Change is inevitable, but a well-designed change facilitates development.

Fortunately, the introduction and acceptance of diverse pedagogies helps develop ‘teaching’ as an art that binds culture, cognition, teaching and learning.

. This cohesive integration of curricular and extracurricular activities makes room for an advantage to the effectiveness of the HEIs in this new model of education

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MOST INNOVATIVE

SCHOOLS IN

BENGALURU

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nnovation implements change, nurturing it to pave the way into the future and making education more accessible. With increasing technology and growing accessibility to the internet, educators continually strive to bridge the gap to keep up with the times and integrate innovation into curricula. From the topics educators cover, to the techniques they use to teach it, the whole cycle of schooling has developed over the last few years, thanks to technological advancements that have been growing at an increasingly rapid pace.

In light of the pandemic, the education industry was forced to turn to technology to continue educating students. With the help of the world wide web and a seemingly increasing number of educational apps and services, students continue to equip themselves with an ample amount of information, both within and outside the scope of their curriculum. In this respect, many schools and other educational institutions have adopted AI-based tech and immersive applications like AR and VR to cater to student needs and prepare them for the future.

Being the Silicon Valley of India, Bengaluru continues to have an edge when it comes to technological innovations. In the field of education, it has taken a positive impact, with educators utilizing newer technologies in their teaching techniques. As a tech hub, educational institutions naturally have better access to innovations and potentially adopt some of them into their school curricula.

In this issue, we would like to showcase some of the innovative schools in Bengaluru to laud them for their forwardthinking approach and to part knowledge to parents looking for innovation and quality. We present “10 Most Innovative Schools in Bengaluru” as an endeavour to distinguish educational establishments that offer the most recent of advancements in the educational field.

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MOST INNOVATIVE

SCHOOLS IN

BENGALURU Website

Company Name Bangalore International School

www.bangaloreinternationalschool.org

Bishop Cotton Girls’ School

Canadian International School

www.bishopcottongirls.com

www.canadianinternationalschool.com

Chrysalis High

Greenwood High International School

Jain International Residential School

National Public School

Sarala Birla Academy

SKEI - Smt. Kamalabai Educational Institution

VIBGYOR High

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www.chrysalishigh.com

greenwoodhigh.edu.in

www.jirs.ac.in

www.npsinr.com

www.saralabirlaacademy.org

www.skei.edu.in

www.vibgyorhigh.com

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COVER STORY

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K12 Digest May 2021

SKEI SMT. KAMALABAI EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION

MAKING A DIFFERENCE WITH PERSONALIZED EDUCATION

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020 has provided a window of opportunities to usher transformational changes in the schooling system. It has also reinforced the truth that the role of a ‘teacher’ is crucial for the system to succeed.

Embracing technology, schools have been using strategies to help children become

independent learners, with teachers graduating to the role of facilitators rather than instruction givers. Driving innovation, SKEI - Smt. Kamalabai Educational Institution is shifting from brick-and-mortar schooling to co-exist with online learning. Designing and developing a new curriculum, combining classroom-based and online learning to provide a continuum of learning that helps to define a learning path for

students is the need of the hour as in this type of learning, students, depending on their progress, will seamlessly switch between the two modes of learning.

Situated in the heart of the Bangalore, SKEI is a 90-year-old Institution that believes in imparting education to children. To prepare for the future, the school focuses on the present to develop competencies within every child.

“The journey for the future starts by re-designing our curriculum that will help to transition the child to become an autonomous learner while providing them the necessary freedom, trust, and responsibility both within and outside the classroom”, states Mr. V. K. Surendra, Secretary, SKEI. The new curriculum of SKEI is based on the belief that schooling should mimic real life, where mixed-ability mixed-aged and mixed-gender groups collaborate to solve problems. Mr. Surendra adds, “Our curriculum encourages a heterogeneous grouping of students to collaborate to solve problems. The focus will be on achieving learning outcomes as well as developing competencies.”

A school that focuses on the journey of learning for each child and chase excellence, SKEI defines chasing excellence

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as a reflective journey within each child that helps them to work hard to keep pushing boundaries to realize their potential. Focusing on the journey of learning helps them create diverse yet interconnected experiences for children where knowledge creation occurs at the intersection of these experiences. “We do not have co-curricular or extracurricular activities in our school. Instead, everything that we do is curricular! Academics, performing arts, craft, sports, clubs, etc. are an integral part of everyday life in our school”, says Mr. Surendra.

Providing Well-Rounded Education Paying attention to every child in the institution, SKEI keeps the class student strength between 20-25, using progressive pedagogical strategies such as Self-Organized Learning Environment (SOLE), to help children develop competencies such as authentic research, collaboration, and communication.

At SKEI, experience equals learning, and the same philosophy

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extends in everything that is done, including demonstrating behaviors, as they believe that children model themselves after teachers. “The uniqueness of our school is that we have the same standards for chasing excellence for everyone who works in our school. This is made possible by providing individual attention to the needs of teachers, students, and every other staff member thus making personalized education truly possible”, opines Mr. Surendra.

Combining the principles of UbD, Learning Ladders, resources, and technology, SKEI has provided support for each child to not only attain, but exceed their required learning levels. “A majority of our students have consistently outperformed the national average. They have won international awards such as in The Queen’s Commonwealth Essay Writing Competition, international collaboration opportunities with MIT USA to develop tactile geometric puzzles to help visually impaired children learn Mathematics, hosting interactive SOLE meetings with the international

student community, winning state and national level awards in sports – Tennis, Shuttle Badminton, Track and Field events to name a few”, explains Mr. Surendra.

Believing that school is an extension of the home, parents are very important stakeholders in student’s education and are an integral part of the schooling system at SKEI. School leaders, teachers, and parents have to collaborate in developing the children. As the saying goes ‘It takes a village to raise a child, the contribution from everyone is important in this journey. To develop learning as a life-long habit, it is imperative to create the right atmosphere both at school and home because we are all products of our environment.

The institution’s orientation meetings with the parents precisely address the need for nurturing through creating an appropriate environment at home. Parent orientation programs are conducted at the beginning of every academic year. These are broadly classified into two categories to meet the socio-emotional as well as cognitive needs of children. Mr. Surendra adds, “Our in-house counselors conduct intensive programs that help parents to gain

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into social and emotional development needs of children while our school leaders and teachers conduct programs on cognitive development needs as well as explain our school’s curriculum. To stress the importance of nurturing through the environment, these programs are conducted at least twice a year for our parents”.

Making sure that school operations should be transparent and open to parents, the school helps parents gain firsthand experience daily school life through ‘a-day-in-school’ program and help the parents spend time in the school to gain insights into our curriculum in action, thus developing a sense of appreciation for the diverse learning strategies that our school implements.

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Surviving the COVID Storm The impact of COVID-19, as with all educational institutions across the country, was deep and wide across SKEI as they relied on experiential learning as a primary pedagogical philosophy for their students. Therefore, the school’s transition to online learning required extensive research, planning, and testing before its implementation. “Our teachers worked hard throughout the summer to research using online platforms to provide near-experiential learning experiences for our children. They did extensive research on developing lesson plans that used day-to-day materials normally available in homes as experiential learning manipulatives”, points out Mr. Surendra.

The traditional teacher led strategy have been replaced by unconventional online teacherparent collaboration strategy to help the children learn effectively, SKEI adopted a similar strategy for secondary school as well, where there was increased reliance on using day-to-day materials as manipulatives to help in effective learning. Science lessons relied heavily on using standard cooking ingredients, fruits, vegetables as well as cleaning materials, utensils, and cutlery. This method had the direct benefit of helping children to connect their textbook learning with real-life applications, thus cementing their learning process.

Apart from using standard technology platforms like Microsoft Teams to deliver online lessons, exhaustive research was conducted by SKEI’s Technology Task Force to identify solutions for peer-learning, as it is widely followed in our school. “We identified Gidimo App for its unique approach to enable peer-learning through gaming. This app is being extensively used in middle and high school to encourage peer-learning within our school as well as with all other national and international students who are on this platform.

