Guruwani: ‘We believe in imparting 21st-century skills to prepare students for life’

1. In these politically volatile times, should students be insulated from political upheavals? How do you inform/educate them about the changing scenario?

With the advent of social media, students nowadays are better informed about events happening at the local and global levels. We try to facilitate an environment where they express and form opinions after due deliberations. Mount Abu Public School is the first school in India to have a unique Global Citizenship Curriculum where students learn about global challenges and relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through planned experiential learning programmes. We then set them free to come up with solutions and innovations. For example, our senior global citizens are researching political conflicts around the world through case studies and demonstrations. Post research, they will try to find resolutions that can solve these issues.

2. How do you motivate children to be ‘Green Citizens’?

Again, our Global Citizenship Curriculum covers each and every aspect. Under this, we have programmes targeted at achieving global goals related to climate change, sustainability, life on land and underwater. So, ultimately a global citizen at Mount Abu Public School is also a green citizen. The school is leading various environmental programmes and campaigns such as Project Zero, Park Adoption, Anti Cracker Rallies and Ruchitra. I would like to take this opportunity to share with readers that one can hear chirps of endangered house sparrows in the lawns of Mount Abu Public School, all credits to Save our Sparrows project. The project was initiated in 2008 and it took almost a decade of patient and continued efforts to spot sparrows again. Our green citizens have placed nests and feeding zones all around the campus to invite our chirpy friends for a treat and retreat.

3. Our PM, in his annual Pariksha Pe Chracha speech, repeatedly motivated the students by saying that they shouldn’t just strive for high marks. Do you say the same to your students?

We believe in imparting 21st-century skills in order to prepare students for life. We cannot prepare them for life if we confine ourselves to the parameter of marks. I always motivate them to think of the community and how they can help in uplifting the downtrodden. This helps them to imbibe essential skills. At the same time, we ensure that learning and assessment are joyful. Joyful and engaging assessments ultimately ensure better learning, understanding and good scores. The historic National Education Policy rolled out by the Ministry of Education envisions an empowered India where the aim of education is much beyond scores.

4. Pedagogy is changing by leaps and bounds every year. How do you keep pace with it?

I am a strong advocate of pedagogical leadership. We, as leaders, must understand that our leadership today has to be beyond four walls of the classrooms. The Learning Community today includes students, families, teachers and communities and thus our pedagogy must include all stakeholders of the learning community. The only way to keep pace is to understand the needs and demands of the learning community and to act accordingly.

5. How do you inspire/motivate students to take up sports as it is a vital part of school education these days?

I am a big sports and yoga enthusiast myself and thus understand the importance of sports in the life of a student. Through our various experiential learning projects, we try to blend sports and academics. The Mount Abu Sports Multiplex provides a range of sports facilities to students. We are very proactive in organising sports events for all ages. The school is a serious promoter of Fit India & Khelo India movements. We encourage all our students and staff to actively participate in intra-school and inter-school activities. The Fit India Month celebration witnessed massive participation by every student, teachers, non-teaching staff, parents and leaders from other schools. Moreover, we have regular appreciation assemblies for achievers in the field of sports and physical education. In addition to this, we try to catch them young with various physical activity programmes for early years.

6. Where do you see your students/school 10 years from now?

Over the years, the Mount Abu Public School has defined standards, set trends and raised the bar in the field of education. The school has been recognised at various platforms for its student-friendly state of the art infrastructure, innovative pedagogies and alternative approaches. It is always a moment of pride to see the school leading and shining at the local, national and international platforms. I see the school inspiring more number of students, educators, schools and leaderships in coming years. Also, our students will be smart global citizens of 21stcentury equipped with essential skills and global competencies.

7. Your profession has many challenges. What, in your opinion, is the toughest?

No doubt the profession is full of many challenges but when you take up the profession as the passion, these challenges are a gateway to further improvements. One challenge which, I believe, is being faced by all leaderships across India is fractured home-school relationships. Over the years, mutual respect and trust between schools and parents have weakened due to policies and political agendas. We personally try to bridge this gap through various programmes aimed at involving parents for holistic development of their children. I must mention that Mount Abu Public School is blessed with an amazing and supportive set of wonderful parent community. The support extended by our parents is exceptional and helps us to better understand the needs and demands of the learning community. COVID-19 has helped school leaders to strengthen this bond as classrooms have now extended to families and teaching is not limited to the school.

8. Would you inspire your own children to take up this profession?

Definitely. Teaching is the one profession that creates all other professions. I truly believe in what Joseph Addison once said, “What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to a human soul”. The most important thing is to bring the teaching profession at par with other professions. Teaching is often considered as an option of last resort for young graduates.

Until and unless we get teachers who are deeply motivated and passionate about their responsibilities, we are not going to make any significant improvement in this sphere. Thus, I keep on motivating young adults to take up teaching and educational leadership as a career,

as the education sector is in a dire need of highly motivated human resources.

9. Are you still in touch with your teachers?

I have spent a major part of my growing up in Panipat, Haryana and thus am not in regular touch with my teachers but their teachings are always there with me. I am what I am today because of their teachings, motivation and blessings. My career in the field of education has introduced me to various mentors and inspiring personalities from the education fraternity and I am in regular touch with them.

10. Three inspiring words for your students.

Students must be ‘inquisitive’ to ‘understand’ local and global challenges and must ‘innovate’ to solve these challenges.

Jyoti Arora , Principal, Mount Abu Public School, Sec 5, Rohini