BW Education June - July 2023

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 51 Uma Tuli, Founder, Amar Jyoti Charitable Trust has been instrumental in making inclusive education a nation-wide movement By Vasudha Mukherjee B orn in Delhi but brought up and educated in Gwalior, Uma Tuli was teaching at a college in Gwalior when her elder brother met an accident in 1965. To save his life his leg had to be amputated. While he was in hospital, the attitude of people towards the disability that he got into was quite appalling. “The talk that I was listening to, overhearing people around – ‘Hai bechara – how will he get married, or work?’ – hit me hard. So being an educationist, I said we must do something to prove that disability is not inability. People should understand that if one body part has a problem it doesn’t mean that the whole person is worthless,” says Tuli, in a conversation with BW Education. Tuli thought education is the only platform from which we can bring about a change in society. The seeds of a mission were sowed then. “This thought of inclusive education came into our mind that if we put children with disability and those without disability together at an early age, say, starting from nursery, they will accept each other, understand each other and win over their own complexes. If possible, they should be in a class in equal number, not just one or two children with disability,” she adds. Tuli’s brother was sent to America for his prosthesis. He did great in his career and became vice president for a tractor company. He never let his disability dampen his spirits and motivated everyone around him, informs Tuli. Vision Takes Shape Tuli’s academic journey continued, and she taught in a college at Delhi University, and got a doctorate from the university. But even while teaching, she started penning down her vision of an institute. She fathomed that if they could provide skill training as part of the educational programme, it would create opportunities for employment. If that institute would have some kind of medical care available in the campus, inclusion would become a reality. And, as she adds, “If you have a kind of understanding amongst the teachers that there has to be sensitivity and you understand the needs of persons with disabilities, you can become a special educator.” She travelled to many countries to understand the concept of rehabilitation. In 1981, the International Year for Persons with Disabilities she decided now was the time to launch the institute, even if on a small scale. The institute – Amar Jyoti - started with 30 children, from space offered at Brahma Samaj building near her college. “People wrote off our initiative but I tried to prove that if you have determination, if you have clear vision and if you work hard to achieve your goal, you can be certain to be successful in your vision. I think we need individual will, political will, social will and above all God's will.” Building blocks of success Tuli entailed her students’ help to find out how many persons with disability were there in their respective Showcasing Abilities of Persons with Disabilities

52 B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM offering quality education and learning facilities to families of first-generation learners. “That’s how inclusion crept in. We could succeed because we started from nursery itself, in equal numbers.” They also made constant effort to educate the communities through community-based rehabilitation (CBR) in urban slums of Delhi for counselling of parents. When numbers increased, Tuli realised the school needed bigger space, from where her vision of inclusive education, immediate medical care and skill training as part of the curriculum would be possible. The institute got an acre of land and shifted to the present premises; several philanthropists pooled in to help with construction of the building, including a ramp for wheelchairs; and a disabled-friendly bus. Several professionals like doctors, lawyers, industrialists and educationists joined on voluntary basis, including an occupation therapist, who still offers here voluntary service, from Geneva. And since there was a dearth of physiotherapists, Amar Jyoti also started a physiotherapy college on its campus, which has been running for 23 years now. Similarly, the institute is training special educators to fill a critical gap. Over the years, the institute has made much headway in innovative ways of teaching. Much expert input goes into learning needs for specific disabilities. Its committed team of educators engages children through cultural ac ti v ities and sports, to make learning fun, and inculcate self-esteem. In the area of skills development, the institute trains its students in beauty culture, art and craft, jute bag making and pottery, artificial jewellery making, cutting and tailoring, data entry operations and computer application. As the institute website informs, “The beauty culture, cutting and tailoring and data entry operations courses are accredited by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). Amar Jyoti Charitable Trust is also affiliated as training partner under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojna in Delhi and Gwalior.” On the medical care side, the institute has Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy Departments, Speech Therapy and Audiology Unit, Prosthetic and Orthotic Workshop which provides and repairs assistive devices for Amar Jyoti school children as well as other beneficiaries, Dental Care Unit, Ophthalmologic Care unit, X-Ray Unit, Pathology Laboratory, Operation Theatre, Homeopathy, Endocrinology, Diabetes and Obesity and Dietary Clinic, as per the website. Tuli calls the whole journey that of“hurricane and a lamp”. Larger role From 2001 to 2005, Tuli also held charge as Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disability, the first non-bureaucrat to do so. During this tenure, she focussed on accessibility, inclusive education and employability, mainstreaming through sports and cultural activities. The concept of inclusion became acceptable in the society because people started seeing the ability in disability. And inclusivity as a priority was brought into the Disability Act and Right to Education Act. Some of the steps that Tuli initiated as Chief Commissioner were sensitisation workshops in various states, and engaging corporates for job opportunities to persons with disabilities. “I started conducting workshops on accessibility, made a team and sent them all over the country to train people in different states; so much so that people started understanding the needs and working accordingly to cater to those needs, like constructing ramps areas. In areas that had more than 100 such cases, she would organise a camp on Sundays, entailing the help of voluntary doctors, therapists, counsellors and a huge team of other volunteers. There were stumbling blocks, like hesitation of parents in sending their wards without disability to a school where children with disability came. The team sought to tackle this by (Below and bottom) Spirited performances by students on wheelchairs

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 53 for accessibility.” Also, “We listed out types of jobs which could be done by persons with diverse disabilities and that was a big help in convincing the corporate sector to give them an opportunity.” Among her most noteworthy contributions has been bringing Abilympics to India. It’s an international event showcasing skills of persons with disabilities in different trades. Tuli informs that when the first Abilympics happened in Japan, she took a small team of six people to Japan to participate in that. Highly impressed with the kind of events she saw in vocational skills in that first ever international epidemics in Japan, she wanted to start Abilympics in India. “So, at Amar Jyoti, we started having different competitions and skills and were able to get jobs or people with disabilities, through showcasing this competition. We got an opportunity to host 6th international Abilypmics in India.” Making the entire IG stadium in the capital, and the various hotels and other residential areas accessible to persons are people with individual will to carry it through, we will see the impact.” Impact Students of Amar Jyoti have excelled in academics and competitive exams, and have showcased their talent in cultural aspects too. From performing on wheel chairs on Rajpath (now Kartavya Path) on Republic Day to performing in the House of Commons in London, and World Bank in New York, they have done it all. The impact was mirrored in the episode of Satyamev Jayate on inclusion of persons with disability that Aamir Khan shot on the Amar Jyoti campus in November 2011. Tuli herself has won several accolades for her exemplary work, foremost among them being Padma Shri Award in 2012. Other awards conferred on her are UN-ESCAP Award for Pioneering Achievement, Hong Kong Foundation Award, Nehru Smriti Award, Lakshmipat Singhania – IIM Lucknow National Leadership Award and Presidential Plaque for Exemplary Service by Rehabilitation International. with disability was not a mean task, but the event became a huge success. Road ahead “Now, there is much more acceptability for persons with disability, but it is still an iota of what needs to be done,” says Tuli, and points out specific areas where work is needed. Accessibility in public conveniences is the foremost among the areas of concerns for her. She says issues like access to wheelchair without it getting stuck in door needs to be addressed. “For a dignified life to persons with disability we have to do this. Every institution, every public place, every transport, should look at it.” As regards inclusive education and skilling, Tuli has great hopes from the National Education Policy. “We are hoping that with the National Education Policy, things are going to be much better and I must say that Ministry of Social Justice and Ministry of Education and other ministries are also joining hands to make this. I'm sure when political will is strong and there Actor Aamir Khan with Uma Tuli and students at the shooting of Satyamev Jayate on the premises

54 B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM Sudha Gopalakrishnan SUDHA GOPALAKRISHNAN

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 55 While racing for modernisation and interacting with other cultures, we tend to leave behind our rich culture, which itself is an assimilation of various worldly beliefs and practices. Sudha Gopalakrishnan is among a handful of scholars in the country who is striving to fill a crucial gap of documenting our traditions through Sahapedia. Established in 2010, Sahapedia is a unique online platform for exploring the cultural and historical resources of India. The website aims to connect people with the culture of India and strives to make it accessible to them. Gopalakrishnan is a founder and Vice President of Sahapedia's governing body. A Masters in English Literature and a PhD in Comparative Drama, Gopalakrishnan was Mission Director, National Mission for Manuscripts, from 2003-2007. Among her important contributions is preparation of successful nomination dossiers of three cultural traditions of India —Kutiyattam, Vedic Chanting and Ramlila—as ‘UNESCO Masterpieces of the Oral and Sudha Gopalakrishnan, Co-founder and Vice President, Sahapedia has dedicated her life to exploring in an interconnected way the various cultural and literary traditions of India, and showcasing these to young generation through use of technology A Career In Cultural Documentation By Meha Mathur and Shruti Tripathi

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM Intangible Heritage of Humanity’. Her role in documentation, archiving, and preservation of our cultural resources is immense. Exposure to multiple traditions Describing her journey across a range of interests, Gopalakrishnan says, “My basic interest was drama, performance and also literature, and I was very moved by Malayalam literature. I got interested in Sanskrit which triggered my interest in the performing arts. Sanskrit theatre Kutiyattam from Kerala is a very unique theatre language and theatre, which inspires a lot of theatre people around the world. It is a very elaborate drama theatre. One act of the play takes 40 days of performance.” She studied Kathakali for 10 years and performed too. Further, she highlights her exposure to the literature in multiple languages that led to her pursuing PhD in comparative drama. Gopalakrishnan has also worked for Sahitya Academy, at a time when the academy was working towards bringing out an encyclopedia of Indian literature in six volumes. This is how she got in insight into pan-India literary scenario, across languages, spanning time, geographies, authors and genres. Embracing ideas across languages gave her different perspectives. “For example, what is Realism? Realism is a Western concept, but how has that 56 B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 impacted Indian romanticism and what is romanticism in Kashmiri, Maithili, Marathi and Malayalam? So, it gave a wonderful perspective. It was very good grounding for me.” She went on to work at Indira Gandhi National Centres for the Arts (IGNCA), under its Founding Director Kapila Vatsyayan, and that further gave a lot inputs from arts from a very broad point of view. “There she understood art not just in terms of music, dance and drama but as a unified and integral ecosystem.” About her remarkable action to nominate Kutiyattam for UNESCO recognition in 2001, She informs that it was the first time when UNESCO had started something for recognition of intangible cultural heritage of the world. Gopalakrishnan had taken a troupe performing Kutiyattam to Paris at that time, and the director of the newly formed Department of Intangible Heritage in UNESCO called Kutiyattam a wonderful form of dance and asked her to file the nomination immediately. Sharing her experience, she says, “I was writing a book on Kutiyattam at that time, so I had quite a lot of material with me. I organised all the people who were doing Kutiyattam, described the UNESCO initiative to them, and requested Adoor Gopalakrishnan (noted film director) to do the video documentation, to which he happily agreed. We made this film and submitted the form all in one go. And then it was submitted along with other 18 forms across the world. Later it was recognised as the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. That was a big thing in 2001.” In the next few years, Gopalakrishnan nominated other intangible cultural practices - the Vedic Chanting and Ramlila. Preservation drive Gopalakrishnan also worked as Mission Director of the National Manuscript Mission that was inaugurated in 2003 by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Gopalakrishnan says, “The mission was to document and put together the big manuscript wealth of India, from all repositories, right from ancestral houses to sacred houses to libraries, archives, museums in India. In our country, every old house, every scholar, and everyone who is an expert on something, be it architecture, religion, sciences, or literature, has so many manuscripts in different scripts, some of which are not even so much readable now. So, the National Manuscript Mission set out to make an electronic database and digital library of those manuscripts.” By the time she left the mission after five years, they were able to document more than 27 lakh manuscripts, and as per her sources the mission has now documented nearly 5 million manuscripts, she informs. 52% / 300