Thus, learning is extended across boundaries”, states Mr. Surendra.

Lesson plans were extensively tested with each teacher giving demonstrations of their lessons and seeking feedback for continuous improvement. The transition to online at SKEI was executed in a phased manner and extensive testing was done by the teachers before starting the online lessons. The benefits of transitioning to online learning were tangible – learning became interdisciplinary, and students developed competencies such as applying knowledge, ability to connect and transfer knowledge within and outside the online classroom, become independent learners by using the Internet as a medium to research, collaborate and learn.

Encouraging Academic Excellence Equity in education is the foundational building block in SKEI, thus the training needs for every teacher are unique and specific to their job roles. The requirements are assessed at the beginning of the year along with the mode of delivery – either online or in-person based. Broadly, the programs include the domains of Technology, Content, Pedagogy, and Knowledge. The

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last covers a wide domain of emerging research as psychology, neuroscience, etc. Following a rigorous talent induction process that stringently evaluates every aspiring candidate on various dimensions, the selection process of teachers at SKEI involves multiple rounds of evaluation where the skills and competencies are assessed. All the teachers meet the statutory qualification requirements as prescribed by CBSE and are passionate educators caring for the well-being of every child.

Teachers are encouraged to take ownership of their development and training. They undergo scientific assessments to understand their strengths while experienced leadership coaches provide the orientation, to each one

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of them, to interpret their respective results. Tools and related resources are provided to teachers to help develop competencies. The coach-teacher check-in, to discuss the progress, is scheduled at periodic intervals and is an an-year long engagement. “Since learning is personal, the number of days varies for every teacher. On an average over the academic year, every teacher spends approximately ten days for training and an equal number of days for personal development”, says Mr. Surendra.

Each child has the inherent ability to learn and does so at a pace that is unique to them and SKEI caters to this through personalized attention and care to each student forms

the foundational building blocks of our teaching-learning strategy. The school’s class size is optimized between twenty to twenty-five students with a teacher to student ratio of 1:8.

“Personalized care is possible only when cohort size is kept within manageable levels. Therefore, this helps our teachers to understand every child in their class, thus laying the foundation for equity in education”, opines Mr. Surendra.

Weaving Individualized learning and differentiated instruction into their curriculum where each child progresses at a pace that is unique to them, SKEI’S personalized learning pathways help the students to know what they need to do next while teachers obtain detailed insights into the learning levels

of each student within the classroom. Mr. Surendra adds, “Immersive technology helps us to generate consolidated dashboards for the entire class that helps us to know where exactly each student is in their respective learning journey.

We use AI-based tools that automate the entire assessment lifecycle and over a while providing incisive insight into the progress of every child”.

Mimicking real life where people who belong to different genders, age groups, cultures, and abilities work together to achieve common goals, SKEI has grounded the educational philosophies of Dr. Rabindranath Tagore, Dr. Maria Montessori, and Jiddu Krishnamurthy in their curriculum.

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Their learner-centered curriculum helps children understand the interdisciplinary nature of life with encouragement to investigate, explore the interconnections amongst various disciplines such as Mathematics, Music, Science, Arts, Humanities, Performing Arts. A beautiful medium to help children experience learning through music, dance, art, and craft, SKEI strongly focuses on using these forms as a pedagogical philosophy to help their students become lifelong learners Encouraging children to learn music, dance, art, and craft and use them as a medium of learning, SKEI has a center of Performing Arts and Crafts – Adviteeyam, a unique center in the school where students are exposed to a variety of musical instruments like Guitar, Drums, Tabla, and Keyboard as an integral part of every students’ curriculum. The education philosophy of the School is strongly focused on the all-around development of abilities in every child. Therefore, cocurricular activities play a very important and critical role alongside academic subjects. “Our curriculum is designed to ensure appropriate time is allocated for our children to develop interest as well as excel in these activities. We are known as the best school with co-curricular activities as our timetable is a healthy balance between academics and co-curricular activities”, says Mr. Surendra.

Looking Ahead SKEI student-centric curriculum focuses on helping children realize their potential while developing strong life skills such as empathy, collaboration, positive and problem-solving attitude, high emotional intelligence, etc. The school follows the STEAM curriculum which has the right blend of Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Arts, a perfect combination to help children prepare for the present and future.

Emphasizing a stimulating, child-centric, and creative, SKEI enables its students

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to explore multiple dimensions of excellence, encompassing intellectual, social, psychological, and physical development. Presentations, roleplays, skits, debates, and discussions are few methods that children are motivated to present their creative works and ideas. They are also encouraged to participate in community service and civic awareness programs ensuring that they grow up in coordination with the school’s 360-degree vision of grooming children to be responsible.

Planning to deepen the 360-degree experience for their students, SKEI is in talks of including emerging science such as Genetics, Entrepreneurship Programmes, Immersive

Programmes in collaboration with corporate organizations that help seed, develop, and demonstrate competencies and skills. Currently a K-10 CBSE School, SKEI is planning to offer CBSE 11 and 12 grades from 2022-23. “The academic year 2022-23 will be the flagship year for our school. As part of the new curriculum offering, we will extend the currently offered career counseling services to our students to help them chose colleges/universities within India as well as outside the country. Also, we are going to scale our ‘Ideas in Cloud’ program to collaborate with schools in other countries to help their students and teachers become global learners”, concludes Mr. Surendra.

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ACADEMIC VIEWS

Identifying students with mental health disorders: A guide for parents and teachers Alka Kapur, Principal, Modern Public School

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Many of the students who are appearing for board exams are dealing with uncertainty regarding the exam dates and patterns, which could lead to stress and anxiety

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uch like adults, mental illnesses can affect the children too, and it can be even more problematic because they often can’t express what they’re feeling. There can be several reasons – physiological and psychological – that can cause a child to suffer from a mental illness. Students suffering from mental health issues struggle in the school environment if their needs aren’t being met.

While the education sector has been trying to deal with this problem for a long time, the Covid-19 pandemic has added fuel to the fire. Students suddenly had to transit from classroom learning to online learning. They can no longer play outside with their friends. Many of the students who are appearing for board exams are dealing with uncertainty regarding the exam dates and patterns, which could lead to stress and anxiety. Considering all this, we can say that it is extremely important for parents and teachers to learn how to identify early symptoms of mental illness among the children/students so that they can intervene at the right moment.

Why is it difficult to identify mental health disorders among children?

Identifying mental health disorders among children is not easy, and there are several reasons for that.

1. Childhood development is a process that involves change. So it may be difficult to interpret whether a new change is part of the process or the symptom of a mental disorder.

2. Children of different ages exhibit different symptoms for the same disorder.

3. Children are not adept at explaining their thoughts, behavior, and feelings clearly.

4. Unfortunately, sometimes the students have to live with undiagnosed mental disorders because the parents tend to ignore or suppress those symptoms as the term “mental disorder” has a lot of stigmas associated with it.

Most common mental health disorders among children Children/students may suffer from the following mental/ developmental disorders.

• Anxiety disorder: Children can often exhibit a persistent fear, worry, or anxiousness that may severely affect their ability to take part in school activities, playing, and age-appropriate social situations.

Social anxiety, generalized anxiety, and obsessivecompulsive disorders (OCD) are the most commonly diagnosed disorders.

• Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD): According to a survey conducted by NCBI, 11.32% of primary students suffer from ADHD. These students face difficulty when they’re trying to concentrate; they tend to have a short attention span and exhibit impulsive behaviors and hyperactivity.

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Ms. Alka Kapur, (CBSE & State Awardee) Principal, Modern Public School, Shalimar Bagh, Delhi is an empowering leader, a zealous educationist with rich academic and administrative experience offering an illustrious career of 32 years in educational research. As the Principal of the school, she has taken the school to great heights through open attitude for learning and love for children. Twenty years of her sedulous selfless service as the Principal has accorded the school a priceless status in Forbes India Marquee Edition, The Great Indian Schools.

