Education must have balance, says headmistress of Manav Rachna
In an interview with Mrs Seema Malhotra of Manav Rachna International School Gurgaon, she talks to merinews.com about the education scenario in Gurgaon and how children can benefit with the help of international schools.
MARTIN LUTHER King Jr. once said that intelligence plus character- that is the true goal of education. To many, it may seem just another statement but the perspective changes once you get to interact with an experienced administrator.
The changing facets of education in Gurgaon compelled me to organise an interaction with Mrs. Seema Malhotra, Headmistress of Manav Rachna International School, Sector 51. Mrs. Malhotra, at a first glance comes across as a strict headmistress but the moment she starts sharing her experiences you may feel that this is the place where even you would want to get your child educated. Having a career spanning up to eighteen years spread across CBSE, ICSE and IB boards, Mrs. Malhotra says that education has two basic parts viz intellectual and value added where the former hits the mind and the latter, the heart.
Mrs. Malhotra feels that Gurgaon has gone through a paradigm shift in the last decade and counselling for parents and teachers is the need of the hour taking into consideration the changing lifestyle of the parents.
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In an interview with merinews.com, Mrs. Malhotra gets candid and discusses the past, present and the future of education in Gurgaon.
Tell us about your school. How does admission happen and how do you differ from other schools in Gurgaon?
As far as Manav Rachna is concerned, a lot of focus is laid upon not only how quality education is imparted but the child is prepared as an independent individual. We also make it a point that the values and traditions do not take a backseat in the race of imparting knowledge. The school also has special classes for grooming them and the softer skills of life are also touched upon. Our staff also includes special educators who cater to that part as well.
How important is individual attention for a particular student in a school environment? How do you handle it? What is the student teacher ratio?
The class size being 25 children to one teacher and a nanny, this is the ideal figure where individual attention can be given to each and every child as bigger strength leads to lack of contact and attention.
Apart from ‘bookish knowledge’ we understand that there is a lot of grooming required to shape up the character of a student. How do you try developing those traits, for example, decision making, in a student?
As stated earlier, we do not emphasise on knowledge for the head, we also give equal weightage to value added learning. The teachers pay special attention to the fact that the education the children receive here makes them truly stand apart in terms of carrying themselves, building up their confidence and the exposure to technology that they have.
There has been a lot of news recently about the quality of teachers in school education with education ministry raising the minimum qualification level for a teacher. How do you keep your teachers updated? Is there any special training organised from time to time for teachers or is it an individual effort that the teachers make?
As far as teaching quality is concerned, we at Manav Rachna make it our topmost priority that we have experienced teachers and we take them onboard before they join our classes. They are trained and are made competent enough to go and handle the children and use international primary curriculum (IPC), the one the institute follows. Very frequently, the school takes an initiative of organising workshops and orientation programs, especially on weekends and summer vacations so that the parents keep themselves abreast of the latest technologies and changes taking place in the learning process in the school.
From just being a suburb of Delhi, Gurgaon hosts many international and world schools today. How have you witnessed the change over the years? Do you think Gurgaon has any specific advantage over Noida or other NCR regions when it comes to establishing a school?
What is so charming about Gurgaon when compared to any other NCR region is that Gurgaon being a millennium city, houses a lot of corporate companies with the majority of the parents being young and corporate with a lot of exposure to their credit. This exposure helps them in judging what the need of for getting a successful life is. They know the value of international curriculum and also understand how their children will benefit from this curriculum and prepare them for the future for advanced studies.
However, what makes Manav Rachna stand out is its academic approach. The school takes its content from CBSE and the same is taught by putting into use the best international practices, which is the IPC. This way, we take the best of both the worlds and do not deviate from the main process. All our entrances and exams are based on the CBSE model.
Why has school education in Gurgaon has become costlier day by day with most parents complaining about the institutions becoming more and more of a business centre than a ‘temple of learning’.
The kind of facilities and curriculum, which are being provided to students in global schools costs a lot. One must take into consideration that there are schools for children from all stratas of society.
Mrs. Malhotra feels that Gurgaon has gone through a paradigm shift in the last decade and counselling for parents and teachers is the need of the hour taking into consideration the changing lifestyle of the parents.
In an interview with merinews.com, Mrs. Malhotra gets candid and discusses the past, present and the future of education in Gurgaon.
Tell us about your school. How does admission happen and how do you differ from other schools in Gurgaon?
As far as Manav Rachna is concerned, a lot of focus is laid upon not only how quality education is imparted but the child is prepared as an independent individual. We also make it a point that the values and traditions do not take a backseat in the race of imparting knowledge. The school also has special classes for grooming them and the softer skills of life are also touched upon. Our staff also includes special educators who cater to that part as well.
How important is individual attention for a particular student in a school environment? How do you handle it? What is the student teacher ratio?
The class size being 25 children to one teacher and a nanny, this is the ideal figure where individual attention can be given to each and every child as bigger strength leads to lack of contact and attention.
Apart from ‘bookish knowledge’ we understand that there is a lot of grooming required to shape up the character of a student. How do you try developing those traits, for example, decision making, in a student?
As stated earlier, we do not emphasise on knowledge for the head, we also give equal weightage to value added learning. The teachers pay special attention to the fact that the education the children receive here makes them truly stand apart in terms of carrying themselves, building up their confidence and the exposure to technology that they have.
There has been a lot of news recently about the quality of teachers in school education with education ministry raising the minimum qualification level for a teacher. How do you keep your teachers updated? Is there any special training organised from time to time for teachers or is it an individual effort that the teachers make?
As far as teaching quality is concerned, we at Manav Rachna make it our topmost priority that we have experienced teachers and we take them onboard before they join our classes. They are trained and are made competent enough to go and handle the children and use international primary curriculum (IPC), the one the institute follows. Very frequently, the school takes an initiative of organising workshops and orientation programs, especially on weekends and summer vacations so that the parents keep themselves abreast of the latest technologies and changes taking place in the learning process in the school.
From just being a suburb of Delhi, Gurgaon hosts many international and world schools today. How have you witnessed the change over the years? Do you think Gurgaon has any specific advantage over Noida or other NCR regions when it comes to establishing a school?
What is so charming about Gurgaon when compared to any other NCR region is that Gurgaon being a millennium city, houses a lot of corporate companies with the majority of the parents being young and corporate with a lot of exposure to their credit. This exposure helps them in judging what the need of for getting a successful life is. They know the value of international curriculum and also understand how their children will benefit from this curriculum and prepare them for the future for advanced studies.
However, what makes Manav Rachna stand out is its academic approach. The school takes its content from CBSE and the same is taught by putting into use the best international practices, which is the IPC. This way, we take the best of both the worlds and do not deviate from the main process. All our entrances and exams are based on the CBSE model.
Why has school education in Gurgaon has become costlier day by day with most parents complaining about the institutions becoming more and more of a business centre than a ‘temple of learning’.
The kind of facilities and curriculum, which are being provided to students in global schools costs a lot. One must take into consideration that there are schools for children from all stratas of society.
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