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 57 The way that the Mission approached the task was not to acquire the scripts, but to recognise more than 120 institutions across the country as manuscript resource centre to perform the task. These centres would be provided computers, conservation facility and conservation training to handle fragile manuscripts. If individual owners of manuscripts wished to give away their collections, these would then be taken over by one of these 120 centres. Sahapedia’s role There’s a need to document not just manuscripts but other aspects of culture, and to put information together. That gave rise to the idea of Sahapedia. ‘Saha’ implies collaborative approach. Giving clarity, Gopalakrishnan says, “Unlike Wikipedia where anybody can write anything, we wanted people who had the knowledge to contribute – it can be a student or an eighty-year-old person. And we moderate and edit the content.” Describing the approach further, she cites the example of Bharatanatyam, which is a performance, a belief, and about a social structure, so one tradition can be looked at from different angles. And many people can contribute to a single topic. While being collaborative,Gopalakrishnan says that they have steered clear from politics and always prefer a middle ground, and at the same time being liberal. One impact area of Sahapedia has been the detailed interactions with people of core knowledge. From great musicians talking about their work down the years, to craftspersons like potters, metal workers who have deep understanding of their craft are interviewed. Sahapedia has been able to document legacy of those individuals. It has also built multimedia knowledge resource around several domains. Yet another impact it has created has been through intermingling of culture and technology so that it’s appealing to the young generation too. State of preservation and archiving For a society to take interest in history, culture and art, what is also required is advanced preservation and archiving techniques. As Gopalakrishnan emphasises,“Archives are very important. This is the time when we are in transition stage. There is so much to preserve and safeguard in our country. The capacity is less, considering what is out there. So is funding, and wherewithal for training.” Another dimension of preservation that she takes up is language. “We know a bit about Hindi and recognise some other classical and regional languages but what about the wealth of languages that are going out of usage because people are not speaking it, people are not being trained in it. For example, in the Northeast, there are so many dialects that are dying out. With that goes out richness of our literature, thought systems, traditional medicine, sayings.” Career advice Such a mammoth work necessitates a large and dedicated team with expertise. Gopalakrishnan talks about the young people who have been part of her journey, who belong to the fields like history, language, theatre and Sanskrit literature and other fields. Therein lie opportunities too. As a piece of advice to young students, Gopalakrishnan suggests, “Keep learning; there is so much out there. If you go deep into any area, study that carefully, then you become the expert on that and there is nothing to counter expertise. It’s not easy but keep at it. If you have expertise in anything, then I think someday or other, you will definitely win.” Archives are very important. There is so much to preserve and safeguard in our country. The capacity is less, considering what is out there

58 B W EDUCATION J U N E - J U L Y 20 2 3 W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM Maharashtra-based social worker and educationist Bernadette Pimenta opens up on her journey of working for the upliftment of girl children in the state and her various other social upliftment projects God's Service In Man Service Bernadette Pimenta BERNADETTE PIMENTA

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 59 By Suchita Gopal Sail B ernadette Pimenta, a superwoman in her 70s, is known as ‘Mother Teresa of Thane’ for her exemplary social work. Her contribution to the educational field is outstanding - right from starting a non-formal child enrichment school in Mumbai to responsibly providing children and youth supplementary curriculum enrichment programmes for over two decades. Pimenta is an inspiration for many lives. Edited excerpts: You have worked immensely for the upliftment of women and girl children of Maharashtra. What inspired you to commit to such selfless service? 'Gods Service in Man Service', this wonderful phrase inspired me to do all the good work, that I have done, do and will take in the future. Back when I was in St Xavier College, I came across this sign, I discovered my life’s path and decided to work for the poor and the marginalised sections of the society, especially women and children. My college played an important role in developing leadership qualities in me. As a junior BA student, I was elected as a secretary of Xavier Centre, a role I won with the majority of votes which exposed me to social service. Every fortnight I was assigned to work for the tribals - a social task that my college had adopted. This helped me train in basic medical aids. How do you come up with the idea of a non-formal child enrichment school? I began my career as a teaching professional, I have worked in the sociology department of Kelkar College and also taught French at Thane College. My teaching career was very interesting and I also got an opportunity to teach secondary students, but teaching pre-school talent was something I always wanted to do. And so, when my loved ones, especially my elder sister, insisted on me opening a school, I decided to take up the challenge and build a non-formal school instead of the traditional one. My aim was to nurture human values and create humans for a better future. This gave birth to the Garden School, Mumbai, an informal child enrichment school for providing children and youth with supplementary education. Please explain your responsibilities as the principal of ‘The Garden School’. My sole intention was to develop good human beings. Today, when my students visit me, seeing them at heights both professionally and personally, makes me feel proud and content. I started with 30 students, which eventually grew to 100 and slowly the number kept growing, a token of appreciation that thus inspired me to work more. But now I am scaling down, I am slowing down my speed. I want my volunteers to take up the responsibility and by God’s grace, I have always come across wonderful people who carry the same vision as myself. Many think it’s my age that keeps me low, but trust me I am just 72 (laughs) and can take up more challenges but jokes apart at this inning, I really need to be more cautious with my health to work more in near future. Tell us about your journey as an educationist and social activist. I always had a vision for each decade of my life and trusting my inner voice I have always done what I believed in and served for the wellbeing of all.

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM My journey has been very interesting because I was just following the path, which divine power carved for me, it was just going with the supremo’s flow. And taking walk down the memory lane I keep thinking of coming across the finest humans, who played a significant role in developing me as an educationist and social activist. My elder sister also has a lion’s share in my journey, she inspired me to have my own school that eventually inspired my students to do big in life. Subsequently while handling blood-cuddling and spine-chilling cases, seeing women rising from ashes made me stronger and more determined as a social activist. In a nutshell, my journey was all about learning, growing and evolving. How did you come up with the idea of Sevadham? What were the challenges faced while doing so? Sevadham was a part of my life’s decade vision and so in 1991, I promoted this NGO; since then the organisation is working tirelessly for the poor and marginalised in Maharashtra. Sevadham plays a core role in uplifting the lives of women criminals and their infants growing up in prisons. It also includes working for the observation home for juveniles and mental hospitals of the state. On the whole, the NGO does a significant role in providing aid, advice and counselling thus building self-respect and confidence among emotionally disturbed and mentally challenged people. Explain your role as the chairperson of Snehalaya and as an advisor of the Rugna Kalyan Samiti. I am a person who works at the grass root level, so as a chairperson or advisor, I just don’t sit in a chair and attend meetings.On the contrary, I specifically look at every small aspect of these centres, right from administration, cleanliness and patient’s well-being, everything is on my checklist. I often conduct vocational education and training programmes at Snehalaya and as an advisor to the Rugna Kalyan 60 B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 very practical. I always wanted to develop a holistic education and I did that with my non-formal school, thus path-breaking the traditional education. For instance, apart from teaching in school if I consider my work for women in prison it is not just limited to their development but is an independent approach where I believe in imparting value-based education for their brighter future outside prison. As a part of it, we have started a six -month certified beautician course for them that is likely to add feathers to their wings. You are known as the 'Mother Teresa of Thane', a tag bestowed for the work you are doing. How do you carry this title that brings in great responsibility? Every award and title bring great responsibility. It reminds, refreshes and rejuvenates me to renew my commitment to God and society. And people addressing me as ‘Mother Teresa’ is a reminder I can’t abort and sit back, it’s an alarm to keep serving society. I carry this title enjoying my work, believing in my future and doing the present work without any distractions. In simple words, if you are boiling milk, concentrate on the flames and be in the kitchen; a small distraction or leaving the kitchen will spill the milk. Likewise, I am concentrating on the purpose of doing social service for which God has specially assigned me a human life. What is your future plans? I have had a hectic life and of course, I don’t regret it at all. After all, it has helped me serve my life purpose and still motivates me to do more good work. Today in my 70s, I can’t catch up with the speed but looking forward my life will not turn dull; rather, it will have a dramatic, beautiful end. So, I am again thinking of restarting my work in tribal areas and developing my house into an old-care centre. Today, I live with my old and ailing sisters, so the care centre has already started in a way. In the coming years it will be developed properly. Today, when my students visit me, seeing them at heights both professionally and personally, makes me feel proud and content Samiti, I take the patients for outings and picnics and organise small gatherings at my house thus making them feel included. It is all about nurturing my chosen mantra 'Make others happy to be happy'. As the national coordinator of The World Community for Christian Meditation, London, how would you describe your role? My role as a national coordinator was more like a contact person. As a coordinator, I was a bridge between London and the Indian community. I was responsible for conducting many sessions at church and for arranging meditation, which was highly appreciated and received a larger response. My meditation teaching was not limited to regular practice, I taught different types of meditation with human rights, environment and several other real-life practices. It was all about practising the way to connect with God, the creator of this beautiful universe and so I believe it is to 'look back and thank God, look ahead and trust him, look around and see him and look within and find him'. What inspired you to convert the old-fashioned education and impart value-based learning? I can’t pinpoint something which is

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62 B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM Bobby Abrol, Lead – Developing Teachers, Tata Trusts describes how the novel way of training teachers is benefitting education, especially students “We Created A Teaching Code With Human Touch” Bobby Abrol BOBBY ABROL