• Autism spectrum disorder (ASD): This disorder usually affects children quite early in their life (usually before the age of 3). As the name suggests, the severity of the disorder may vary from student to student, but they all have difficulty communicating and interacting with other people, which may often come out in the form of emotional outbursts in social situations.

• Eating disorders: Symptoms of eating disorders may include obsessions with an ideal body type, disordered thinking about weight and weight loss, and irregular eating habits. Eating disorders — such as anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, and binge-eating disorder — can lead to emotional and social dysfunction and life-threatening physical complications.

• Depression: Millions of students all over the world suffer from depression, which is a persistent feeling of gloominess or lack of interest in everything. It may affect a student’s ability to function properly in school and at home. Bipolar disorder is another common mood disorder that causes sudden and extreme shifts in mood, from depression to mania, which takes a heavy toll on a child’s mental condition.

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• Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Children who have either witnessed or have been subjected to violence can suffer from PTSD. If left undiagnosed, it can also lead to APDs (Antisocial Personality Disorders) which may result in the partial or total lack of empathy and stunted emotional growth.

• Schizophrenia: Schizophrenia is one of the most debilitating mental disorders that can cause a person to lose touch with reality. Students who suffer from schizophrenia may suffer from vivid auditory or visual hallucinations. Schizophrenia often is a chronic disease that requires lifelong care and medication.

Early diagnosis, however, can help control psychotic episodes by a great deal and help students live a normal life.

What are the indicators of mental illnesses among students that you should keep an eye out for?

If you observe any of the following symptoms among your children/students, seek out professional help immediately.

• Prolonged sadness and dullness that lasts more than two weeks • Social withdrawal • Self-harm or the ideation of self-harm

Mental health awareness is the need of the hour, and thankfully we’re finding success in peeling back the layers of the stigma that have covered mental illnesses for a long time.

• Violent behavior that may pose a threat to the child in concern and those surrounding him/her • Suicide ideation • Emotional outbursts and irritable demeanor • Sudden shifts in mood • Sudden changes in eating habits • Sudden loss or gain of weight • Insomnia • Frequent headaches or stomachaches • Trouble focusing and concentrating • Degradation of academic performance • Avoiding school and friends How to help children cope with mental disorders Parents and teachers can play a huge role in a child’s treatment plan. They spend a lot of time with children and can easily observe any changes in their behavioural patterns.

Following are some of the steps that need to be followed to fast-track the treatment: • Make sure you learn about the illness in detail. The more you know about the disease, the easier it will be for you to manage it.

• As a parent, you should consider family counseling as well.

• Consult your child’s mental health advisor

for advice on how to deal with difficult situations posed because of the disease.

• The parents and teachers should enroll in a training program, where they can learn about the different types of mental illnesses and how they affect a child’s behavior.

• Dealing with a child who is facing mental issues can often be emotionally taxing.

Make sure you learn to respond calmly and rationally.

• Find out ways to engage your child in fun and relaxing activities.

• Celebrate every improvement – no matter how small it is.

• The parents should contact their child’s school authorities and brief them about the situation. This way, the school staff will be able to monitor the child closely.

Mental health awareness is the need of the hour, and thankfully we’re finding success in peeling back the layers of the stigma that have covered mental illnesses for a long time. It is necessary to realize that just like any other part of our body, our brain is susceptible to malfunction as well. However, by providing the right support at the right time, we can help our children fight these disorders.

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ACADEMIC VIEWS

Educators’ Stress Is A Serious Matter That Needs Attention Dr. Somali Ghosh, Asst. Professor, Case Western Reserve University, and Chief Strategy Advisor, Kapdec

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Stress comes to educators from multiple sources – inside and outside educational institutions, from balancing academic integrity in grading to facing the trade-off between conscientious grading and parental student backlash

W

e often overlook the importance of looking after those who look after us.

Homemakers, caregivers, and yes, even educators. The general philosophy is that the higher the number of hours they put in, the higher productivity. In reality, nothing could be further from the truth. A well-rested and happy educator is more likely to be more patient and understanding and even more pleasantly persuasive than someone whose week schedule makes for a life that is more like running a marathon across an obstacle course.

Educators are the frontline workers and bear the brunt from all sides – students, parents, and administrators. A struggling student depends on a teacher; parents depend on educators for the wellrounded growth of their children. The success of any academic institution depends on the efficacy and skills of its educators. Educators carry the most critical responsibility on their shoulders, which can usually leave them stressed and exhausted.

Educators often get sidestepped when it comes to the stress that descends on them, especially in a covid-19 pandemic situation – where most educators entered the online educational arena out of necessity and not out of actual interest or intent. They ended up juggling a multitude of unfamiliar technology and gadgets, and software while trying to engage students online. Zoom fatigue afflicts them too but being the adults in the situation; the only option is to grin and bear it.

Historically, teachers were given the highest status and respect in the societal hierarchy. A most respected and well-regarded profession. However, in recent decades the appreciation for teachers has declined.

Teaching has become an underpaid and overworked profession. According to the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER), teachers tackle a lot more stress than any other professionals. Teaching is not just restricted to books and curriculum, but it comes with unforeseen challenges along with the inability to strike a work-life balance.

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Dr. Ghosh began her career with the elite Indian Economic Service (IES) within the Planning Commission of India. She has been a part of the mathematical modeling unit within the Planning Commission that helped formulate India’s 5-year plans that guide the Indian economy. Having interacted with world-class economists and academicians, who ultimately inspired her journey into academia, Dr. Ghosh followed her dreams to pursue a Ph.D. in Marketing Management. Dr. Ghosh is inspired by the fascinating field of marketing and the wonderful students who brighten every classroom. Dr. Ghosh has previously taught at the University of Michigan, and currently a professor at Case Western Reserve University in the USA. Dr. Ghosh is serving as a chief strategy advisor at Kapdec.

Stress comes to educators from multiple sources – inside and outside educational institutions, from balancing academic integrity in grading to facing the trade-off between conscientious grading and parental student backlash.

Factors Causing Stress Among Educators Though innumerable reasons are leading to stress in educators, some are more pronounced and worrisome, such as misbehavior issues coming from students, excessive teaching workload on teachers, lack of autonomy, prolonged or, in some cases, nonexistential professional growth, in some cases poor school ethos, and lack of job security along with low salary in many cases. Unfortunately, teachers are always expected to do more in less time, with fewer resources and financial support.

Teaching has become somewhat more challenging after the pandemic. Now that the classes

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are being held online, discipline issues among students raise questions on teachers’ capability to manage their classes.

Since the rise of the virtual teaching model, teachers have continuously juggled between work and personal life. Many still struggle with the online tools and software, while others are trying to become adept and prepare lessons and assignments. Due to the sudden closure of schools, colleges, and universities amidst the lockdowns, teachers and students could not get any guidelines, instructions, and training for the smooth functioning of online classes. This added to the educator’s woes further. Discussing concepts, clarifying doubts, and explaining complex ideas in online teaching comes with their own set of challenges.

Many educators now find themselves exhausted, strapped for time. In the blurry picture of Covid-era teaching, they achieve very little even after putting in

The importance of educator’s mental health is crucial and invaluable for a student’s well-being

the extra effort. The new normal is gradually moving towards causing severe health ailments to the teachers in our country.

Solutions to Combat Stress The importance of educator’s mental health is crucial and invaluable for a student’s well-being. The school and university administration has an essential role in ensuring that teachers remain within the system and be happy and healthy when performing their job roles.

Teachers deserve better financial reward: The only country in the world that realizes the importance of educators and the need to take the stress off their shoulders, at least monetarily, is Germany, where educators have higher salaries than many other professions. They believe that education should be well-paying enough to attract the best talent – so they can, in turn, nurture the best in future generations. It is a worthy thought that should echo across the world.

Social Reward: Educators are often motivators.

They inspire and encourage – while they can’t give exams or interviews on behalf of students, but their motivation leads students to success. While praise for student success may flow in occasionally, they always face the ire of those who spent on education yet refrained from the application of adequate effort to imbibe that education.

