Neelam Wallia,
Principal, Maheshwari Public School

Degrees can give you good jobs, but they will not give you life skills

The foremost task for any preadolescent is to learn the basic skills necessary to nurture. Unfortunately most of us fail to learn such skills even after reaching adulthood. The training for a child must start from the beginning, when he is still under the care of his  parents.
Most families are nuclear families, where both parents are working, and they don’t have much time to spare for their children. It is not  a question of family values, it is just that we are becoming more workaholic. We live in two separate cultural worlds, one encompassing the workplace and one encompassing home and family.
In such a situation, the entire burden of training the child comes on the shoulders of teachers. We have to teach them to grow up into brilliant and productive future citizens of the country. Every small thing that a teacher does can have an impact on the future of the  child. Cultural training of children needs more time and effort. Passing on the collective knowledge of past generations to future generations is one of the noblest callings in the world. Someone has to make efforts to teach young people, the basic facts, the valuable  skills, and the wisdom that has come to us from past generations.
We say that character education is a way of doing everything in the school. It’s not one particular programme or focus; it’s everything we do that influences the kind of human beings students become. Kids everywhere face the same issues, the same challenges, and the  same realities. Perhaps the youngsters from more privileged backgrounds are in better position to struggle because they’ve had better nurturing, they have better role models, wider opportunities, and the like.
Degrees can give you good jobs, degrees can give you a very good pay package, but it cannot give you life skills.

Anuradha Sen,
Head- Training, Shiv Nadar Schools

A few minor changes in a classroom can make a huge difference

Education has a two-fold function to perform in the life of man and in society: the first is utility and the second is culture. Education  must enable a man to become more efficient, to achieve with increasing facility the legitimate goals of his life.
The teacher should provide clearly structured small-group activities that encourage everyone to participate. These techniques  incorporate varied learning preferences and styles of participation and help create learning environments accessible to all students.  Care does need to be taken to make sure that such groups do not reproduce the social dynamics of the classroom on a smaller scale  and so, for best results, the teacher must not only form groups consciously, but must also monitor group work carefully.
No two students are same and every student learns differently. In assessing each student’s learning patterns and individual skills, the  teacher should be able to develop techniques to help all types of students, master their classwork, homework, and overall educational  skills. Through assistive technology software and devices, organisational skills, and study skills, we can best help students to customise their learning on an individual basis.
The benefits of an inclusive classroom environment are truly immeasurable. To design this kind of environment, you don’t need to  completely revamp your classroom. Instead, a few minor changes can make a huge difference.
The classroom is a microcosm of the external community, and the way we conduct our classes says something about how we conceive  of proper human relationships. In the classroom, students learn how to treat each other and prepare for life. Intelligence is not  enough. Intelligence plus character–that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of  concentration, but also the worthy objectives upon which to concentrate.

Dr Dheeraj Mehrotra,
VP-Academic Training, Next Education

Not every teacher is capable of taking care of the needs of special children

Assistive Learning Technology makes life easy for person with disability. The term ‘Assistive’ means something that provides  assistance. The Assistive Technology in the context of education refers to any piece of equipment, or system that is used to increase,  maintain or improve functional capabilities of individuals with disabilities. India faces a massive scarcity of such solutions.

Problems addressed by Assistive Technology
Assistive Technology can address many type of learning difficulties. A student who has difficulty in writing can compose a school  report by dictating it and having it converted to text by special software. A child who struggles with the subject of mathematics can  use a hand-held calculator to keep scores while playing a game with a friend. And a teenager with dyslexia may benefit from Assistive  Technologies that will read aloud his employer’s online training manual. In fact, there are Assistive Technology tools to help students  with almost every type of learning disability.