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 63 B obby Abrol has been working in the education sector for over a decade. Starting as a teacher, Abrol moved on to become an expert in teacher education, curriculum development and research. Finding a gap in the training programmes available for teachers while they are working, Abrol intends to improve the learning experience for teachers everywhere and find new ways to train educators across the country. In her current role, she is a design team member of the education portfolio at Tata Trusts. She has developed and implemented a two-month ‘Experiential Learning Pedagogy Course’ for teachers in partnership with the Central Government. Excerpts from an interview: What motivated you to start the Experiential Learning PedBy Vasudha Mukherjee and Suchita Gopal Sail agogy Course’ for teachers in partnership with the Central Government and how is it going right now? It all started back in 2019, when the then CBSE Chairperson, Anita Karwal, invited Tata Trusts to discuss the idea of experiential learning, a forward-looking pedagogy, to teach in class. Accordingly, we at Tata Trusts developed a very simpler course to sensitise CBSE school teachers towards pedagogy, training educators across the country. So, this is how Tata Group started developing teachers which gave birth to the first version of this course in 2020 in partnership with the Government of India. The programme was run on the Diksha platform, the Centre’s platform and purely an online version of the course. Today this course is recognised as one of the most popular courses and teachers are enrolling in great numbers and earning certificates on their merits. According to our estimated statistics, this course has already benefitted nearly 3,00,000 teachers in this CBSE ecosystem. But the year 2020 motivated us to take this further in an advanced manner. Even though we had an amazing number of admissions, our aim was to develop a pedagogy that makes sense to a teacher by providing insightful interaction and engagement. Following this, the CBSE connected us with the Ministry of Tribal Affair. For us, the word ‘advance’ clearly represents our motto - more interaction and more engagement. How was the programme initially planned and what are the developments over the years? Initially, the core structure of the programme was video-based with specifically designed videos to train novice

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM teachers. So, to give them real-life learning experiences we took honest efforts and shot videos in physical classrooms. Later, our second version was developed with webinars and other possibilities for community engagement. While the first version was purely one-sided, our second version is not restricted to this old practice and is much about interactive. Please explain the second version of your course in detail. The second version included three modules and an interactive webinar after every module. The webinar is supported by the Mahatma Gandhi International School, which is our partner organisation. The faculty from the school engages with the teachers on a specific aspect of experiential learning. Then we have a help desk webinar for teachers to open up about their learning difficulties and queries. On the whole, we created a teaching code with human touch as teaching is not always one-sided and our specially designed webinars helped and gave the traditional teaching touch to the course. So, we successfully made a major difference by providing engag64 B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 ing interaction, as teaching is a practice-based profession that requires lots of training and learning. How is your second version of the course different from the initial teaching practices? I strongly feel teaching is like journaling. It’s a record of your thoughts, observations, ideas, etc. So, a one-time workshop or training while achieving a teaching degree is not enough for the teachers; they need to upgrade with time. And the recent discourse in teacher’s training also strongly suggests that a teaching professional requires training in assessment to cross some mental barriers to practise a different teaching process. It’s about implementing a new way of imparting education and our newer version is rightly doing that. We are not only teaching how to manage a classroom but also concentrating on teaching the management techniques like kids’ seating arrangements that further actively enhances kids learning. We even focus on training the pedagogues with the instruction techniques. It’s about getting the studies or learnings done from the kids. This is the large gap Most teaching professionals are stressed by the heavy syllabus and the allotted time for its completion. To overcome this, we train our students in interdisciplinary techniques

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 65 that we at Tata Group are trying to fill because teachers’ job is not a onetime training; it’s a continuous learning process. We label it as Continuous Professional Development (CPD), a two-month course focusing on consistent engagement on a pedagogy. You have mentioned the help desk along with your teaching course. Do the learning teachers discuss their loopholes or difficulties on this available platform? What are the common issues that stood out, especially for you? To begin with, teachers are not quite comfortable discussing their teaching practices or the issues related to it; they consider it personal and concentrate more on technical issues, which are important and needs improvement but discussing the personal issues is also must. The teaching technique needs more attention because nobody actually concentrated on this space and we with our webinar are addressing the same. Initially when we started, teachers didn’t discuss their teaching issues; it took time for them to developed faith us. The common difficulties raised were about completing the syllabus, and regarding practical-based learning. What kind of training do you give to teachers who are under the burden of completing the heavy syllabus in two to three months? Yes, most teaching professionals are stressed by the heavy syllabus and the allotted time for its completion. To overcome this, we train our students in interdisciplinary techniques. In simple terms, we train them to develop a big lesson plan with different subject teachers, a plan that includes continuous teaching for 3-4 days, helping in the completion of the syllabus. Further, we also make teachers understand the importance of concentrating on the actual syllabus. It’s often observed these mentors lose direction and carry the unfinished syllabus burden. Subsequently, we make sure to build confidence among our learners, so that no matter how big or short the syllabus is our trainees stand out confidently and complete their teaching in time. Generally, everyone blames teachers if the students’ scoreless in examinations. How do you train your trainees to surpass such pressure? Changing the system is more important here. Training one or two teachers with pedagogy courses is not enough; it’s important to train every teacher. Teachers trained in new teaching techniques will help to have a disciplined class as they are capable of controlling the class confidently. Moreover, to develop more educational reforms we are introducing our teaching programme with three more modules, so in all, it will be a fullfledged six-module webinar for developing confident future mentors. What has been the feedback from your alumni regarding the programme? Our second version of the course was registered with 500 trainees and taking feedback from each and everyone is not possible. But recently when I visited the schools where our alumni teach in Tripura and Maharashtra, I personally noticed the rise in the teaching bar. Also, when I had an interaction with school kids, they highlighted that learning probability lesson in maths is fun now and their teacher is a completely new mentor with interesting teaching methodologies. So, this token of appreciation is huge. Your course focuses on experimental learning. What does it mean to learn from experience, and why is the ministry interested in this initiative? Experimental learning is associated with the child and has a connection with their life. Also, it doesn’t restrict teaching and learning to sitting at the bench and just listening to teachers; it includes how the child is physically involved in the whole teaching process. Most importantly, it is 21st-Century-based learning wherein the focus is on skill-based lessons. The ministry is interested in this new teaching practice because it is developing the children for good and most of the CBSE schools had already brought it into practice. Please explain your collaborations other than Ministry of Tribal Affairs that you are currently working with? Currently our collaboration with Ministry of Tribal Affair also includes Tata Trust School, Mahatma Gandhi International School, Ahmedabad and Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Our partners are playing a significant role in our journey. It has been a threeand-a-half years of working together. We are now concentrating to refurbish our course based on our own learning and reflection from past in order to attract more partnership from the government. What is your personal philosophy on education and what inspired you to adapt teacher-training right after your XIIth grade exams? Since I am into teachers' training, my educational philosophy is, ‘You cannot tell a teacher what to do in class, the teacher has to get it done themselves’. So basically, it needs to be done by teachers themselves for their professional development. My mother was the biggest inspiration behind me; she made me choose teacher’s training as a career, she pushed me to give an entrance exam right after my XIIth class, and my journey started. I did four years of integrated teacher education course from Delhi University and this opened a broad door for all my career opportunities. Further I did my PHD in teachers’ education. I have also worked as a researcher and I have developed the curriculum. So, education is something I have explored a lot, tried my hands in every aspect of teaching and today I am experienced enough to claim how vast the educational field is.

66 B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM Zareena Qureshi, Principal of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Nagpur, discusses her efforts in the field of adolescent education “All My Career Policies Are Child-Centred” Zareena Qureshi ZAREENA QURESHI

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 67 By Suchita Gopal Sail Z areena Qureshi is the Principal of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Nagpur. She has achieved National Incentive Award from Commissioner Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti and achieved National Award from UNFPA for best work in India for 'Adolescence Education Program'. She is a Master trainer of the programme. Qureshi is known for raising the quality of education in school. Excerpts from an interview: With nearly 35 years of educational experience, you have done wonders in the educational field. Apart from academic results you also concentrate on students’ overall development - something rare among teaching professionals. You have also won many awards for your initiatives. How would you define yourself as a different teaching professional from this perspective? Yes, my teaching journey is exceptional. It has been over three decades and I am still enjoying this golden period of my life. I believe it’s a path carved for the youth of India and the students of Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Nagpur graced my journey. As a teacher, I always believed in creating an environment that encouraged students to seek knowledge that enables them to embark on a bright career choice. My teaching includes the inculcation of life skills, moral values, behaviourism, cognitive, constructivism, humanism, transmission, development and nurturing of talent. My eternal zeal to excel in every field makes my work praiseworthy and rewards me with prestigious awards. This token of appreciation motivates me to focus more on the overall development of students making me a special working persona with a holistic vision. You played a key role in organising the National Youth Parliament of Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti, a programme initiated by the Ministry of Youth Affairs

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM and Sports. What important role does this Parliament play and how does it benefit students? The purpose of conducting the ‘Youth Parliament’ is to educate students about the parliamentary functioning and procedures. The motto is to create awareness among students about public issues and form their opinions on the shrine of democracy, training the student the technique of group discussion. The Parliament further provides an opportunity for students to be involved in school governance and decision-making. As a master trainer of the Adolescence Education Program, how do you teach or introduce this topic to students? Is there a certain curriculum for the subject? Having done my masters in adolescence educational training, I now play this important role at the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti programme. I have successfully conducted many training programmes for nodal teachers and supported the functioning of trained teachers and the group of peer educators. I believe in developing a con68 B W EDUCATION J UNE-JULY 2023 helps students with digitalised high-end learning. So, to enhance the actual learning and develop interest among students against traditional teaching practices, our Vidyalaya has been converted into a digital learning hub with the support of Nagpur’s district collector. A Rs one crore help from the centre to develop the school into a digital hub transformed our classrooms,allowing student-teacher interaction like never before. Our labs and departments too have interactive boards, and on the whole our school is a broadband-facilitated institute. Today I can proudly say my students are exposed to tabs laptops, LCDs and projectors for teaching, learning and doubt clearance. Our digital mission is supported by Atal Tinkering Lab, Allen Kota Faculty, Avanti Classes, and Ex-Navodaya Foundation Classes. You are known for running the ‘Vigyan Jyoti Project’ along with 50 girls that promote the study of STEM among girls. Please explain that in detail. To attract women in the STEM field, the Department of Science & Technology has started Vigyan Jyoti Programme. Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti is implementing the project in partnership with DST in Vigyan Jyoti Initiative. Vigyan Jyoti Scheme is aimed at bringing gender parity to STEM. The main objective of this component is: • To motivate girls to take up careers in STEM • To enhance girls’ participation in underrepresented areas of STEM • To ensure gender parity • To provide the enabling environment that adds to STEM education • Exposure to scientific careers • A platform that counsels students as well as parents. ducive environment for adolescents’ educational programmes in school and as a principal, I did that for my school by encouraging students to maximise their participation in planning, designing and implementing scholastic and co-scholastic activities. Today, along with students it’s important to make their parents aware of adolescent education because, in the end, they are the ones to foster the child. So, I concentrated on advocating for parents along with teachers and other community leaders. The advocating meetings which I conducted at the school, district and community levels received a great response. In a nutshell, my training programme helped in creating a supportive environment for capacity-building training and formed networks that encouraged and promoted healthy living, sustaining motivation. Poor quality education is leading to poor learning outcomes in India. Can you elaborate on some of your innovative ideas for raising the quality of education in schools? Today, as the world is technology driven, introducing high-tech classrooms