Support Programs: Authorities must provide support programs to help teachers deal with and alleviate their stress levels before becoming too overwhelming. Wellness programs for improving teachers’ mental health, sanctioned leaves, and health benefits like subsidized gym memberships can drastically reduce teachers’ stress.

Self-help: There are some ways teachers can adopt in their daily lives to help them overcome debilitating amounts of stress. Exercising for 30 minutes, meditating daily for 15 to 20 minutes, and performing cardiovascular activities can help them stay fit, mentally and physically. Besides physical and mental fitness, it is essential to invest some time in one’s emotional well-being. Spending some quality time with one’s family and loved ones can prove highly beneficial in releasing work tensions.

Taking a walk, going for a jog, and listening to songs can also help.

Summing Up The harsh reality is that every year, more work is added to the work platter of educators without anything being taken away. Administrators need to come forward and take responsibility for the welfare of teachers. It is time for a revision in the government’s policies for the education industry regarding the wages and benefits to address the overall well-being of teachers. It is time that the health of educators, both mental and physical, is treated as a priority, and they are provided with enough resources to help them deal with stress.

Experience has shown that happy and successful people make happy and encouraging educators, making for happier students and a brighter future for the world.

Dr. APJ Kalam, former President of India and an eminent educator in his own right, has said – “Education is the best weapon in the world that can change the world.” The educational system is only as good as our educators; hence ensuring educator wellbeing should be a top priority.

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INDUSTRY VIEWS

Role of EdTech Platforms Once Schools Re-open Divya Lal, Managing Director, Fliplearn

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Based on current trends, the online education sector has a very bright future ahead, with significant growth anticipated in the coming years

O

ne of the inadvertent manifestations of the Covid 19 pandemic and the following closure of schools and the disruption in regular education system has been the boost to ed-tech players in the sector.

Everyone, from investors to consumers, schools and policymakers saw ed-tech as the only way to keep the flow of education going.

Because of the momentum gained in 2020 and online learning becoming de rigeur, Ed-tech platforms have begun 2021 on a robust footing.

While students and teachers have been confined to their homes for the past one-year, blended learning has become the only way for them to continue learning. Once again, as the spectre of further disruption stares us in the face, and a fullscale return to schools this academic year also seems unlikely, ed-tech will continue to dominate education delivery through online learning as the primary mode of instruction, especially at the primary and secondary levels.

Based on current trends, the online education sector has a very bright future ahead, with significant growth anticipated in the coming years. While not everyone agrees that online education will replace traditional education, a hybrid model may gain momentum in the future.

Teachers and interactive sessions are going to be needed to address higher order thinking.

Soft and social skills — a big part of the school experience — cannot be adequately replicated without interactions. And yet, the growing popularity of virtual classrooms as a convenient hybrid model between online teaching and the traditional classroom experience is a strong indicator of which way the wind is blowing.

Blended learning will therefore play a role in reshaping our collective ambition of universal quality education – and at the same time, improve learning outcomes.

A blended approach to education accepts the fact that education is no longer limited to a

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Divya Lal is a visionary and charismatic leader and Ted X Speaker with over two decades of experience. Divya has created a special niche for herself in the Indian education industry. Passionate about providing access of quality education to all, she strives towards creating innovative solutions which drastically improve the teaching and learning outcomes. At Fliplearn, her role as Managing Director provides her the unique opportunity to bring all her skills on board to create a platform which can address the need for quality education in India.

classroom or school and that the age of 360-degree education is upon is. Education is happening all the time around the student as he or she accesses information, task work, test papers, assessments at will, round the clock with no limitations to space, time or location. The blended learning format redefines the traditional education paradigm and positively impacts the four basic equations in the process – teacher-student; student-student; parentstudent and parent-teacher as all four equations are regenerated in a new collaborative model.

With the opening of schools, the ed-tech players have to go above and beyond to succeed.

Post-covid problems will emerge when schools begin reopening. Legislation, or new rules may create insecurity among all stakeholders – colleges, students, parents, and teachers – and these may persist for some time until full normalcy is restored but this blended pedagogy mechanism – called the phygital – is by all estimations going to be the way of the future as

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the transition to digital education progresses and seeps into the education system.

Many ed-tech companies have curated Edtech platforms to give schools and teachers complete control of their students’ learning.

Their custom-made, engaging, and simplified content, and easy access to an array of impressive features for schools, has helped simplify teaching and learning by teachers. These platforms have re-imagined education in a 360-degree digital vision, without compromising on any aspect of traditional learning.

Schools and institutions have to rise to the occasion and embrace this model wholeheartedly.

It has to be seen not as a compromise, but as an improvement on the existing education model an option that empowers flexible learning and teaching without disruptions. In a post-Covid world that continues to be fraught with insecurities and unusual challenges, this is the way of the future.

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K12 Digest June 2021

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ADMIN PERSPECTIVE

Importance of competency based learning for students

By Rohan Parikh, Managing Director, The Green Acres Academy

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Along with the world, the skills being taught in schools must also be upgraded to suit students in the future

T

he world today is vastly different from what it was a few decades ago. There are new types of jobs and skills required in the workforce, and as the world continues to progress, there will be newer and different competencies that will be required by the workforce. We will live in what educators define as a VUCA world: a volatile, unpredictable, complex and ambiguous world. So for the future generations to be adequately prepared to enter the workforce, they need to be equipped with competencies that will be useful to them in the future.

Educational institutes are responsible for providing students with those competencies or core skills that will allow them to be satisfied and successful in the workplace.

Along with the world, the skills being taught in schools must also be upgraded to suit students in the future. No longer can we rely on the educational tools of the past to equip our students for the unknown future. So rather than teaching student’s specific tasks or specializations, it’s more effective to teach students some basic competencies which will ensure they grow into good citizens. Below are some of the core competencies schools should look to inculcate in their students from a very young age.

solution to problems, and therefore students too need to look at problems from various angles and present solutions that would best fit.

Creative Thought: Students should be taught how to think outside the box and come up with unique solutions to problems presented to them. There is no cookie-cutter

Effective Communication: Using the right tone, language and right kind of communication can prove to be a key factor in helping students correctly navigate

Critical Thinking: One of the most important skills that need to be inculcated in students is the ability to think critically and independently. This means that they should possess the skill to be able to take in information, analyse it and understand it, rather than taking someone else’s word for it. Especially in the current day where there is such as ease of access to information, students need to be to analyse for themselves what is correct and what is false information.

Collaboration: Both of these competencies work hand in hand. The workforce today is a more collaborative space than it has been the past decades. Almost any job profile requires a person to work effectively and efficiently along with others. Therefore students must be taught how to correctly pitch their ideas and receive feedback from others in a professional manner. They should be taught to read others and handle difficult situations that may arise in life, and later in the workforce.

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Rohan Parikh has attained a BSc in Economics from Wharton Business School, an MBA from INSEAD, and has more than 10 years of experience in the Real Estate and Hospitality industries.

In 2013 Mr. Parikh entered the field of education by founding The Green Acres Academy in Chembur, and simultaneously pursuing a Master’s degree in Education through Johns Hopkins University. His aim is to provide affordable yet holistic, and well-rounded education by adapting the latest research in teaching and learning techniques within the Indian context. What started as one campus of The Green Acres Academy in Chembur, Mumbai, has grown to a total of 3 campuses across Mumbai and Pune, as well as the latest Seven Rivers International School (an IGCSE affiliate school).

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Students must be taught how to correctly pitch their ideas and receive feedback from others in a professional manner

their way through life. Students have to be taught how to correctly present their ideas to other students, or adults and later on how to effectively communicate their ideas in the workplace. Good communication skills will also help students build self-confidence as they progress.

These core competencies should be brought into the classrooms and taught to students from a very young age. Together these will help students in achieving their goals and being confident in their abilities to reach their goals. And as students become adults and enter the workforce, they will be able to easily adapt, innovate, communicate and problem solve, making them overall changemakers in the workforce.