Dr Uma Tuli,
Founder, Amar Jyoti School

Assistive technology is must for making inclusive education a reality

Today when we talk about technology, we are forgetting about people with disability. Our perception should be to consider the ways to develop assistive technology for making inclusive education a reality. We introduce so many things, but when we do not look at its  accessibility then the work is half done. We have to look at education with the holistic approach, for making vocational training a part  of the curriculum. We should have structured sports and cultural activities for the disabled children.
The philosophy of inclusive education rests on the idea of providing equal opportunities to everyone, regardless of the fact that the person is with or without disability. In life skills education, we need appropriate policies that will lead to development of resources, training, support services, reasonable accommodation, holistic approach and a barrier free environment. We need the involvement of parents, as well as learners, teachers, decision makers and advocates.
We need interactive and fun-filled class rooms. The curriculum has to be flexible enough to reduce academic pressure on students. We  have to develop teaching materials with technology assistive  devices, linkages between pre schools and primary education, provision of adequate resources and leverages.
Today, even CBSE allows assistive devices like talking calculators, computers, talking pens and many other concessions at the time of examination for the children with disabilities. The skill development doesn’t end with just leading a life of skills; it is many things put together. This is something which we need to understand. We have to promote the usage of technology, training of trainers should be organised on a regular basis. There have to be several concessions and reforms in the examination system. Sensitisation at the university level should be done to include disabled children in the stream.
Media should highlight the potential of Person with Disabilities and create the necessary public awareness. The bottom line is that we should not underestimate the power of touch, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment and the smallest act of caring, all of  which have the potential of turning a life around. That is what education is all about.

Shankar Iyer,
BDM-Education, Microsoft

There exists an immense opportunity for providing skill-based education through the use of cutting edge technological systems

Employment of latest technology tools has become a sine qua non for the the education sector, especially in the wake of growing  technological literacy in the nation. ICT is a great enabler; it leads to vast improvements in the quality of the education being provided by an educational institution, whether private or government. Twitter is redefining the way we communicate, tablets are redefining the way we read, and the internet, well, it has radically transformed just about everything.
Sometimes students can get distracted by the temptations of the digital world. Now the teachers can help them stay on course through our SMART programme. The SMART programme allows teachers to choose which websites and applications the students must have access to, and if you need to get everyone’s attention, you can lock all the student computer screens with the push of a button. With this programme, you can organise small groups of students and guide them through the process of collaborative education. With this software, it’s easy to promote learning at the level of an individual, a small-group and even the entire class.
Today, education in the developing world faces the acute challenge of keeping more children enrolled in school, while simultaneously ensuring that there is improvement in learning outcomes. The bottom line is that today there exists an immense opportunity for providing skills based education through the use of cutting edge technological systems.

Sudha Gupta,
Chairperson, Presidium Group of Schools

Development of qualities like courage and emotional strength are necessary for creation of confident citizens

Mother’s Pride has a vast network of schools and we have a lot of experience in child education. We have learnt that the main purpose  of a child’s education is to be able to make him a happy individual. The child should be successful and powerful in his endeavours and  should contribute to the society and the nation.
Education should inspire and motivate children, so that they can become future leaders of our country. We inspire the children to  change their signatures to autographs to encourage them to become successful entrepreneurs who can create employment for others. At Presidium,  we believe that ‘education for  life’ has three main components: academics, talent and life skills.
Many schools pay a lot of attention to academics, but the focus has to shift from rote learning to experimental learning. To foster  future leaders, we have to make life skills like vision , mission, passion, commitment, courage, decision making, dealing with problem and dealing with failures are part of our education.
Children should be taught the skill of being courageous, so that they can deal with the most difficult problems without fear. India has a growing rate of suicides because children are not capable of handling failures. Children have to be taught to be emotionally strong so  that they can take success and failures in their stride.
Teachers and parents are equal partners in child’s development and we have to develop healthy parenting environment by conducting  seminars and workshops for them. At Mother’s Pride we train and guide our teachers to nurture the children to be confident and courageous and make them the facilitators of the child’s progress.
It is only when parents and teachers become experts in life skills, that they will be able to set the proper example in front of the  children.

Satish Kumar,
Founder, Chairman and CEO, GLOPORE IMS

Efficient campus management solutions are effective for better administration of institutions3

ICT based management services play a very vital role in transforming the delivery of education. The main goal of GLOPORE IMS is to  bring about an improvement in the education space, by providing infrastructure, management and services.
GLOPORE IMS has a sizeable presence in various educational institutions across India. The company is setting up 35000 digital  classrooms in both urban and rural areas of India. The aim of the company is to ensure effective learning by students across India by  setting up and managing the IT infrastructure in any institution.
GLOPORE IMS also works with training and exam providers like NSCIT. The company prepares and organises tests like NAAC and  NACTECH for Degree and Engineering colleges. This helps the students find employment based on these tests. GLOPORE IMS also has a  lot of training and certification programmes for financial institutions.
The company also works with many ERP solution providers to help international universities in transforming their digital content,  setting up of online libraries and being online 24 hours a day. The company is an end to end transformation partner for these  universities.
GLOPORE IMS works with schools, education content providers and e-learning companies and helps them in focussing on their core  competences like government policy making, innovations and effective solutions for education and student relationship management. GLOPORE IMS works in partnership with a company called Talisma, which is a CRM software provider. The company takes into account the needs of different schools before implementing the entire ERP system. Such well-researched deployment of ERP only adds to the efficiency of the institutions.