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 69 Along with students it’s important to make their parents aware of adolescent education because, in the end, they are the ones to foster the child So, Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya Nagpur is one of the knowledge hubs promoting this amazing, unique project. Other monthly activities under Vigyan Jyoti are science camp, visit of KPs, workshop at ATL, interaction with role model, student-parent counselling, visits to R&D labs, industries and NGOs, lectures and special classes. To add to this, a scholarship of Rs 1,000 per month and study materials worth Rs 8,000 per year are provided by DST to girl students. You recently participated in the contribution of women’s programmes in all walks of life, including the 108th Indian Science Congress. How important are such kinds of programmes for future educational developments? Such gatherings are someway helping to motivate a girl student to study STEM courses. It creates a foundation that inspires them to make their career in STEM, providing an enabling environment for scientific and technology-driven careers. So, participation in such programmes plays a key role in my educational vision. The ‘Vigyan Jyoti Scholar’ programme is one such initiative that was initiated after interacting with eminent scientist at the 108th National Science Congress organised by Nagpur University. You play a significant role in nurturing young talent from rural areas. What does this initiative involve? This initiative is special as we are providing excellent quality modern education, including a stronger cultural component, inculcation of values, environmental awareness, adventurous activities and physical education among talented children predominantly belonging to rural areas. It’s about significantly promoting national integration giving emphasis on the overall development of students. You are known for producing outstanding academic results. How have you achieved that? My goal is to excel and evolve as the best in every undertaken task. As an educator all my career policies are child-centred. I believe in working continuously for producing an excellent outcome. As a principal today my biggest motto is quality results in CBSE Board and Non-Board classes. Currently, my efforts are in the same direction and with great support from my Navodaya team, the outstanding outcomes were considered by the Ministry of Education. Achieving this national accolade was not like having a cup of tea. Preparation, execution and identification of challenges were the baby steps leading me and my excellent teaching team to achieve desired outcomes. Student cooperation also played a major role and cannot be sidelined. The CBSE has also reckoned the assessment as a ‘par excellence’ assessment. My administration is based on the idea of flexibility and all the staff members complete their work within the stipulated time frame. Apart from just teaching, your other academic contributions also include providing guidance to the teachers for professional development. How do you manage this role? I believe in encouraging teachers and providing them with a number of opportunities to enhance their professional path. Regular staff meetings, guidance and discussion related to various issues and doubts help me update teachers with the latest development in the field of teaching and pedagogy. I also believe in encouraging the teaching staff to adopt technology in the teaching-learning process. Things observed and learned in various training programmes also add to the guidance of the teachers. The training programmes that played a key role in helping the teaching staff include NVS, Indian Institute of Public Administration, Delhi, IIM Bhubaneswar, IIM Nagpur, Academy Nainital, Manali, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, NVS Noida, Chandigarh, Haridwar, Ghaziabad, Delhi, etc. You are actively involved in participating and initiating social causes in Vidyalaya and nearby villages. From managing an educational institute to a social cause, how do you play this dual role? As a conservationist, I believe in protecting our environment and ecosystems. So, I make sure to actively participate in an initiative that supports the environmental cause. I strongly support the government campaign as well. The ‘Clean India Green India’ campaign functioning in our school is one of the models our school follows. Making the surroundings eco-friendly is the core vision I carry daily and subsequently assure to spread the cleanliness awareness among all. We have seen the villages lack a sense of cleanliness, so educating nearby villages is my biggest motto and I am doing it in the best possible ways. We are developing Navodaya Vidyalaya as a pacesetter for social activities. The school helps rural kids to use computers, the library and other resources. Stationery is also distributed to rural students. Other school initiatives include awareness campaigns regarding voting and cleanliness, cleaning of water bodies, cleaning villages and hospitals etc.

70 B W EDUCATION J U N E -J U LY 2023 W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM How did the idea of Get, Set Parent with Pallavi come about? During the lockdown, everybody was stuck at home. It was a very unprecedented time. Parents were not sure what to do with kids and since we run a chain of preschools called Brainy Bear Preschool, and I have been a part of the Early Childhood Association of India for the last 7-8 years, the teachers and parents used to WhatsApp me asking me what to do. We were constantly supporting our centres and our parents and used to record the WhatsApp videos and Pallavi Rao Chaturvedi, Founder, Get Set Parents with Pallavi, Vice President of the Early Childhood Association and the Founder of the Brainy Bear Preschool & Activity Club chain, describes how these entities are providing critical tools for child development in the first six years Providing Critical Development Tools for Kids in 0-6 Years By Meha Mathur Pallavi Rao Chaturvedi

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 71 PALLAVI RAO CHATURVEDI

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM share it with parents. Suddenly it occurred to me that in this age of social media, if I am communicating it to 500 parents, might as well put it on social media platform where more parents can benefit from what I am sharing. That’s how the whole idea came about of supporting parents through Get Set Parent with Pallavi. Now we have more than half a million followers on social media. And this tells me how keen today’s parents are to listen to somebody else’s experiences and taking learnings from those. 72 B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 Now, with the National Education Policy 2020 coming in, there is a lot of focus on the zero to six years for the first time in the history of Indian education. The foundation literacy and numeracy are being given a lot of emphasis. It says that by grade III, when children are about 7-8 years of age, there is a certain level of literacy and numeracy that a child will be expected to have achieved. So, I think that now there will be a sort of standardisation across the country regarding what has to be taught, how it has to be taught. So far, till Grade X everybody was doing their own thing and Grade X was the first time the entire country came together for a common Board exam. But now the good thing is that at Grade III there is there is one level of check that every child in the country is going to pass those norms. The idea is not to have a Board exam but it is more of guideline to all schools and teachers and this is the basic minimum needed by grade III. So, I think this is a very welcome step. How has your organisation been actually instrumental in fulfilling those specific needs like numeracy and linguistic skills so far? And how do you now plan to take it further, now that NEP is there? At the Brainy Bear Preschool we have been following a philosophy which What are the critical needs of this particular segment and how are these being actually fulfilled in our country? What are the gaps? Early childhood education is an unregulated space. There are no norms today. It is not governed by any ministry or body, unlike primary school or secondary school education. There is a lot of mixing match that preschools are doing in terms of the philosophy and methodology. There is also a lot of creativity is being brought in.

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 73 For us it’s about language, numeracy, art, and physical movement. In this age, brain development is fast. In fact, by the age of five, almost 90 per cent of brain development happens believes in a multiple intelligence approach. For us it’s about language, numeracy, art, and physical movement. In this age, brain development is fast. In fact, by the age of five, almost 90 per cent of brain development happens. So, we considered all of these areas very important for cognitive learning and emotional development. We believe everything has to go parallelly. We also believe multiple languages can be introduced. Now with, the NEP coming in we are waiting for guidelines to come in. But till then I think the purpose of early childhood education is to believe that every child has the potential and to maximise that potential through music, movement,art, language, numeracy, physical movement, and build emotional confidence in the child. What is the kind of research and survey that you have been doing and also how have you built the expertise that is needed in terms of faculty and right experts? I think when it comes to early childhood education, experience and expertise are the two legs which are very important. Because when you work with little children, experience definitely helps, in terms of understanding behaviour,the learning challenges to expect, the issues that parents may face while bringing up their children during these early learning phases. As regards expertise, I think continuous training and development of teachers is very critical. So, refresher programmes for teachers, and training programmes for teachers on communicating with children, on various methodologies of communicating the same objective in different ways are needed. So I think the challenge in an early childhood classroom is to give respect to the individual learning speed since every child learns at a different pace, but at the same time to keep the overall pace of the class. So, I think through a lot of training and continuous workshops, this expertise keeps building. How do you plan to implement what you are doing across the geography of the country? Are there plans to take it to further cities and also to small town India? This was something which came out of the lockdown. Preschools were closed for more than two years. These are also the years when a lot of learning happens at home. It is very informal learning through their environment, home, parents, siblings, house help. And a preschool is two to three hours in a day. So, we explored how we can use the current infrastructure and capabilities that we have to break out of the brick-and-motor schools that we have and reach children everywhere. So, we started creating learning products for children. Get Set Parent is a very diversified parent resource organisation. While on the one hand we run preschools, on the other hand we have the social media and we provide a lot of coaching and handholding to parents. And the third leg is creation of books and learning aids for children. We have created almost 250 different learning aids for children. Once children go to school, parents get guidance. But what about the first two to three years when the child is at home? Does it mean that we only play with some toys and there is no brain development happening? So, we created a very comprehensive system of learning from zero to three years. Every month we have a box of learning aids which we send to parents at home. They can subscribe to the learning boxes. These are called the ‘early skills development boxes’. We also publish our own books. We have more than 50 different publications of activity books and story books that we publish for children. So, the whole idea is to be a very holistic parent resource organisation for young parents.