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K12 Digest Higher Education Digest June 2021 October 2020

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INDUSTRY VIEWS

How Technology can Improve the Admission System in Digital India Nikita Sivakumar, Co-Founder & CEO, AdmitNXT

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With the number of students seeking admissions doubling in the recent past, and continuing to rise, digitization of the admissions process was unavoidable

I

n every aspect of our lives, change is a constant - and the best way to deal with change is not to avoid, but to adapt. When it comes to technology, adaptability is a must, as it is always in a state of change - continuously evolving in order to stay relevant. During the pandemic, while many sectors struggled, the most negatively impacted was education. While there are multiple reasons for this, their level of technology implementation across their processes was a huge contributing factor. While educational institutions were the first to shut down when the first wave hit, the demand for education skyrocketed to new heights.

This is a massive opportunity for education institutes and technology implementation, if done right, can act as a true enabler and game changer.

Meeting specific challenges with tech While every industry has been impacted by the pandemic, educational institutions have been expected to continue fulfilling their commitment to their students. At this time, it was evident that technology was no longer ‘a nice to have’, but a must. Overnight, it became the education sector’s greatest need.

Slowly but surely digital transformation in education has begun, but more importantly, all the stakeholders are aware and beginning to accept the need to adapt to these new ways of engagement.

Prior to the pandemic, one of the most significant challenges was in managing the entire admissions lifecycle. With the addition of indefinite lockdowns, working from home, and the inability to meet in person, it has led to greater roadblocks in an already complicated process. Moreover, with the number of students seeking admissions doubling in the recent past, and continuing to rise, digitization of the admissions process was unavoidable.

With more and more institutions using ed-tech solutions to simplify the experience for both students and the institute, automated admissions has made the entire process more efficient, flexible and meaningful, eliminating long dreaded necessities such as waiting in queues, and running between multiple desks for simple tasks.

Another valuable outcome of digitized admissions is the transformation of the way we engage with stakeholders in the education ecosystem. Increasingly, educational institutions are seeing the value of building relationships and communicating effectively, allowing a more pleasant, and hassle-free experience to all. This shift in thinking has led to significant costs saving, better collaboration between teams, and improved performance.

While these are all important benefits from a business and brand perspective, the environmental impact shouldn’t be missed. By automating and digitizing

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Nikita started out in one of the fast growing ecosystems in the world Turbostart - a sector-agnostic national program aimed at helping start-ups find their way and beyond, from its inception in 2019. A year down the line, she then went on to be part of the founding team of Ken42. While interacting with and learning from academicians, administrators and owners of educational institutes, she came to be aware that many institutes were not being served well by their existing systems and processes - especially across the admissions lifecycle. She and her co-founders saw an opportunity to make a difference and went on to start AdmitNXT- the #1 AI First Admissions Solution - powered by Salesforce. Their solution harnesses the power of AI to drive the entire admissions cycle from lead sourcing to enrollment.

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admissions processes, we can enable a paperless office, minimizing our carbon footprint while maximizing impact.

By automating and digitizing admissions processes, we can enable a paperless office, minimizing our carbon footprint while maximizing impact

Digitizing admissions from end-to-end Ed-tech solutions run the risk of becoming irrelevant unless user adoption is ensured, and user adoption can only be guaranteed if the new way is better and easier than what existed before. When it comes to admissions, a solution that can address every stage of the process from enquiry and application to entrance exams and interviews to facilitating enrollment is what is needed. Moreover, each institution has its own nuances, so not only is user adaptability important, but so is adaptability of the solution.

Once the basic requirements such as online application form collection and fee payment are implemented, understanding what additional capabilities a product can offer to provide a better experience is key. Right from anticheating surveillance for online entrance exams, to live chat functions for student and parent engagement, the possibilities are endless.

AI-powered Admissions As technology further develops, institutions must strive to do the same. Let’s look at artificial intelligence as an example. What was once considered futuristic has now become so imbibed in our everyday lives. Even in education, integrating AI with many functions can have numerous benefits in driving efficiency and productivity.

For example, AI-powered chatbots are efficient at pushing students seamlessly through the admission funnel, enabling immediate and deeper student engagement. The function is effective in retaining students as much as they support the recruitment function by personalizing the interaction. It also leads to a wider reach by making you available 24x7x365 and letting you interact with multiple prospects at a time.

In addition to student engagement, AI-powered chatbots enable the gathering and filtering of student data, analyzing interactions, and sending the relevant details to the right teams, thus simplifying work for your teams.

A Technology-empowered education industry Technology has transformed the educational landscape and provided numerous conveniences to every stakeholder. From one-click processing to consolidated, organized, enhanced, and centralized platforms for various functions in every type of educational institution, technology can empower educational institutions to reach new heights. All you need to do is adapt and your opportunities are endless.

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INDUSTRY VIEWS

Benefits galore: New-age education tools – Lower operational expenses and much more

By Jerold Chagas Pereira, Executive Director & CEO, mPowerO

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New-age ed-tech platforms are designed keeping in mind mobile-first access as smartphones enable easier mobility – anytime, anywhere – and are more affordable vis-a-vis a laptop or desktop

E

ven before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, new age education tools or “e-learning” platforms were bound to gain wider acceptance because of three reasons. Firstly, the aspiration of Indian youth for better opportunities, secondly, technology becoming native to most parts of our daily lives, and lastly, the democratization of data and smart devices.

According to the World Economic Forum, worldwide there were more than 1.2 billion children affected by school closure during the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the adoption of online learning overnight, and this new ‘habit’ of online learning is here to stay, albeit in a hybrid or ‘blended learning’ format, as and when schools and colleges physically reopen. With this abrupt move away from the study hall in numerous pieces of the globe, some are contemplating whether the selection of web-based learning will keep on enduring post-pandemic, and how such a move would affect the overall education market.

According to a report by RedSeer and Omidyar Network India the coronavirus pandemic has been the biggest turning point for India’s edtech sector.

Online education is expected to increase 6.3 times by 2022, creating a $1.7 billion market for Classes 1 to 12. Whilst schools and other educational institutions may look towards e-learning platforms and other digital learning solutions to bring down operating costs, which they might in some instances, the main objective of e-learning platforms or Learning Management Systems (LMS) is to enable an institution to facilitate superior learning outcomes, thereby enhancing its reputation as a leading educational institution in its territory or domain. As an institution’s reputation grows from strength-to-strength, the benefits are many, most importantly to be able to ensure a steady stream of new applicants, thereby leading to steady, if not improved, revenues.

When it comes to cost-savings, new edtech platforms can deliver significant savings to educational institutions on the capital expenditure

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Jerold has 20+ years of sustained high performance in operations and business development across electronics, retail, hospitality and real estate sectors and has held leadership positions at large Indian business groups such as Tata, Piramal, DLF and Videocon. Jerold has a Master in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame and a Bachelor’s Degree in Financial Accountancy from the HR College of Commerce & Economics – University of Mumbai.

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front. Unlike the erstwhile “digital classrooms”, which required heavy investments into hardware by way of servers, smart-boards, etc, the newer and better ed-tech platforms are cloud-hosted, thereby negating the need of institutions having to invest in expensive hardware. More importantly, these cloud-hosted platforms can be accessed, anytime and anywhere, and do not restrict e-learning to only the physical classroom. In the long tenure, edtech is a worthy investment, with tools having a demonstrated record of expanding understudy commitment, and lessening hard expenses through mechanization, and adaptability.

Similarly, new-age ed-tech platforms are designed keeping in mind mobile-first access as smartphones enable easier mobility – anytime, anywhere – and are more affordable vis-a-vis a laptop or desktop. This has been a standout issue during the lockdown, when most students were accessing online lessons from smartphones, thereby enabling them with continuity in learning. In Fact the ‘India Lockdown Learning’ a report by NSDL, found that 79% of the students use smartphones, 17% of students attend their online classes using laptops and computers and the rest 4% of students attend it through mediums like tablets.

