The Tribune Principals’ Meet: Principals bat for overhauling of edu system

A principals’ meet and a seminar on the theme “Overhauling of Education System: Growing Expectations” was organised by The Tribune, in association with Chitkara University, in Karnal on Saturday.

Representatives from around 70 schools across Karnal, Kurukshetra, Kaithal, and Panipat districts participated, sharing their perspectives on the theme, the implementation of the New Education Policy (NEP)-2020 and the challenges ahead.

The programme commenced with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by Aadi Garg, a psychologist, career counsellor and motivational speaker, and Mukesh Kalkoti, Head of Circulation, The Tribune. Shaloo Walia, Head of The Tribune in Education Programme, welcomed the attendees and emphasised the importance of the theme.

Garg said NEP-2020 was the need of the hour and spoke on various topics, including critical thinking and problem-solving, modular exams and stress. He spoke about flexibility in choosing subjects, internships from middle school and skill development. He emphasised on the need to focus on mental health and well-being of students, along with enhancing global exchange programmes.

Garg highlighted the issues of the integrated STEM learning with arts and humanities and emphasised on inclusive education. He stressed on career counselling. There was an interesting question-answer session, in which Garg asked questions and principals gave answers. Garg stressed on 20 principles of NEP-2020, including holistic development, foundational literacy and numeracy, flexible pathways, seamless learning, multidisciplinary education, conceptual learning, creativity and critical thinking.

“Educators are the architects of the future, crafting the blueprint for tomorrow through their time and energy. Rapid changes are required to achieve 100 per cent literacy and digital literacy by 2030,” he said. Garg further stressed the integration of technology in education and the importance of accessibility, affordability and equality in achieving transformative education.

Earlier, Priti Chaudhry, Director, Office of Strategic Initiatives, Chitkara University, highlighted the achievements of the university.

Overhauling of education is must for the creation of jobs. There is a need to train teachers and make students more capable. Students must be taught in such a manner that they become job creators not seekers. Institutes and teachers can play a crucial role in achieving this. Smart boards and hi-tech equipment should be used for a realistic educational approach. As teachers, we guide them, but it is their dedication and consistency, which helps them in achieving their goals. —Shalini Narang, Principal, Dyal Singh Public School, Sector-7, Karnal

Children should not be over-burdened. The education system should focus on practical learning. Education should not be limited to classroom boards, it should be skill-based and incorporate artificial intelligence (AI) too. Education must not be based on coaching alone. To make parents and students stress-free, there is a need to increase the number of medical and engineering colleges. —Col Vijay Rana, Principal, Sainik School, Kunjpura

It was a wonderful experience to join the seminar, which highlighted several issues. I feel students should be made strong enough to judge what is right and what is wrong in life once they pass out from the school. —Nirmaljit Chawla, Director, Saint Kabir Public School, Karnal

Overhauling the education system is much required. I was in the US for the past six months. The western countries are already following these concepts which have been included in NEP-2020. Their students are knowledgeable, active and keen to learn new things. They do not have pressure of books and have easy activity-based learning programmes along with digital technology. We need to inculcate these strong habits in our students too. Our NEP is fulfilling the same.  —Karuna Arora, Principal, The Century School, Gharaunda

It is a very useful topic for bringing change in the education system. Adopting such activities will make the environment in education institutes more conducive for holistic learning. These workshops are the need of the hour and should be organised at a larger scale at the national level. The Tribune is instrumental in bringing about a change, not only on social issues, but also in the education sector. —Dinesh Kumar, Principal, Aryakulam Nilokheri

Students are already overburdened due to excessive syllabus. In such circumstances, we cannot put more pressure on them. There is a need to reduce the syllabus, at least up to Class VIII. All schools must implement physical education and coaches of all games must be appointed in schools. The CBSE introduced skill-based subjects, but still there is no progress at the ground level. No books on skilled subjects are available in the market. There is a need to provide training on disaster management at the school level to students and teachers. —Balraj Singh, Principal, JPS Academy, Nissing