74 B W EDUCATION J U N E -J U LY 2023 W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM Impacting Students In Small Towns Smita Deorah SMITA DEORAH

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION J U N E -J U LY 2023 75 S mita Deorah started her career as a chartered accountant before eventually turning to education and entrepreneurship. With more than 22 years of experience in finance and education, Deorah carries the responsibility for education research, product development and capability building at LEAD. Deorah’s goal is to bring quality education to students from all backgrounds and make it more affordable through technology and other tools. How it started “I started my work in education first with my own child. I actually did a lot of experiments to see how can I get my child to be a very early reader and help in brain development. When I did that, I figured that in India there were a lot of challenges with the way schools were approaching learning, which was very traditional. Whereas world over there was a lot of good research which could help kids learn much better.” Deorah, who lived in Singapore for eight years, shares that education was something that she and her husband were passionate about, and it was a dinner table conversation for them. They were well abreast of international practices, and about the international, standardised assessments that happen under the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Under this assessment, countries get ranked based on the quality of education that they are offering to the students. India did not fare well the only time participated in this assessment. Deorah, based on her extensive exposure, understood the reason - that people in India are not experimenting enough, whereas there are a lot of countries in the world that have been doing a lot of research and experiments, and have significantly transformed their education systems over a period of time. “I am a continuous learner myself. I did a programme at Harvard Grad School of Education and it just blew my mind to see the amount of high-quality research that they had done and this research was rooted in practice. I travelled to Finland, which is again one of the top ranked peer countries and actually visited many schools there to understand how their education system is. And a lot of what we do at LEAD comes from a lot of these learnings that I've gathered from there,” she elaborates. Deorah had earlier founded an NGO, Sparsh, in Mumbai to uplift Anganwadis in association with the Maharashtra Government. She and her husband, also involved in education space, “convinced each other” to start a school together in a village in Gujarat in 2012, using their own savings, and followed it up with four more schools and partnerships with a few schools in the next few years. They were keen to expand further, and decided to enter into partnership with schools rather than opening more schools, in order to impact as many students in small towns Smita Deorah, Co-founder & Co-CEO, LEAD, describes her journey in education, and the impact that her startup is creating in school education By Vasudha Mukherjee

76 B W EDUCATION J U N E -J U LY 2023 W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM as possible, and raised institutional funding. That’s how the LEAD journey began. Empowering tools “Our mission has always been to provide excellent education to those who don't have access. That was the whole premise on which we built this organisation. What pained us was that kids in metros from affluent families were getting great education. They were really getting ready for the future, but the other kids who hailed from smaller towns or from comparatively lower income families were not getting that good access. And I think that's what we're trying to change,” shares Deorah. In schools in small-town India, as well as schools in big cities, team LEAD is spreading its wings, with a highly evolved curriculum that emphasises skills rather than knowledge. They have consciously departed from the standard practice of schools to focus on high scorers and ignoring those who don’t do well in exams. Deorah informs that many ‘bottom performers’ joined LEAD schools, passed out with flying colours, doing phenomenally well. “It was just that they're a victim of the system. We basically showed in our schools what high quality looks like. Many of our early partners were just amazed at what was happening.” Showing results to people is the best way to earn trust, Deorah emphasises, instruction to be only vernacular languages is a misinterpretation. Also, till a child is 10, she has better capability to learn multiple languages, she informs. Talking about LEAD’s impact on maths scores, before joining Lead, a student would have 45 per cent mastery on an average. Within a semester, this goes up to 70 per cent. “It's the same teacher. It's the same school. But what has changed is that the teacher is now teaching using LEAD in the classroom.” Challenges Deorah is Co-Founder and Co-CEO of LEAD, along with her spouse. In launching and expanding LEAD, the challenges that the two faced were very gender-specific ones, and deep rooted in society. Doubts like how can both the marriage partners jump into startup mode; how can the mother ignore the needs of toddlers were raised. But she is happy that in professional sphere, by and large, gender issue was not raised. “I have been in rooms with only male investors and I have not experienced gender bias. I have experienced that they are challenging you with a lot of questions. That’s it. Whenever I see an investor asking question, I don't even look at it through the lens of gender. I don't even bring an option of bias on the table.” She is a firm believer that it’s your performance and calibre that wins, not your gender. Road ahead LEAD is striving to deliver high quality learning at very, very low price. The team is working with close to 9,000 schools and almost 5,000,000 children. Stating her target for the next three to four years, Deorah says, “We want to be able to get to 25 million children and significantly transform their lives by providing them high quality education. They can be coming from any economic background and going to private schools or government schools - we are, we are basically agnostic to that. Kids are kids. All kids should have access to great education.” Our mission has always been to provide excellent education to those who don't have access. That was the whole premise on which we built this organisation and adds, “As our partner schools have implemented our programme, they have seen how good the programme is and how much of improvement they've seen in their students.” An example she cites is that of comfort in English, and proudly shares that LEAD students are now fluent in English. “For the last six to seven years,we have basically had oneand-a-half years of English language skill development within one academic year, which is unheard of. And this is happening in small towns.” On the issue of language and medium of instruction, she clarifies the intent of the NEP-2020. To say that the government wants the medium of

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78 B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM Charu Mathur, Founder and Managing Director, Socrates Foundation for Enhanced Learning, describes how her training stints in US institutions introduced her to contemporary teaching methodologies needed for the 21st Century Learner Learnings from NASA and Fulbright Scholarship forstrengthening Indian Education system By Vasudha Mukherjee Charu Mathur CHARU MATHUR

WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 79 P une-based Charu Mathur began her career as a high school teacher teaching science and maths, using long-established classroom teaching methods. The years between 2008 to 2012 turned out to be a watershed period for her.“I was selected to attend both the Basic and Advanced educators’ training at NASA in 2008 and 2011 respectively, where I learnt to use space science as a tool to develop interest in basic sciences among students. In 2011, I was selected for a Fulbright Scholarship programme, undertaking a six-month-long ‘International Leaders in Education Program’ from a prestigious university in the US, where I studied innovation in teaching and leadership in contemporary schools," Mathur informs. These three training programmes validated her resolve to make the teaching process engaging, interesting and relevant for students, who are the future citizens of the 21st Century. “When I returned, I was completely motivated to put my learnings into practice. I quit my job and started the ‘not-for-profit’ organisation ‘Socrates Foundation for Enhanced Learning’. The mission of the foundation is to assist schools to strengthen their existing pedagogy and improve learning outcomes." She adds,"We wanted to blend 21st-century skills like communication, collaboration, critical thinking, and creativity in the regular curriculum, not as separate subjects. This was our objective when we formed the Foundation,” she explains. As regards why the name ‘Socrates’, she elaborates that the Greek philosopher’s assertion ‘I cannot teach anybody anything, I can only make them think’ struck at the core of modern pedagogy. As opposed to the traditional ‘lecturing’ method, the Socratic method encourages students to actively engage in the learning process by asking questions, nudging them to dig deeper by getting involved in discussions, and becoming active seekers of answers, thereby developing problem-solving and critical thinking skills. Ever-widening scope Her learnings at NASA and as a Fulbright scholar are the cornerstone of her Foundation’s ethos - conceptualise, design and implement innovative, relevant and customised learning modules that can bring about a transformative change in teaching methodologies across classrooms. The programmes also motivated her to prepare a training proposal that won her first of several grants from US Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) and the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX), to implement her first workshop in 2012 titled ‘Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Students through Space Science Activities’ in Pune. This was followed by several other student-centric programmes on cyber security, citizen journalism, service learning, Human Rights etc. Introducing school administration,

WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM principals and teachers to the ‘reimagined pedagogy’ was a strategic decision taken by the Foundation for sustainability of these programmes. Teacher Training workshops began in 2015, with the first batch of 25 teachers trained as ‘Master Trainers’ under the programme ‘Technology Integration in Classrooms – Tech Master Trainer Programme. While this remains the most popular flagship programme, various other courses on instructional strategies, blended learning, constructivist classrooms, social & emotional learning, using films and comics as teaching tools, and several others are meant to keep the teaching-learning process effective and efficient. Leveraging technology tools in classroom teaching remains a key focus area of the training programmes. The adoption of technology in lesson plans remained lukewarm, till Covid changed the perspectives totally. “It was then that everybody realised the importance of technology in the classroom. We customised our content and switched over to online training modules. Our interactive, online course ‘Transiting from physical to Virtual Classrooms’ helped schools continue the teaching process despite the closure of schools during lockdown’," elaborates Mathur. Through these online trainings, the Foundation reached out to about 2,000 teachers from Maharashtra, Goa, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Rajasthan, Gujarat and the North Eastern states, as well as Nepal, Vietnam and Bangladesh. Reach The customised training programmes of Socrates Foundation are subject and standard agnostic, thereby benefitting teachers from Kindergarten to class XII, as well as faculty at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Training initiatives have benefitted 7,500+ teachers, 5,000+ students & hundreds of parents across India & abroad. She acknowledges the support that she has received from US Consulate, ECA & IREX, Rotary Club of Khadki, Foseco India Limited and Persistent Systems Limited for being able to reach out to the educators’ 80 B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 ful about the quality of programmes that we offer.” Gender in schools An area of concern is the skewed gender ratio in the professional community of teachers. Shedding light on this, Mathur says, “It is a women-dominated area - that is what everybody understands and agrees. But when I conduct trainings, especially in rural areas or semi-urban areas, there are more male teachers who attend the programmes.” The reason for this, she says, could be that female teachers have to balance their school-family life commitments and for them to take out time other than that routine is difficult.“ And that’s why women don't get a chance to actually upgrade and upskill themselves. It's the men who are always coming forward.” For this reason, she says, programmes that are done on the school premises and where administrators are involved, show better results than where teachers are supposed to travel to an outside location. The motivation level is higher and the chances of learnings being implemented are also higher. Women leaders in education On the issue of women educators shifting their focus from core teaching skills to taking up leadership roles, Mathur says, “Leadership is something actually women can do very well, but they need to be mentored to do that because they lack confidence.” She adds, “Not everybody is self-motivated. Not everybody gets that sort of exposure where one sees leadership at work and gets inspired. So, we need to constantly keep pushing them to learn more, to upskill themselves and to get yourself mentored.” She aptly puts it, “They need to understand that completing a course on Teachers’ Education Programme doesn't mean that they have become a teacher for life because things are changing at a very rapid pace. They need to upskill themselves. Once they upskill themselves, they get more confidence and that's the first step for leadership.” community with her programmes. The Foundation serves the needs of schools in rural and semi-urban areas too. She describes an instance of training in one such school where the teachers were very grateful for the quality of training that they received. “The first reaction of the teachers after the training was that they never get to attend this type of training because everybody who comes to the rural area thinks that teachers in these schools need something very basic.” On the other hand, the Socrates Foundation provides the latest teaching tools in its training, which it calls ‘Classrooms of the Future’. Her advice to teachers - “We can't predict what the future holds for you. Nevertheless, you should continually upskill yourself and adopt the best practices to engage with the students. These digital natives learn in a very different way, and our aim should be to bridge the gap between how they learn and how we teach,” Plans for the future Future is uncertain at best, and same holds true for the Socrates Foundation too. As Mathur shares, “Our approach is to be adaptable and agile. It's difficult for any organisation to survive for long unless it innovates and adapts. I can't say that I have a fixed plan, but we are definitely very responsive to changes and innovative in our approach. We'll try and reach out to as many people as we can, and are careOur approach is to be adaptable and agile. It's difficult for any organisation to survive for long unless it innovates and adapts