Furthermore, as the newer platforms are subscription-based models, schools can subscribe to the precise number of user licenses for each academic year and do not have to worry about surplus or shortfalls in e-learning hardware or software. In the case of chain schools, with geographically distributed campuses, balancing of surpluses and shortfalls becomes much easier when it comes to cloud-hosted, SaaS-based e-learning solutions.

New-age ed-tech solutions have also reduced ‘paperwork’, given that two-way communication is possible, with school administration and teachers communicating with students and parents via a single platform with the enhanced ability to personalize messages.

From a teacher’s perspective, in-built features that allow teachers to create, curate, and deliver high-quality digital learning resources as well as administer tests and exams enable education institutions to save on more expensive digital tools that they earlier had to spend on very easily. Additionally, auto-correction of tests and exams, real-time student report cards, AI-generated learning paths, etc have freed up a lot of time for teachers and reduced the need for them to have support staff who would do some of the administrative work.

There are many other benefits that new-age ed-tech platforms can bring to educational institutions, such as a consolidated digital library accessible to all campuses, easy sharing and access to best practices across different campuses, auto-randomization of test papers leveraging AI, self-proctoring during examinations, and more, all of which work toward reducing capital and operational expenses.

Whilst new-age educational tools most definitely help with cost savings, their main objective remains to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the learning process so that students benefit by way of a higher quality of learning and outcomes than they otherwise would have without access to such superior e-learning platforms.

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BEST PRACTICES

Top 5 Tips for Surviving the Upcoming Exam Stress Harshada Keer Ajmera, Activities and Events Coordinator and a Spanish Teacher, Aditya Birla World Academy

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Put that phone away while you are studying. The distraction or rather the temptation to see that one notification from some long lost friend is not going to help

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s there something more enchanting than the start of spring? The singing birds, the rising clouds, the warm weather, and the allergies (maybe that last one is not so enchanting at all). The fact is that the end of the semester drawing nearer, the months of April and May are some of the most intense academic moments for students- Final E.X.A.M.S. In simpler words, that familiar knot in your stomach that signals the impending arrival of stress, sleepless nights and caffeine overdose!

If any of these feelings sound familiar, you are not alone, and there are things you can do to help yourself: 1. Get organized Working backwards always helps! Look at exams as a time bound activity. So if your exams are scheduled for May, it is your 60-day challenge! Make a schedule for revision and for practice. Sit with your subject teachers and plan your revision schedule keeping in mind the final day of the exam. Create a schedule for your revision by breaking it down into tiny chunks. You won’t be puzzled on what to focus on at the start of the day once you have made a schedule. Study smart. Make sure you have plenty of spare time to relax and unwind. Nobody can work 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You will do the same amount of work in half the time or less if you allow yourself plenty of rest.

2. Mind your space Blending our physical spaces is one of the biggest blunders. This has become more relevant now that we are all home bound!! We work from homes, study in our bedrooms, eat on the bed and probably use the study table to just dump stuff! It is important to respect the space so even your mind can dissociate. Designate an area where you would do all your studying and revising. Beds should be meant only for relaxing.

3. Exercise and eat a well-balanced diet When you’re under a lot of stress, exercising may seem like the last thing you want to do, but this one comes with a guarantee that you will feel better afterward. In fact, if you are feeling up to it, you may have enough energy to do another hour of revision afterwards.

It is also important to eat the right food during these high stress moments for mental health and wellness. So it’s time to junk the junk and get your heart pumping!

4. Your phone can wait Put that phone away while you are studying. The distraction or rather the temptation to see that one notification from some long lost friend is not going to help. Checking the latest posts on Instagram, Facebook, and other social media platforms when revising is the

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If you’re having trouble finishing your responses on time or have a lot of time left over at the end, keep practicing until you have nailed the timings

worst kind of procrastination, as we all know how easily time flies when you are swiping through your feeds. A bit of unchaining from the phone can do wonders to your stress levels!

Harshada Keer Ajmera is the Activities and Events Coordinator and a Spanish Teacher at Aditya Birla World Academy. She is responsible for all things not academic at the Senior School in ABWA. Being a teacher at heart, she believes that education must move beyond material mastery.

Every classroom must allow for an atmosphere of expression and creativity.

She is passionate about the Spanish culture and seeks to inculcate some love for world cultures among her students.

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5. Mock exams at home One of the most common causes of exam anxiety is a lack of information about what to expect on the day of the exam, such as what questions to expect and how to respond to them. What is the most successful way to deal with this? Practice, practice, practice!

Get help from an adult to supervise the timings.

Time your at-home mocks. If you’re having trouble finishing your responses on time or have a lot of time left over at the end, keep practicing until you have nailed the timings. It’s a good idea to seek feedback from your subject teachers at school. They can help you look at your mock mocks to see what areas you should build on and whether there are any aspects of your case that could be improved further.

Exam success does not determine who you are.

Everyone reacts differently in different circumstances, and your personality is so much more than how well you respond to an exam. An exam just quantifies your knowledge. It always comes to challenge you and challenges are always difficult. Put your worries and stress into perspective and you will be able to face the exams head on! Let’s hope these small tips help you battle the exam stress!

12 Digest Higher EducationKDigest June 2021 December October January 2019 2020

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ADMIN PERSPECTIVE

Teaching Methodologies that Schools must adopt to Improve Student Experience and retain Knowledge Rajiv Bansal, Director-Operations, Global Indian International School (GIIS) India

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There is enough academic research, scholarly work, and practical experiment to prove that experiential learning leads to better retention of the subject matter

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he education system of any country is the foundation on which the character and personality of its citizens are built. Ancient Indian education system has been recognised as one of the most robust and inclusive systems in the history of world education. It had a fine balance of curricula and teaching methodologies that were holistic, flexible, and multidisciplinary in nature.

Over time, as Indian society evolved, financial and economic stability became the yardstick of individual success. For this reason, education in India became academically oriented and we started celebrating doctors, engineers, and management graduates a little more than sportspeople, musicians, authors, or artists.

But the Indian education system is at the cusp of change and the New Education Policy 2020 promises to bring back the holistic learning approach.

Progressive Indian schools are going back to their roots and amalgamating the time-tested and proven ways of teaching with new-age technology to introduce innovative and futuristic practices. These practices will not only improve student engagement and experience but will help them retain and apply knowledge better. Some such practices include:

Experiential learning to enhance engagement There is enough academic research, scholarly work, and practical experiment to prove that experiential learning leads to better retention of the subject matter. When one works with a concept and experiences the whole cycle of reasoning firsthand, not only is the learning holistic and sharper, but it also stays with them for longer. Most of us remember observing a seed’s sprout cycle well as we apply that learning in day-to-day life, similarly we recall seeing the cheek cell or onion cell under the microscope in the biology lab, experiencing rotten egg smell in the chemistry lab, or completing a circuit to light a bulb in the physics lab. But, if we are asked to recite a Hindi poem from 3rd grade, we might not remember it as well because limited senses were involved in that learning experience.

Innovative learning methodologies that provoke thought processes and encourage discussions and dialogue like Case study discussions, simulations and role-plays, field trips, debates, etc. are some experiential learning techniques that not only enhance the experience of the students but also help them retain knowledge better.

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Rajiv is a Business Leader with over 25 years of experience in Education industry in India, APAC, Africa and Latin America & the Caribbean, across the continuum of Skill Development, Employability and K-12 segments. In his current role as DirectorOperations at GIIS, Rajiv is responsible for business development, overseeing all operational matters related to infrastructure, academics, affiliation, compliances, recruitment & training, finances and driving the profitability & growth agenda of GIIS’s School business in India. In his past engagements with Aptech, NIIT, Pearson & HCL he has managed P&L, created products & services, set up distribution channels and leveraged technology for education delivery. While at NIIT, Rajiv executed large and complex projects, notably in setting up IT centres of excellence in Latin America & the Caribbean, which required working closely with various government bodies, diplomats and academic institutions on either side. Rajiv holds a B.E. degree and Exec-PGDM as his qualifications.

