My Expressions

Ed Leader – Dr. Mita Sarkar, Daisy Montessori School, Bangalore

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 Dr. Mita Sarkar. She is the Principal of Daisy Montessori School, Bangalore. At Daisy Montessori, we provide a safe, nurturing and developmentally appropriate program for each child which fosters active learning, support for the whole child, and a child friendly environment.

When did you decide to step into the world of education? What motivated you to become an Educator? As a founder, director and principal of Daisy Montessori, I am often asked what prompted me to start Daisy Montessori. After my Master’s degree from IIT Delhi in 2004, I went to pursue my PhD in Engineering from the USA. After I was awarded the PhD, I started my corporate journey from August 2008, first in the USA and then moving to Bangalore. At the time of quitting my corporate career in February 2017, I was working as a Senior Research Engineer in a Europe-based MNC that is a global leader in aerospace, defence, military and space-related products and services. In between, as a woman, my life changed I became the mother of two beautiful kids but I persisted and continued my corporate career. Then, at the beginning of 2016, I started getting restless and wanted to be involved in something where I could take a more active part in shaping the future of our country and still be surrounded by young children, the best gifts we can have. But the momentum of corporate life continued for a while in me till September 2016. I was feeling doubtful whether I was making the right decision to quit the successful corporate life, something which most of our generation dreamed of, studied hard, worked hard to get. I had many anxious discussions with my husband and together, we bumped into Jeff Bezos’s talk on Regret Minimization Framework. Then, over a week, I confidently made the decision to resign from my corporate career. This was sometime in October 2016 and finally, on 14 February 2017 (yes, on Valentine’s Day!) I officially quit my corporate career and found a new love in working full time towards the creation of Daisy Montessori School.

Share some of the challenges you have faced in your career journey. How did you convert those challenges into the pillars of success? We at Daisy Montessori School are trying to find the solutions to create the 21st century’s high-quality and safe preschools. Any institution or organization is not easy to create and there will be bad times. Admittedly, the initial days are always challenging and it can be hard to get many students as we are in the process of creating a strong brand. So, passion for what we are doing is very important to keep us going.

My mindset is that of a first-generation entrepreneur, who sacrifices her comfort zone, career stability and take risks to create something meaningful that she is passionate about. I try to spend very little in marketing and rather, prefer to spend resources on creating a great facility, increasing the quality of our service, better equipment, books, materials, training our staffs and more. A very good preschool must be loved by the kids and parents first, while word of mouth would then be the best source of marketing for us. If parents don’t like us, we can’t go far. It’s as simple as that.

What are the changes have you observed over the years in the field of education? Are you happy with these changes? We have seen rapid changes in the Indian education system in the last decade. The development of online classes, experiential learning, blended learning has changed how students are interacting with the educational content. There has been a dramatic change in the education ecosystem. So, here are a few changes I have observed in the last 10 years:
1. Chalkboards Replaced by Smart Screen – Most of the private schools have replaced the traditional Chalkboards with smart boards. These are technology-driven boards wherein all the lectures, formulae and concepts are holistically described and available to download.
2. Different learning approaches like experiential and project-based learning: Slowly, changes have also been made to improve the learning outcome. Nowadays, the experiential and project-based approach has become an important part of the curriculum.
3. Online Classes and Physical Classroom converted into E-classroom – Online classes were first started with the adoption of technology by the private sector. A few private players adopted the technology and showed how online education can be an effective tool in the first half of the decade. However, the importance of online education took a dramatic turn during the COVID-19 lockdown and now it has become the main means of education in the ongoing COVID crisis.
4. Free Availability of Content: One of the significant changes that has taken place in recent years is the free availability of content. A plethora of online websites and Youtube channels are providing free content for all the courses. The Ministry of Education, NCERT and other government bodies have also made educational content available for free. Initiatives like E-Pathsala, Online NCERT books, Educational TV channels have been started to provide content for free.

What changes would you like to see in the field of Education? What role can the various stakeholders like the government, teachers, students and parents play in this? As I had nurtured the dream for a while and being involved in Early Childhood Care and Education, I was reading a lot about child psychology, the Montessori education system and state-of-the-art early childhood care and education all over the world, especially in the USA and India. Being an engineer myself and completing my higher studies in the USA, a place of technology start-ups, and also working in a very reputed MNC, I am always a follower of how the world around us is changing at a very fast pace by embracing new technologies. The 21st century’s rapid development of artificial intelligence and digital technologies has convinced me that almost every aspect of our children’s lives will be much different than ours. As these emerging technologies evolve and are quickly replaced by yet unimaginable new ones, human society will need to become increasingly nimble and adaptable with lifelong learning. In this digital age, the need for children to learn and memorize facts is diminishing. It is being replaced by the need to learn how to filter and assess information critically for any kernel of “truth”. Today’s preschoolers will enter the global workforce around 2038. Although we cannot contemplate exactly what their world will be like then, we do know that children and adults will continue to need the basic skills of reading, writing and arithmetic. They will also need a greater ability to learn “how to learn”, and possess problem-solving skills, critical thinking skills, and be resilient in the face of fast-moving change. Most discussions about “21st-century skills” emphasize the need for schools to focus more on so-called “soft” skills and character traits such as creative thinking and curiosity in addition to cognitive skills. Learning in the early years should have a stronger focus on the child’s all-around development than just school education. Future learners will need an excellent start in early learning if they are to cope with mid to late 21st century challenges. It is vital that early education curricula emphasize the process and the outcomes of both soft and hard skills to create the most competent learners and citizens. The family’s role is also essential in nurturing and enriching young children’s development. We are heading for an age that requires adaptable “knowledge workers” who can work collaboratively, independently and creatively. It is time to construct a new curriculum and to create a re-envisioned education system that includes a workforce of high quality, which is fit for purpose, well-rewarded and well-educated.

Share your message with the aspiring teachers and leaders of tomorrow. Teaching is a noble profession. A teacher is a person who provides knowledge and guidance to the future generation of a society and a country. Be proud of your profession. It seems easy to define the work of a teacher but we know that a teacher is one of the greatest people on earth. A teacher can mould the future of a generation. However, as we know, teaching can also be stressful, tiring, demanding, and amazingly rewarding. So, although there will be days when you will feel like tearing out your hair, there is one important reason to teach, above all: The children need you.

Share your message for your and Curious Times students. I express my sincere thanks to our students and parents. Without their support, encouragement and constructive feedback the journey so far wouldn’t be possible.
Children are the world’s most valuable resource and its best hope for the future. Yes, my dear students, you are the precious pearls of society and the building blocks of a strong nation. Dear children, you have proven that your practice, your presence and your determination is what makes every school vibrant and colourful. Student life is a beautiful part of life. Enjoy the process of learning. “Do not give up no matter what, always try just one more time, and eventually you will be successful”.

Dr. Mita Sarkar, Principal

Daisy Montessori School, Bangalore

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