B K Tripathi,
Joint Director, National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)

Many constraints continue to stymie our efforts for delivering education to the right people at the right time

Education is the primary key to economic development and human welfare. It brings competitive advantage to any nation in a  globalised world where economic competition is intense.
Kothari Education Commission rightly believes that national reconstruction can only happen through the efforts of those who have benefitted from quality education in our schools and colleges. Also, the quality of education and its contribution to national development will be influenced most significantly by the competence and character of teachers. However, the Commission has discovered that the teacher education system in the country is too weak to produce such influential and competent teachers.
With India progressing every second our education system lies in ruins. It hardly matters if we understand a given topic, but there should not be any gaffe in penning it down. The education system that we follow does not entertain creativity and innovation. From  the source of the education providers to the receivers, none have their hearts poured in their work. Today, education is not a matter of choice, but a subject of compromise. Higher education is becoming a major driver of economic competitiveness in an increasingly  knowledge-driven global economy. The imperative for countries to improve employment skills calls for quality teaching within  educational institutions.
Quality teaching must be thought of dynamically, in light of contextual shifts in education environment. Studies are becoming  internationalised, and higher education sector is being asked to contribute to new areas (such as innovation, civic and regional  development) in order to produce an appropriately skilled workforce to meet the challenges of 21st century.
The institutions need to develop innovative approaches for measuring the impact of their support on quality teaching.

K S Muraldihar,
CMD, Learnsmart India

The Learnsmart’s application maps the progress of a student and highlights the strengths and also the weaknesses

The knowledge that reaches the students comes through various avenues. It comes through content providers, through schools,  teachers, tutorials, parents, and E-learning websites. With there being such diversity of resources, there is the need for an application that can intelligently assess the conceptual understanding/comprehension in the subject.
It is in this area that Learnsmart India Pvt Ltd has taken the market by storm. Its cutting-edge application, 24x7guru.com, is based on the belief that once a student gains understanding of a concept, he or she is less likely to forget. Hence, the emphasis of education  should be on facilitating understanding, rather than on rote learning.

Web based assessment
24x7guru.com is a web-based assessment application that enables a student to take tests as per the course curriculum: chapter-wise, periodic and customised! Students can take these tests at their convenience and from any browser. The application is parameterized in terms of complexity levels and it provides a new set of questions each time a student attempts to answer. The scalability is  scientifically designed and is aimed at drilling down conceptual comprehension as well as functional and relative clarity amongst  students.
The portal comes with objective-type questions and it can offer instant results, which are embellished with analytical feedback to track diverse aspects of the performance of the child. The application maps the progress, duly highlighting the strengths and also the areas of improvement. Students can take tests as per the course curriculum: chapterwise, periodic and customised. The application is parameterised in terms of complexity levels and provides a new set of questions each time a student attempts to answer. The  scalability is scientifically designed and is aimed at drilling down conceptual comprehension and clarity amongst students.

Sudha Goyal,
Principal, Scottish High International School

Focus has to shift from teacher-centric to child-centric methods of teaching

For best educational outcomes, teaching should comprise of a healthy mixture of traditional teaching methodology and the latest technological systems. A teacher, a facilitator, has a wide variety of technological tools at his or her disposal.
Video games can help activate critical thinking skills and problem solving skills. Focus has to shift on improving the instructional methods. From the teacher-centric approach change has to happen in the passive transfer of knowledge. In student-centric approach change is needed in engaging the students actively in learning with methods best suited to them. The best way to achieve this is to have a clear descriptive and feedback mechanism for students.
The different learning needs of students have to be taken into consideration and assessments have to take place to facilitate thinking of  high order. Through technology students can experience the lessons and pick up the best for his understanding and learning.
With incorporation of right technology, we can transform a typical teachercentric classroom into a place where problems get solved.  A number of curriculum related developments are taking place in this regard, but for maximum benefits we need to have professional  development of teachers so that they are able to keep pace with the changing times.
Teaching is a continuous learning process and to keep this process running smoothly, an innovative system of partnerships has to be  developed. Perhaps,we can have a system of partnership between schools and universities for exchange of information regarding the advanced learning processes.