FOR MORE INFORMATION Devika Kundu Sengupta 9871654991 [email protected] FOR NOMINATIONS Neeraj Verma | 8076825854 [email protected] #BWBestOfFinTech June 29, 2023 Taj MG Road, Bengaluru FESTIVAL OF CONCLAVE + AWARDS 3rd edition Powered Byfifffffflffiffflffffififffffflffi flffiffi ffiflffi fifffflffiflflfi fiffi  ffiffl fi fifflffi ffifl fflffiffl ffifi ffifflffiffl   ffi
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82 B W EDUCATION J U N E -J U LY 2023 W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM A arti Naik is a slum-based young woman and educationist who runs Sakhi for Girls Education, which started in 2008. It’s a learning centre to create quality learning spaces for the slums and marginalised girls from Mumbai. Today, more than 15 years later, and with Naik’s efforts, 400 girls have access to a girls' learning space inside their own slum community. Hailing from the slums of Mulund, northeast of Mumbai, Naik dreamed of completing her education and imparting education to the slum girls. She was different from her peers, although her problems like lack of money, lack of sanitation and small living space were similar to those of other girls in her community. Even as a student, she displayed leadership mettle and a fighting spirit. Back then, when Naik failed her State Secondary School Exam (Class X), she was taunted that she should quit education and take up domestic work, but Naik knew failing in a class is not the end. She took the failure Coming from a slum, Aarti Naik embarked upon the mission to empower other girls in her community, despite initial apathy of the ecosystem A Changemaker In Mumbai By Suchita Gopal Sail Aarti Naik Representative image

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION J U N E -J U LY 2023 83 as an opportunity and decided to reappear for exam. Naik knew joining a coaching class would help her crack the examination, but lack of financial support was the biggest challenge. Also, her parents were not much educated and were not willing to support her, but the hunger to learn made her earn herself - she started making artificial jewellery at home and saving enough. She managed to join a tutorial and clear X Boards after struggling for three years. This eventually opened her doors for higher learning, and she joined SNDT College, Mumbai. Having achieved the goal of entering higher education, Naik wished to guide other slum girls to pass their school exams, helping them to pursue higher education, but didn’t know how to go about it. It was at that juncture that Ashoka Venture, an NGO, stepped in to assist her and taught, trained and develop Aarti Naik into ‘Aarti the Changemaker’. The changemaker “We can create our own destiny”, believes Naik. The moment I decided to impart education, I tried to persuade my friends to pursue higher learning AARTI NAIK but they often sidelined my vision stating, 'Pursuing education won’t change anything; we are destined for domestic work', remembers Naik. “This eventually made me more determined for my educational mission and I decided to start from the foundation level, teaching preschool girls. Fortunately, I came across Ashoka Venture and spotted the opportunity with them. The organisation truly changed my life, leading to the launch of Sakhi, a social venture for girls’ education,” underlines Naik. She says Ashoka Venture’s one-year workshop and panel discussion helped her develop teaching confidence. Her dedication and hard work finally paid off when she bagged the ‘Changemaker’ title, an honour for bringing change in society which she started by teaching five slum girls. “The organisation even provided me a Rs 10, 000 grant to start my educational service,” the changemaker adds. Sakhi for Girls Education Started in 2008, Sakhi is the dream vision of Naik providing a safe and quality learning space to encourage and pursue higher education. Its aim is to develop educational interest and reduce Today, right from my parents to my slum community, every one supports me in my good work. This happened because I believed in myself and my dreams school dropout. As a learning centre, Sakhi offers basic literacy, numeracy and life skills training among younger girls in slums and marginalised sections of Mumbai There are various programmes implemented under Sakhi that carry out Naik’s educational mission. Girls Audio School: This initiative was initially started during the pandemic to battle the coronavirus fear among kids and divert their minds amid the crisis and still continues due to the amazing response it received. This programme not only creates story audios for kids but also aims at training young girls the knack of audio recording and storytelling. Girls Saving Bank: Girls learn to save and value money; the practice helps to develop a sense of security - a belief that their small share in a piggy bank will support their education in a tiny way. Girls English Academy: It’s an online venture through which girls are taught motivational lessons in English. It also includes training the girl to fight against abuse, and good and bad touches, making them aware of the consequences of physical intimacy at a tender age.

84 B W EDUCATION J U N E -J U LY 2023 W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM Girls School At Home: Through this programme, Naik is enabling potential changemakers like her and imparting basic learning education to eradicate the number of school dropouts from slums. This initiative was started when the lockdown rules were relaxed. Under this programme, one teaching leader is assigned to teach three students at their home. Girls Book Library: It includes giving books to around 400 girls for reading and later initiating discussions to understand the learnings among. This programme is basically to extend educational support to those girls whom Naik is unable to fund under Sakhi, and includes a meal box, educational and stationery kit every week. Likewise, there are many small ventures started and implemented for the girls’ well-being. Learning and audio school for girls’ mothers has also been started to empower older women and help them be literate with the basics of writing and learning. Through audio schools, the mothers’ oratory skills are developed. The challenges As per Naik, the challenges were humongous and still continue to be. Naik says it’s a ‘One Woman Show’. school to share an inspiring audio story daily online, creating positive hope for girls isolated at home. Apart from this with proper precaution, I managed to distribute groceries, sanitary pads and health kits in the slum.” It was very challenging no doubt, as she was walking with an operated knee. The virus transmission was at its peak creating life chaos and fear, describes Naik. Responsibilities As a changemaker the responsibility is huge.“Young girls look up to me and my vision; to them I am a ray of hope and I live and work for their empowerment. Imparting education is my life, and teaching is my soul, so I work with honesty with all my efforts. I can proudly say in the last 15 years since Sakhi started, no girl from my slum community has dropped out of school,”apprises Naik. She adds, “Saying I can do it, is quite easy but doing it, in reality, is the real challenge. But I am fortunate to have the help of an amazing team, the real changemakers helping me in my educational service”. Awards and Recognition Naik believes the rewards and recognition she receives inspire her and the girls in her community, and help to develop more changemakers for society. She adds it’s a token of appreciation for the15-year journey as an educationalist which she started at the age of 19. “It all started with my first award from Ashoka Venture and the list continues. It includes the Queen's Young Leaders Award (by The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust), Karmaveer Chakra Award, Jijamata Puruskar, Femina Women’s Award, and California University recognition among others,” adds Naik. Among all the recognitions, the title of ‘Tai’ (Elder sister in Marathi) bestowed by her students and the slum community is very dear to her.“Right from the school-going kid to an elderly person everyone calls me Tai, and it motivates me to work more,” she says. “I have faced so much that hurdles don’t scare me anymore,” she recalls, adding, “When I vowed to be in the service of education no one trusted me, and my parents often disapproved of my action, thought I was going crazy making girls sit at home and teach, creating difficulties for my family as the space was small. There were times when I thought of giving up on my dream because for almost eight years, I was running short of funds and there was no one to support me.” Elaborating further on her journey, she describes, “In the initial days I used to work part-time, study in college and simultaneously manage my teaching mission at home. But when I was bestowed with the changemaker title my family developed the trust in me and started supporting my vision. Today, right from my parents to my slum community, every one supports me in my good work. This happened because I believed in myself and my dreams.” The Covid test The challenges during Covid were grave. Naik lost her brother and then an accident kept her bedridden for almost two months, but this didn’t stop her. “I rose from the ashes, and with new hope and determination I started my audio

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86 B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM Meghna Ghai Puri MEGHNA GHAI PURI

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 87 Meghna Ghai Puri is the President of Whistling Woods International, a film, communication and creative arts institute located in Mumbai, India. Her film school has given notable alumni to the entertainment industry. She is now in a new venture where her focus is to inculcate film studies and creativity among school-going children. Excerpts from an interview: Engineering and medicine continue to be the leading career choices in India. Under such circumstances, what made you launch a film school - Whistling Woods International (WWI)? The British trained people to become doctors and engineers as they needed Meghna Ghai Puri, President of Whistling Woods International, Mumbai, describes how the institute is providing much-needed education and training in films and other creative fields By Suchita Gopal Sail “Teaching Filmmaking & Creativity: A Better, Bigger, Fulfilling Experience” such trained persons for their ends. The trend has continued till date. And it was not because our country lacked creative talent - Indians are creative and have a rich culture of dance, music and art. In that sense, we were not creatively drained but we fell short in providing the right education to our youth to nurture creativity. And that’s the reason we started our institute, Whistling Woods International (WWI). Just like any doctor or engineer is expected to know the basics before joining the actual work, the creative field requires skilled individuals to deal with its complexities and we are one among the few to make people ready for the entertainment or creative industry. Having done BSc Hons and Masters in Business Management, choosing a field completely different from your educational profile, how much does it help to crack the tough nut of films, and the educational entrepreneurship you are leading? My education does support my job.

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM It’s about management and I do manage my institute making sure we make money for growth. In my business management education, I learned digital marketing, human resource, accounts and finance - all of that I am utilising in good measure here. So, I am using my degree to my strength. When it comes to films and creativity I was born with those genes and having grown up in a world around films did help me understand what film is, how it is made, what goes into film making, knowing the people who work in the industry, and the temperament. These kinds of things helped me to build a better working environment during WWI. So, I used both my degree and film connection to manage my institute effectively. What is the most important evolution or development in the area of film studies in recent years? The film industry is a dynamic business field and as an institute representing films, our curriculum needs to pick the industry speed or change every six months. For that our partnership with 88 B W EDUCA TION JUNE-JULY 2023 creativity. We have a School of Music, where music production and composition are taught. Our School of Media and Communication helps in teaching various forms of journalism. We teach documentary filmmaking and entertainment film teaching for sure. Our other teaching segments include a School of Sports Events and Sports Management, Gaming and Animation. And we have fashion design and visual communication departments and all of these together make us a real creative art institute. It’s an amazing venture wherein we provide students with creative learning under one roof and where students can do collaborative work. Our degree holders working in the industry also help institute students. Is there any official collaboration or partnership with industry that provides WWI students direct placement? I would like to say ours is an institute where the industry itself looks for placement. So, we don’t need collaboration for placement of our students. We want to keep the process various technological companies helps us greatly because the first thing they bring out in the market comes to Whistling Woods and that goes to our students. This provides our students with an advanced exposure before others. We are trying to build a 360-degree learning platform for our students. Our lab at the institute is supporting our futuristic teaching vision. With the introduction of Artificial Intelligence (AI), films are heading toward greater heights and so we are concentrating on technology. It’s an exciting time for the entertainment field and we are trying our best to make a future-ready curriculum that supports a brighter future of young talents. Even today a majority of people are not aware of the programmes or the curriculum of a film school, Can you shed light on that? To begin with, we are not just limited to being a film school. We started as a film school but today we are much more than that, we are a 'creative art institute' and people should associate us as a full-fledged institute of Our initiative is to make young kids ready for choosing an out-of-the-box career or to choose a path they are actually good in

