My Expressions

Ed Leader – Kavita Chatterjee Das, St. John’s High School, Chandigarh

Education is an integral part of a child’s upbringing. We, at Curious Times, have made it our aim to ensure that we also play an active role in imparting the right knowledge to all the Curious children. As such, we also try to ensure that we are always in touch with the leaders in education today and learning from them. After all, it is important to learn from the best.

So, today, we present to you a one-on-one conversation with Kavita Chatterjee Das. She is the Principal of St. John’s High School, Chandigarh. It is an all-boys, English Medium, unaided Catholic Minority Institution that promotes cohesiveness amongst its members and is value-based.

Here is a short edited excerpt of the one-on-one conversation of Kavita Chatterjee Das with Deepti Beri, Director at Curious Times. Also, watch the full video of the conversation at the end of this excerpt.

When did you decide to step into the world of education? What motivated you to become an Educator? I’m a fourth-generation teacher in my family. So, you could say teaching runs in my blood. It’s a passion or vocation, not just a job. This is how I got into teaching. Now, I’m managing 2000 plus boys as a principal, which is a lot of fun. Loving what you do together with knowing your subject matter means you can never fail as a teacher.

Share some of the challenges you have faced in your career journey. How did you convert those challenges into the pillars of success? It’s been a challenge converting teaching to an online mode but we did it gradually. We faced the challenge, trained and educated our staff as well as ourselves, our parents and of course our children. We had to work out ways to interact with the children as well as assess them in the right way. Now, a lot of stuff in the school are happening online, not just academics. We also faced challenges with EWS children as many of their families did not have the means to help their children study online. But, thanks to our wonderful alumna and their support, every single child has been able to study online. We also try to ensure that all our children get all the attention they require to grow and flourish. We have a programme where each teacher is a foster parent to three EWS children, throughout their school life. This helps us keep in close contact with them and their families and close the gaps. We are proud to say that we have not lost one child over the pandemic. We are a close-knit community that try to take care of each other.

As an educator, I have faced challenges but it’s important to not have an ego and to communicate well, not just with your peers but also with the children. I am open to suggestions and that’s what I feel has helped me improve as a teacher.

Role of teacher vis a vis technology in education today. Teaching is a relationship-based profession. So, whether it is offline or online, the essentials of teaching don’t change. However, with technology, it’s important for teachers to also adapt and up-skill to be in touch with the changes. Children need to trust their teachers and that is very important.

Share your message for your and Curious Times students. Really celebrate yourselves. You are unique, you are you. Don’t compete against others but yourself. And if you need help, we are always there.

We need to respect the dignity of our children and reach out to each and every one of them. Get to know your children and let them know they are loved.

Kavita Chatterjee Das, Principal

St. John’s High School, Chandigarh

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