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Creating an environment to promote curiosity Scientists and researchers suggest that curiosity prepares the human brain for learning and knowledge absorption.

Fostering an environment of interactivity and curiosity is extremely imperative for turning our students into thinkers and not just followers. To promote curiosity, it must be embedded in the core of the instructional design of the teaching methodology. Students must be rewarded for thinking aloud and asking questions.

These questions can pave the path for mutual discussions and collaborative project work where students join hands and find answers to the questions of their fellow classmates. Constructive questioning and self-reflection also encourage ownership. Most students shy away from taking the lead in a larger group and feel under-confident, clarifying doubts in large gatherings.

But, when curiosity is rewarded, they feel comfortable, and this extends a sense of community and teamwork within the class. Therefore, curiosity not only contributes to enhanced subject matter learning but also impacts the personality development of the students positively.

Metacognitive strategies Metacognition refers to awareness of one’s own knowledge. Metacognitive ability helps us with effective selfreflection to understand and realise what we know, what we do not know and therefore identify the learning gaps we wish to work on. It is one’s ability to understand, control, and work on one’s cognitive processes. Metacognition can be taught using certainly evolved teaching methodologies and this skill can be honed with practice over time. If the students are given an opportunity to plan, organise, monitor and course-correct their own work with limited intervention or instruction, they develop a sense of ownership. With the right amount of time and space, they become aware

While syllabus, curriculum, academic rigour, arts, culture, sports, music, and more can build an individual’s personality, the true testimony of a successful individual is his/ her strength of character

of the knowledge they possess, and their ability to think, reflect and spot the gap areas grows over time.

Metacognition is an immensely relevant and useful quality to develop in this age of over information.

Embracing and applying technology In recent times, technology has proven to be a boon in ensuring continuity of teaching and learning.

Virtual classes have become a modern-day reality and it is not limited just to urban progressive new age schools but becoming a bridge to plug learning gaps across the board. While one end of the spectrum is virtual learning as a make-shift arrangement until free physical mobility becomes a reality again. The other aspect of technology inclusion is for enhancing the in-classroom or school campus teaching experience when life gets back to normal. From gaming-based learning to customising learner profiles, to projectbased learning, to multimedia resources to offering global exposure, technology is the backbone of modern learning. Be it learning to code and create applications or experimenting at robotics labs, technology integration is becoming the core of progressive learning system and it is about time we celebrate and embrace this inclusion.

Freedom with a sense of purpose While syllabus, curriculum, academic rigour, arts, culture, sports, music, and more can build an individual’s personality, the true testimony of a successful individual is his/ her strength of character. It is imperative to inculcate in a student, sense of responsibility, purpose, and the value of giving back to society. For this, it is crucial that an institution leads by example and instils strong values and ethics in its students. Teaching the value of being humane and laying equal emphasis on personality and character development is as crucial as adopting dynamic teaching methodologies and including modern learning.

Teaching is a highly responsible job as it shapes the future of an individual, the society, and the nation at large. The process is dynamic in nature and evolves over time. From the academic curriculum to the syllabus and the teaching methodologies, everything needs a close review for it to remain relevant with the changing times.

Having said that, one aspect that never changes in this dynamic environment, is the relationship between a teacher and the student. Based on mutual love, trust, and respect this is one of the most valued relationships in a student’s life cycle and teacher’s learning curve and it should remain that way.

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INDUSTRY VIEWS

The Government Schools’ Readiness of Adopting ATL Sarang Gagan, Founder, Eduphoria

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While private schools are doing their bit to offer the benefits of this initiative to the students, the question is how well the government schools are adopting this new change?

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nnovation and entrepreneurship will be cornerstones of the government’s vision of Atma Nirbhar Bharat (self- reliant India). It is widely acknowledged that there is a need to position India as an ‘innovation’ destination that builds products. Innovation and product development has been an area where we have been lacking despite the phenomenal growth in the services over the last two and half decades.

The government has firmly taken a step forward in this direction to instil innovation & creativity in the young minds by introducing Atal Tinkering Labs (ATL) in schools across India. It is an initiative by its thinktank NITI Aayog that focuses on enabling the students to learn through hands-on, do-it-yourself mode and correlate the theories learned in the classroom by building prototypes or working models. ATLs are dedicated innovation-based workspaces which expose students of grade 6th to 12th to technologies like 3D printing, robotics, IoT devices and do-it-yourself kits.

Today, ATL is a nationwide program, with over 7,000 labs already operational across the country. These labs are being established in Municipal Schools, government schools, private schools alike. This initiative is meant to encourage a culture of research and innovation in the schools and inculcate new-age skills like design thinking, problem solving, computational thinking etc.

While private schools are doing their bit to offer the benefits of this initiative to the students, the question is how well the government schools are adopting this new change?

The question is pertinent as government schools are generally seen as having limitations of physical and technical infrastructure, shortages of teachers. Teachers are used for many non-core jobs and execution of other govt programs. These challenges lead to a lot of differences between how a govt school functions vis-a-vis a private school. Moreover, government schools often have most of their students from lower income backgrounds. Therefore, the student’s exposure may be limited to the resources and facilities available in the schools.

In this backdrop, when ATL labs are being established in government schools, most of the equipments and tools provided are new to students and even teachers in most cases. This poses a challenge to these schools, as they struggle to capitalize the full potential of ATL Lab with their limited resources and infrastructure.

However, there is a great amount of enthusiasm among teachers and students alike to overcome these issues and quickly grasp the concepts to carry out activities and build working models.

This gap is also being addressed by companies like ours by deploying training programs to hand-hold the schools initially and bring them to a level where they start

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Eduphoria is the idea of Sarang Gangan who has spent nearly 20 years working in the education sector. During these years, he understood the challenges & gaps that exist in the Indian education system primarily driven by lack of quality teaching aids and technology penetration in schools and colleges, especially in smaller towns and cities. The company is contributing to enable the vision of NITI Aayog’s Atal Tinkering Labs to ‘Cultivate one Million children in India as Neoteric Innovators’; by setting up ATLs across the country with a focus on tier2 &3 cities. This year, Eduphoria plans to reach out to 200 new institutions impacting at least half a million students.

managing it on their own. We have seen numerous cases where government school students show impressive learning outcomes, even in remote areas.

We have seen instances where grade 7 students of Govt Naveen Higher Secondary School Choona Bhatti Bhopal who have not used a computer before independently started doing 3D modelling and making prototypes on 3D Printers on the third day of their training program. Such students who had no exposure to even a computer are able to pick up blocking programming quickly. In another instance, Nutandanga High School, a village level government school in Birbhum district, students have created many working projects like Controlling Cars with Mobile Bluetooth, sensor-based lighting system in the lab. They have created many working models and are eager to compete with their fellow students of any top-notch private school from urban areas.

Hands-on training in ATL Labs is strengthening better conceptual understanding of science and laying a strong foundation. It also offers a platform for mentorship that is not limited to understanding of scientific concepts alone. It is also providing an opportunity for personality development and creating an entrepreneurship mindset. Gradually, the system

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is shifting the education paradigm from traditional rote learning to hands-on, experiment based learning.

The outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic has also challenged the function of ATL Labs in schools as it needs a hand-on approach and most of the students are not attending the schools. This situation, however, has created more acceptance for online classes. This can be a blessing in disguise as it has substantially brought quality training available to even the remote schools where the resources were not easily available in the physical mode. There is definitely more online activity like mentoring sessions, workshops etc that has also brought industry participation to schools.

The idea of education has gradually evolved— from making people literate, to fostering curiosity and innovative mindset; The focus is now on providing an ecosystem that enables creative solutions to real-life problems. It has leveled the playing field for government school students in both urban and specially in rural areas by giving them the exposure to new-age tools and technologies. They are getting more equipped for opportunities that the future will offer. These students may turn out to be the biggest beneficiaries of this initiative.

