Unfolding a child's personality

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">School education is not just about teaching but it''s more than that. The director, The Shri Ram Schools (TSRS), Abha Adams talks about the ideals, principles, ethical values and educational innovativeness, which can make a difference in a child''s life.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">You say The Shri Ram schools (TSRS) are progressive with a child-centric approach.What exactly do you mean by it?</span><br /><br />Our focus is on the child- we are here because of the child. He is the result of our endeavours. The institution is child friendly. At the time of admission, we do not test the child but test the values of parents, whether their values synchronise with the values that the school upholds. Our emphasis is on teaching values to children- inculcating a sense of responsibility towards society, creating and forging sense of community feeling. We do not judge children on the basis of their academic results, we do not rank the students. In pre- primary and junior section, there are no exams but teacher assessments.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Can you explain about educational innovations introduced in TSRS and its implications? </span><br /><br />We believe that a child learns certain things at a certain age. So, when he reaches the appropriate age we introduce that subject. For example, at the age of four years, the muscles are weak and the child has difficulty in writing alphabets, so we let the children strengthen their muscles first, explore the environment around them and their place in it through projects integrating art, craft, music and dance. Between eight to nine years, children do not understand abstract concepts like algebra and geometry. The subjects are introduced when they can understand them.<br /><br />In junior school, the focus is on learning sound language skills, clarity of mathematical concepts and understanding of scientific principles. It is not that the syllabus is unstructured but carefully planned. For Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), the students are given varied options to choose the subjects.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">What do you mean by saying the students are taught self-management skills?</span><br /><br />We teach the child to manage time, the work load, to set goals for himself and to learn to achieve those goals. At the TSRS, we have special student development workshops for middle and senior students where we encourage them to think of objectives and strategies independently and to understand themselves. The role of teacher is more than just to teach: he is a guide, mentor and counsellor to both students and parents.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Do you believe that the parent-school relationship is crucial to a child''s success?</span><br /><br />We consider parents are partners in the education of child, we have a three way interactive programme between parents, school and students. Parent-orientation programme is organised at the start of every academic year, and hold regular parent-teacher meetings. The Parent-Teachers'' Association runs lots of workshops and volunteer help for trips, social development projects. The school is in constant touch with the parent community.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">What are you doing something for children with special needs? </span><br /><br />We have a learning centre that provides inclusive educational opportunities to children with special needs, the slow learners, with communication disorders. At our school at Aravali, we have 87 such students. <br /><br />Focus is not on academic learning alone but to compensate for individual problems, to make them part of the mainstream. They have functional curriculum, adapted curriculum and get comprehensive vocational training. We are seeking support from the ISC board for these students to use computers at the exams, so that they can feel a sense of achievement. </div> </div>