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 89 open-ended so that everybody is free to have Whistling Woods students. Our students get naturally placed in the industry immediately after passing out. When it comes to selecting film-making institutes, most prefer government-funded institutes like FTII. Do you think today this scenario is changing? The people who apply for FTII are different from those who approach WWI. We have a different target audience but over the years we have achieved the status of being the most popular choice for film school and education in India. And that comes from the fact that we are integrated well with the industry. Further, to make students learn real-time industry work, we have an internship programme that helps the students participate in industry work and events, providing a stronger learning experience. So, our learning is not secluded from the real world, it’s actually connected with what is happening on the ground, which makes us stand apart from other institutes not only in India but around the globe. Can you name some notable WWI alumni? The list is long but to mention a few I would start with Shashank Khaitan, a director who gave popular chartbusters Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania and Badrinath Ki Dulhania, etc. He has even produced a film titled Good Newwz and is directing many other projects. Then there is Arati Kadav, the director of the sci-fi film Cargo who is touted to be India's first-ever female director to direct a film on spaceship and science. Another bright talent is Nitin Baid, one of the finest editors who is known to be the man behind editing every good film. Sohel Sanwari working as a sound designer and mixer is proving our excellence in teaching music. And Aahana Kumra and Rajshri Deshpande are doing their best with their acting stint. We also have our students working at advertising houses like Ogilvy and also management companies. cially designed learnings along with their regular curriculum that gives them exposure to the film world. WWI aims to make sure that by the time students are seeking admission to undergraduate courses they know which direction to take. For example, they could choose Bachelor’s in Mass Media if wishing to pursue film direction or journalism. As a film institute how you are nurturing aspiring dreams? We believe making students empowered helps them achieve the best for themselves. It is about helping them to become confident. Our students come from different families, the ones that belong to the film background and one with zero industry connection. We as an institute treat each and every student equally and bring out the best in them. We help build good industrial relations for our students as that is something very important in the entertainment world. And the golden string that fosters networking is our thousands of alumni. So, when our fresher graduate is looking at entering the industry there is always an ex-Whistling Woods talent in an authority position ready to embrace the fresher. As a president of WWI, you have mastered the role at its best. Any plan towards film direction and creating history in Hindi cinema likewise your father (Subhash Ghai)? This question is something I am often asked. As a young lady I have explored almost everything in films - direction, writing, editing and production. But I found my true calling in film education. There is nothing better, bigger, or more fulfilling than training the next generation of filmmakers and creators. It’s a responsibility that someone is supposed to carry and there are many out there doing this wonderful job and we are proud to be among them. I believe in creating many directors who will create a cinematic history like our founder and my father Subhash Ghai. You have recently started a new initiative with school children and are helping the raw minds to explore the cinema and creativity. Would you like to explain that in detail? In a country like India, students are not exposed to film and media literacy. We don’t have art as a curriculum where the students can learn to draw and get into painting. Also, if we talk about dancing or singing there is nothing specific at school level. Just as the kids step into VIIIth or IXth standard they are prohibited from the creative pursuits, when it’s the actual time to address their creative aspect. Our initiative is to make young kids ready for choosing an out-of-the-box career or to choose a path they are actually good in. Many years ago, we did a curriculum for CBSE higher secondary classes (XI and XII) and recently started the same with the Delhi Board. The programme includes students choosing our spe- The golden string that fosters networking is our thousands of alumni. So, when our fresher graduate is looking at entering the industry there is always an ex-Whistling Woods talent in an authority position ready to embrace the fresher

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM E ducation has a diverse and vast canvas, in which art and cultural learning fill in the colour. However, one cannot deny the fact that parents and schools have always been more inclined towards academics than any other kind of learning. That somehow impacts the careers of students who aspire to make their careers in art, music and sports. Dharini Upadhyaya who started the Furtados School of Music as an initiative to provide proper platform to such students. Through this school, Upadhyaya wants to help students hone their music talent. Excerpts: How do you see women's empowerment in the last few years? Over the past few years, there has been remarkable progress in women's empowerment. The globalworkforce has seen a rise in the number of women, particularly in leadership positions across various industries. Women are challenging traditional gender roles and norms and are increasingly expressing themselves confidently. According to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report 2021, the gender gap is still prevalent, and it will take over a century to close it entirely. The report highlights the importance of continued efforts to support women's progress. 90 B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 Dharini Upadhyaya, Co-Founder, Furtados School of Music, on how arts can empower women and enable them to excel in other fields too By Shruti Tripathi Dharini Upadhyaya “Music Education Can Provide Women With Valuable Skills”

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 91 DHARINI UPADHYAYA

92 B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM Although there have been some positive developments in recent years, including greater representation of women in leadership roles, there is still much work to be done to achieve true gender equality. Women have demonstrated their potential in diverse fields, including science, technology, arts, and beyond, and it's crucial to provide them with equal opportunities and support to achieve their full potential. What are the factors you think that are still responsible for resisting women from coming out of their shells? Despite significant progress made by women in recent years, there still remain several challenges that resist them from achieving their potential. Gender discrimination, unequal access to education and job opportunities, and societal norms that reinforce gender roles and stereotypes are some of the factors that continue to hold women back. Women often face a difficult balancing act between work and family responsibilities, which can impact their career growth. Studies show that in the United States, women who work full-time earn only 82 cents for every dollar earned by men. In addition, the music industry remains male-dominated, with women underrepresented in the top 500 songs between 2012 and 2018, according to a report by the University of Southern California. It's crucial to address the systemic issues that prevent women from reaching their full potential, as women's participation in the workforce can significantly impact global GDP. As Vice President Kamala Harris pointed out, it's time to ensure that women's voices are fully heard and their potential fully realised. Apart from education and emA study by the Royal Society of Arts found that individuals who received music education were more likely to have higher earnings and work in more professional occupations.

W W W.B WEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 93 ployment, which another factor can accelerate their economic state? While education and employment are essential, there are other factors that can accelerate women's economic state. Financial literacy is crucial in empowering women to make informed financial decisions and build wealth over time. According to a study by the World Bank, increasing women's access to financial services could add $12 trillion to global GDP by 2025. Mentorship and access to capital can also support women entrepreneurs and help them grow their businesses. A report by the National Women's Business Council found that women-owned businesses contribute $1.8 trillion to the US economy. Investing in music education for women could also lead to increased workforce participation and economic growth. Overall, financial literacy, mentorship, access to capital, and music education are some of the factors that can accelerate women's economic growth and contribute to global economic growth. What was the motivator behind starting a music school? The music school was a result of our passion for music and my belief in its transformative power. My goal was to provide an inclusive platform for people of all ages and backgrounds to express themselves creatively and learn quality music education. We wanted to create a nurturing environment where students could develop their creativity, and self-expression, and grow as musicians. Our inspiration came from Dolly Parton's quote, "Music is a universal language that brings people together," and we wanted to promote inclusivity and bring people together through music. We strongly believe that everyone should have equal opportunities to learn and experience the joy of music, which motivated us to start a music school. ment for all students, regardless of gender. The ratio of men and women coming into our school is nearly equal, with girls accounting for 49 per cent of our student population and boys accounting for 51 per cent. This ratio suggests that we are successful in creating a space where students of all genders feel comfortable learning and growing as musicians. However, there is still a need to continue promoting gender equality and providing opportunities for women to excel in the music industry. Our school's nearly equal ratio of men and women students is a positive sign, and we will continue to promote inclusivity and diversity in music education. How can music play a role in enhancing women's economic status in society? I believe that music can have a significant impact on enhancing women's economic status in society. Also, music education can provide women with valuable skills and opportunities that can help them succeed in various fields. A study by the Royal Society of Arts found that individuals who received music education were more likely to have higher earnings and work in more professional occupations. Additionally, learning music can foster creativity, discipline, and problem-solving skills, which are all valuable traits in the workforce. Music can also provide women with career opportunities in various aspects of the music industry, such as performance, composition, teaching, and production. The music industry generates significant revenue, and women's participation can contribute to the industry's economic growth. Moreover, music can also boost women's confidence and self-esteem, which can empower them to pursue their goals and ambitions, including economic empowerment. Therefore, investing in music education for women can be an effective way to promote their economic growth and contribute to the overall development of society. How do you see women's growth in the art industry, and how can it be better in the coming days? In recent years, we have seen some progress in women's growth in the art industry. According to the National Endowment for the Arts, women make up nearly half of all visual artists and writers, but they are still underrepresented in key leadership positions. Similarly, a study by the University of Southern California found that only 22 per cent of popular songs are performed by women, and even fewer are written by them. To better support women in the art industry, we need to address the systemic issues that hold them back and provide them with more opportunities for recognition, mentorship, and financial support. We should also encourage more diversity and representation in the industry, especially at the decision-making and leadership levels. As Michelle Obama once said, "There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish," and it's time to empower more women to make their mark in the art industry. What is the ratio of girls and boys coming into your school, what does that ratio imply? At our music school, we strive to create an inclusive and welcoming environ-

94 B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM IIT Madras Launches Department Of Medical Sciences & Technology I ndian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras) has launched a Department of Medical Sciences and Technology, which will offer a four-year B.S. programme in medical sciences and engineering. This course will be a first-of-its-kind in India. The department was launched today on May 11 in the presence of Lakshmi Narayanan, Co-Founder, Cognizant; V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, Medical clinicians on the Steering Committee of the Department and other stakeholders. The course offers an interdisciplinary approach to prepare students for designing life-saving medical devices, drug discovery, artificial intelligence in medicine, and fundamental medical research. The department will train physicians to effectively apply technology in their clinical practice. Top medical doctors in India and abroad, who were also closely involved in the development of the curriculum, will be ‘Professors of Practice’ in this department, which has already established tieups with premier hospitals and medical institutions in India. Addressing the inaugural function, CAMPUS UPDATE Lakshmi Narayanan, Co-Founder, Cognizant, said,“Collaborative research in medical sciences can catapult India to a global leader in clinical outcomes. Our leadership in Space, nuclear, digital and biotechnology has demonstrated our research capability and potential. Extending this capability to Medicine is a natural next step.” V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras, said, “During the Covid outbreak in India, it became evident that we needed to incorporate technology into medicine to effectively handle similar situations in the future as a country. Though we hope such challenges never arise again, this intervention will be crucial in defining our response.” The Department of Medical Sciences & Technology will offer the following courses: • BS in Medical Sciences & Engineering (4 Year Programme) • PhD Programme for Doctors • MS by Research for Doctors • MS in Medical Sciences and Engineering • PhD Programme for Science & Engineering Graduates A programme called 'entrepreneurial doctorate' will allow doctors to create a product, and the IIT system will provide guidance and support for their entrepreneurial endeavors. (Clockwise from top): An MoU being signed with MGM Healthcare during the launch event; Lakshmi Narayanan, Co-Founder, Cognizant; and V Kamakoti, Director, IIT Madras

WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 95 IIMA Leadership Programme For Visually Challenged Women Professionals The George Institute India’s study on indigenous foods T he Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA)conducted a three-day leadership training workshop for visually challenged women professionals in April end. It was titled ‘Leadership and Strategic Thinking for Social Sector’. The programme - conceptualised by Rajesh Chandwani, IIMA faculty member and the Dr Lal PathLabs Chair in Healthcare at IIMA - aimed at equipping the participants with knowledge and skills that can help in grooming them to take on leadership roles. Eleven other faculty members from IIMA and the Blind People’s Association (BPA) with expertise in different academic areas came together to take sessions on a wide range of subjects for the participants. The programme has taken shape with the joint support of Lal PathLabs Foundation in association with the IIMA Endowment Fund. The 25 participants in the programme hail from various organisations in Delhi, Gujarat, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan. During the programme, participants were taught concepts and trends in subjects ranging from Strategic Thinking for the Social Sector to Governance and Compliance Issues in NGOs and Financial Literacy: Issues Challenges and Opportunities to Managing Negotiations to Leading Self in the Social Sector and more. Nutrition Researchers at The George Institute for Global Health India, disseminated the findings of a comprehensive research study that assessed the indigenous food systems of vulnerable tribal communities Jharkhand, India and their contribution towards the food security and nutritional status of these communities. Four tribal communities were assessed: Santhal, Munda, Ho, and Sauria Paharia, and the observations and inferences have been presented in numerous research papers and conferences. On April 24, 2023, a dissemination seminar was held at Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee University, Ranchi, to share the study findings with the university students, and stakeholders like the NGOs working in health and nutrition, international development organisations, and academia amongst others. The study found that while the tribal communities had traditional ecological knowledge about a variety of indigenous foods, the consumption of these foods among, women and children in all communities was inadequate with poor nutrient intake. A high prevalence of wasting, stunting, and low weight was observed in young children in all the tribes. It is possible to tackle undernutrition in these communities by implementing strategies such as agricultural extension programmes that promote indigenous crop varieties and nutrition education sessions to increase dietary diversity using indigenous foods. CAMPUS UPDATE

WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM CAMPUS UPDATE IIT Jodhpur Introduces XR Design: A Master's In Design (MDes) IIT Roorkee Sets Up ISRO-IITR Space Technology Cell I ndian Institute of Technology Jodhpur has announced the launch of Masters in Design (MDes) programme called XR design from the academic year 2023-24. This is in accordance with the Government of India’s mandate to create manpower in the areas related to AR/VR technologies. This innovative programme is designed to prepare students for the rapidly evolving field of extended reality (XR) design. XR design is a unique programme that blends traditional design principles with cutting-edge technology to prepare graduates for the future of design. The programme focuses on teaching students how to design immersive experiences that incorporate virtual, augmented, and mixed-reality elements, for a variety of applications such as training in healthcare and retail, automotive simulations, digital twins in manufacturing, remote collaboration in workplaces as well as gaming and entertainment. "XR design is a response to the growing demand for designers who can create immersive experiences that go beyond the limitations of traditional modes," said Santanu Chaudhury, Director, IIT Jodhpur. The XR design programme is open to students from various backgrounds, including graphic design, architecture, and engineering. Students will work with industry-standard software and hardware, such as Unity, Unreal Engine, Maya, and various headsets, to create immersive experiences. T he Chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and Secretary of the Department of Space, Govt. of India, S Somanath, inaugurated the Center for Space Science and Technology, and the Office premises for ISRO-IIT Roorkee Space Technology Cell in early May. He also released the book Research Area in Space 2023 and the Atlas (from IIRS Dehradun): Exploring Footprints of the Past Heritage Documentation – A Geospatial Approach. He interacted with research scholars and discussed the 21 ongoing projects activities under ISRO-IITR Space Technology Cell. He lay emphasis on the need for research scholars and faculty members to work on various opportunities available in the space sector, which would prove fruitful for various applications, businesses, and diverse benefits from this sector. He urged them to focus on applications with the ability to manufacture and startups, in line with the "Make in India" initiative. This partnership will create new opportunities for research and development, promote innovation and entrepreneurship, and contribute to India’s space industry’s growth. With the support of ISRO and IIT Roorkee, the centre is expected to emerge as a hub for cutting-edge research, development, and innovation in space science and technology. 96 B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 RAHUL SINGH VP & Head of Marketing SAP India SHUBHRANSHU SINGH Vice President, Marketing, Domestic & IB, Tata Motors DR. ANNURAG BATRA Chairman & Editor-in-Chief BW Businessworld & Founder, exchange4media NOOR FATHIMA WARSIA Group Editorial Director BW Businessworld GAURAV MEHTA CMO Noise DEEPALI NAAIR Group CMO CK Birla Group AMIT DOSHI CMO Britannia CHARU KISHNANI Executive Vice President Marketing, CarDekho Group MANISH SINHA CMO Sterlite Technologies RAJAT ABBI Vice President – Global Marketing India, Chief Marketing Oficer – Greater India, Schneider Electric JYOTI KUMAR BANSAL Chief Branding, Communication, CSR, Sustainability, Tata Power ARVIND R.P CMO McDonald's India SAI NARAYAN CMO Policybazaar.com AJAY KAKAR Brand & Marketing Strategist ARVIND SAXENA Sr. GM & Head - Marketing & Corporate Communications, NEC Corporation India JURY MEMBERS #BWMarketing40under40 JULY 2023 NOMINATE NOW Mir Salika: +91 85270 48483, [email protected] Chetan Mehra: +91 98117 02464, [email protected] For Nominations: Aparna Sengupta: +91 99580 00128, [email protected] Ravi Khatri: +91 98913 15715, [email protected] Somyajit Sengupta: +91 98182 47444, [email protected] Kiran Dedhia: +91 98333 99009, [email protected] CS Rajaraman: +91 93422 62859, [email protected] For Sponsorship:

RAHUL SINGH VP & Head of Marketing SAP India SHUBHRANSHU SINGH Vice President, Marketing, Domestic & IB, Tata Motors DR. ANNURAG BATRA Chairman & Editor-in-Chief BW Businessworld & Founder, exchange4media NOOR FATHIMA WARSIA Group Editorial Director BW Businessworld GAURAV MEHTA CMO Noise DEEPALI NAAIR Group CMO CK Birla Group AMIT DOSHI CMO Britannia CHARU KISHNANI Executive Vice President Marketing, CarDekho Group MANISH SINHA CMO Sterlite Technologies RAJAT ABBI Vice President – Global Marketing India, Chief Marketing Oficer – Greater India, Schneider Electric JYOTI KUMAR BANSAL Chief Branding, Communication, CSR, Sustainability, Tata Power ARVIND R.P CMO McDonald's India SAI NARAYAN CMO Policybazaar.com AJAY KAKAR Brand & Marketing Strategist ARVIND SAXENA Sr. GM & Head - Marketing & Corporate Communications, NEC Corporation India JURY MEMBERS #BWMarketing40under40 JULY 2023 NOMINATE NOW Mir Salika: +91 85270 48483, [email protected] Chetan Mehra: +91 98117 02464, [email protected] For Nominations: Aparna Sengupta: +91 99580 00128, [email protected] Ravi Khatri: +91 98913 15715, [email protected] Somyajit Sengupta: +91 98182 47444, [email protected] Kiran Dedhia: +91 98333 99009, [email protected] CS Rajaraman: +91 93422 62859, [email protected] For Sponsorship:

98 B W EDUCATION JUNE-JULY 2023 WWW.BWEDUCATION.COM IIM Sambalpur Announces Delhi Campus IISER Bhopal Study On COF Membranes I ndian Institute of Management Sambalpur, has announced the opening of its new campus in New Delhi. The new campus will be a well-appointed campus located in the Vasant Kunj Industrial Area in South Delhi in The Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID) campus. IIM Sambalpur also plans to conduct short- as well as long-duration executive and other programmes in management from the new ISID campus, drawing upon the ISID infrastructure as well as its faculties. The objective is to cater to a lot of working professionals, executives, and entrepreneurs who want to pursue management studies (along with an option of a dual degree from international universities) on weekends from a premium IIM besides continuing their respective trade and profession. Subhas Sarkar, Minister of State for Education, Government of India graced the occasion of the launch and congratulated IIM Sambalpur for taking this crucial initiative. IIM Sambalpur also announced a new two-year hybrid MBA programme specifically for working professionals, strategic leaders, and entrepreneurs having a minimum experience of three years. The programme is offered in a blended mode, with the option of obtaining a dual degree from international universities as per the latest NEP. Students will get the benefit of a two-year degree programme in the Delhi, with an option of dual degree from Sorbonne Business School, Paris, France; Institute of International Universities Consortium (IIE), Paris, France; and University of Bordeaux, France. I ndian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal (IISER- Bhopal) researchers led by Abhijit Patra have made an important advancement in the field of porous membranes for molecular separation. The researchers have developed a novel method to produce free-standing crystalline nanoporous organic films that can separate toxic organic micropollutants from water. The details of the study have been published in the prestigious journal, 'Angewandte Chemie', in a paper co-authored by Abhijit Patra, Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, IISER Bhopal, and his research scholars Arkaprabha Giri, G Shreeraj, and Tapas Kumar Dutta. COFs manufactured using the method developed by the IISER Bhopal team can help in fabricating porous membranes at room temperature under ambient conditions for efficient molecular separation from water. Covalent organic frameworks have high application potentials ranging from energy storage and catalysis to molecular separation, making them promising materials for various industries beyond water purification. The researchers are hopeful that their research will inspire further exploration in the field of dynamic covalent chemistry and COFs to address the pressing challenges of sustainable development. CAMPUS UPDATE

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