Education supports children at a critical time in their physical, emotional, social and intellectual growth, says Ritu Kochhar, Principal, M D International School, Bijnor to Elets News Network (ENN).
The school education in India has a long history. The concept of the provision of elementary education to all children has its root in the beginning of Indian civilization. In the Vedic Aryan times education for children was not provided by the state but was more in the form of a religious practice. I see nowadays that the education system has changed: it now allows you to choose what you can pursue, something of your interest, and then helping learners to build upon it. Today’s education system gives you ample opportunities to become someone you want to on the basis of your strength. It has changed towards more holistic growth of an individual student.
Education supports children at a critical time in their physical, emotional, social and intellectual growth. Education in India faces numbers of challenges such as: Quality, Access, Cost, Social & Cultural, Online Education System’s Advantages etc.
Also read: Teaching pedagogy at G.D. Goenka focused on experiential learning
The education sector of India, being in its admissions phase has been severely impacted due to the movement restrictions enforced by the lockdown. In this situation, it is normal for any school to be concerned about how to take admission during the Corona virus outbreak as schools have been forced to shut their doors and means of transports have stopped functioning, parents are unable to physically visit the schools and cannot have face-to-face interaction with counsellors/administrative team. It is clear that school admissions cannot simply go ahead as planned during the pandemic. But here in MDIS, we explored the existing problems and attempted to provide effective solutions to ensure that parents are able to go through the admission processes without any issues. Our admin team and all Co-ordinators are always in touch with the parents to help them with the 2020 admission process and proud to say that we have successfully enrolled around 500 new admissions .We are providing quality education during online classes at a nominal fee structure which is easily affordable by parents.
Technology is no doubt an integral part of our lives today. It has changed the perspective and outlook of people worldwide in a significant way. As for MDIS teachers, they encourage and promote online research, send emails and messages to the students and parents through online portals, provide homework and assignments online .Conducting virtual classes in the present times of Covid-19 definitely was a huge and sudden challenge. It became imperative to rethink, reinvent teaching pedagogy to blend with the present situation. In MDIS, we are constantly making efforts to bring an all-round development in the students which will enable them to gain more and more confidence. For this purpose we are involving the students into various co-curricular activities through online classes.
The biggest challenge in implementing the strategy was to think and choose the tools of learning which would provide opportunities of blended learning. The virtual classes are being conducted successfully through Zoom and WhatsApp groups. This multi-platform approach ensures that no student suffers due to poor connectivity. To ensure academic excellence among our students, we have adopted a number of learning practices such as syllabus completion on time, written exams, maintaining discipline in online classes and emphasis on the holistic development of students. M.D.I.S. believes that a cosmopolitan community of education will be best suited to enthuse urbanity and global outlook in the child.