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INDUSTRY VIEWS

Edtech Sector’s emergence among the masses in the COVID-19 era Vikas Kakwani, Founder, AAS Vidyalaya

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Combining cutting-edge technology with a personalized learning methodology can deliver much better results

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he education industry has undergone a revolutionary change in recent times.

Although these changes were ushered in by a chain of unfortunate events, the results have been astounding, especially for the edtech industry. Edtech start-ups that had received $553 million worth of investment in 2019 are receiving nearly $2.22 billion now. Another report

by RedSeer and Omidyar Network India states that India’s edtech industry is expected to reach $3.5 billion by 2022. Almost all the companies in this sector have fared well and are looking forward to expanding themselves in the coming quarters. But it was not so before COVID-19.

Until some years ago, the concept of an online classroom was frowned upon and not considered with any seriousness. The only role that technology was thought to play in children’s lives was a distraction, straying them away from their actual goals. Though things have not turned smooth they are changing and have created a need in the market.

In India, accessibility is a major roadblock, only 20 percent of students have access to both laptops and

smartphones, whereas 20 percent have access to smartphones, 30 percent have access to only feature phones and the rest 30 percent have no access at all.

Such a scenario does bring forward lots of challenges as well as opportunities for the edtech industry. To understand the opportunities open to the edtech industry and to gauge its growth, one has to return to the time when the pandemic had just hit the country.

The nationwide lockdown in March 2020 had sent our 250 million student population into a state of disarray. Given that the country was still grappling even to understand the situation, the hardships faced by students were barely considered.

While some urban institutes and student populace did turn to the online medium, their strength was still numbered. In rural areas where the infrastructure is limited, such solutions have largely remained out of reach.

But clearly, the Covid challenges were here to stay, and returning to the brick and mortar classroom was unthinkable and remains so. It was in the face of such a crisis that the edtech companies stepped in to solve the problem both for students as well as parents.

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With lots of blessings, some perseverance, and a bit of luck, Vikas has come a long way from the narrow lanes of the old Meerut city where he was born and brought up. After graduating with an honors degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT(Roorkee) in 1993, he joined IIM(Lucknow) from where is passed out in 1995 majoring in Marketing & Finance.

Vikas has worked for 20+ years from the ground up to leadership positions across FMCG, Telecom & Real Estate sectors in India & Middle East. He started his career with Marico Industries and then moved to Coca-Cola before flying off to foreign shores in Dubai and worked in the unchartered waters of Real Estate where he experienced the boom and the bust. He returned to India in 2010 and worked in the Telecom industry for some time post which he helped a PE fund set up an FMCG company just before embarking on his own entrepreneurial journey in 2016.

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The figures may surprise you, but it is only until you pay closer attention to the kind of role edtech companies play now.

Conventional classrooms and teaching methods often missed out on essential points such as creativity and logical thinking.

But these problems are readily solved by edtech solutions.

The technology used by these platforms is well researched, and so are the teaching methods. So combining cuttingedge technology with a personalized learning methodology can deliver much better results.

Given that all other methods are exhausted, parents too are forced to step out of their comfort zone and try out the new wave of education for their wards. So many of the myths that surrounded the edtech industry are also getting debunked today.

Now, if you are wondering how edtech can reach out to the rural masses and the disadvantaged, you only have to look at the innovations by some of the leading companies. Using the impetus of the government for Digital India along with the increased internet penetration, these edtech firms are ensuring that their content is available at the lowest possible cost.

Further, popular platforms such as Youtube and Social media apart from their own dedicated apps are also helpful. The fact that these apps can be downloaded easily with most of the content being free for users means edtech companies are striking the right balance between profit and the cause of imparting quality education.

With the pandemic situation still lingering, analysts have predicted that the edtech companies’ positive growth trend will sustain in the upcoming quarters. But, even after the situation changes, these platforms are here to stay. What is likely to change is rather the conventional attitude to education. In fact, the time is not far when almost all conventional classrooms will depend on edtech solutions for a more wholesome education of students.

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ACADEMIC VIEWS

Choosing the Right School for Children with Learning Disabilities with a Curriculum Specially Designed for Them Aisha Bharmal, Head of Junior School, The Aditya Birla Integrated School

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Prioritise your child’s needs, then seek to find a school that will fulfil those needs. Prepare a checklist if you need to

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or any parent, seeking admission to a school for their child marks one of the most significant decisions to impact the child’s future. Various factors are taken into consideration, including but not limited to reputation of the institution, quality of education, proximity to one’s home, fee structure, scope for all round development among others.

When looking for the right school for a child with learning disabilities, some additional criteria come into play. Since the learning disability is identified/diagnosed in school going children, the child is already placed in a school. The decision then reaches a significant juncture: whether to continue in the same institution, or seek a more specialised set up, designed to meet specific learning needs.

While pondering the options, parents need to ask some vital questions, the answers to which will point them in the direction best suited for their child’s educational needs.

Some important questions to deliberate on while deciding on a school for your child with learning disabilities: Is it really necessary?

Switching schools is a really big decision involving uprooting the child from an existing routine, set of friends and comfort zone. Does the current school offer a supplementary learning resource program? Would it help

to bridge the gap in skills that the child is facing, while allowing them to remain in the so-called ‘mainstream’ school? Hence, unless the disability is so severe that the child is unable to cope with the academic expectations, or it is affecting his/her self-esteem, it would be wise to think through carefully before a potential upheaval of this nature.

What does my child need?

Parents know their child best. Is it a different and tailored curriculum, or simply a diverse and innovative methodology of teaching the same? Perhaps the problem lies in the sheer number of students in class, and a smaller student-teacher ratio is required for more individualised attention. Prioritise your child’s needs, then seek to find a school that will fulfil those needs. Prepare a checklist if you need to.

Does the school have specialists?

Once it has been established that a switch in schools is in order, one of the most important factors to take into account is whether the school offers various therapies and special programmes. These therapies include Remediation, Speech and Occupational Therapy and counselling services. If there are qualified professionals offering the various therapies, parents can rest assured their child with learning disabilities will have access to the support he/she needs to succeed at school.

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What about other considerations, ones that go beyond academics? Is the emotional well-being of the child catered to, and given priority?

If academics is the sole driving force of the institution, children with learning disabilities are bound to feel pressurised to ‘match up’ with peers academically.

Instead, it would be more beneficial to the child’s well-being to seek an institution that places greater emphasis on adjustment, happiness and mental as well as emotional health. The presence of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities would help to add value and teach vital skills like team building, turn taking, discipline and motor development.

Aisha Bharmal is the Head of Junior School at The Aditya Birla Integrated School, Mumbai. She has completed her Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology (S.N.D.T. University, Churchgate) and holds a Bachelor of Education degree in Special Education, specializing in Learning Disabilities (S.N.D.T. University, Juhu). Over the past 15 years, she has enjoyed learning from students, parents and colleagues, and intends to continue doing so. She is a firm believer in the power of words, the youth and kindness (not necessarily in that order). Her motto is - “Hold on to that inner child, no matter what!”

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What provisions are available for the child?

Are there accommodations in terms of how the child learns? Will the child be provided certain tools to help capitalise on their strengths? For example, can there be scope for more visual aids and graphic organisers to help break down the curriculum? Will extra time be provided to complete assignments/ tests? If the child struggles to read, is there scope for a reader to help them decode their tests? These considerations will become extremely important while choosing a suitable school.

To sum up, will an especially designed curriculum help?

Ultimately, the curriculum itself need not be completely restructured, rather adapted. Children with learning disabilities typically require strategies, a different teaching methodology, or quite simply, greater attention.

Rather than a unique curriculum, it would then benefit the child to simply be equipped with techniques that encourage retention/ comprehension and recall?

If we are presented with a certain type of cuisine and struggle with the cutlery provided to eat it, would we consider not eating the cuisine altogether? Or perhaps seek assistance with the handling of the same. Perhaps a fork works better for some than chopsticks? Ultimately, it boils down to each child’s individual and unique set of needs, and where those needs are met substantially.

It is a matter of doing your research and making a final decision in the best interest of your child.

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