My Expressions

Children’s Day talk with Saroj Raman, The Academy School, Pune

Each child is special. Their uniqueness lies, as much as in their skills and talents, as in their questions, imaginations and sense of wonder. Some children may be good in sports, some in arts, some in science or some in business. Some are orators, others dreamers, some loud and expressive, some shy and conservative. But each child has something special to offer to this world. So, we truly believe that ‘Every Child is Special’.

The UN celebrates World Children’s Day on 20 November while in India, Children’s Day is celebrated on 14 November. This date is the birth anniversary of India’s First Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru who believed that children are the real strength and foundation of a nation. We at Curious Times too believe that the holistic development of children is the first step in building a better world and we strive every day to do just that. We are also in constant engagement with the education community – students, teachers and educators. It is our cherished goal to make a meaningful contribution to the community by working and interacting with leaders in the field.

And so, this Children’s Day, Curious Times is delighted to bring you a special message from an eminent educator, Saroj Raman. She is the Principal of The Academy School, Pune.

In your inspiring journey as an educator what different types of experiences have you had with children that make you believe every child is special? My journey over the past 2 decades is a clear reckoner that each child has a unique DNA of skill sets, strengths, capacities, aptitudes and attitudes. They all have traced a path in their life and have made a mark for themselves. Comparing their achievements is, in my view, disrespectful of their efforts and belittles their achievements. I celebrate their uniqueness and respect them for what they are and have been. I am amazed how my engineering and IB students are now entrepreneurs, owners of start-ups, working for esteemed companies and managing their work and life to the best of their abilities. Some of them also ended up pursuing unique careers like a master’s program in the restoration of audiotapes that are vital to forensic investigations (to name just one) and that makes me simply proud of their achievements.

At times it happens that children end up teaching something valuable to adults. Please share any such experience that you have had. I had a student who was blessed with so much talent, so much so that he could just name what he wanted to do or where he wanted to work and he could get that. Instead, he chose to join the Teach for India program. And when he shared his experiences with me, I could see the joy and gratification that he had experienced while working with these children in the far-flung corners of our country. This is important to me as an experience as it is a conscious reminder to all educators that we are lighting a candle- the candle has the power to illuminate the lives of millions of others.

What steps should be taken collectively by Schools, Parents, Teachers and the Government to ensure that the special talent and uniqueness in every child is encouraged rather than measuring each child on the same traditional metric? The current blind spot of the education system is assessment. And its inertia beats all reformative policies that have been introduced in recent times to promote a more inclusive approach to teaching and learning practices in the classrooms. Our traditional metric relies on elimination and feeds the mass machinery which celebrates only academic brilliance. So, we need to strengthen programs and courses that celebrate creativity and innovation that rely on intuition and imagination. As stakeholders and policymakers, we carry the onus to respectfully provide a creative ecology to the learners so that they can pursue their own interests, wishes and interests within a sustainable framework. Alvin Toffler had visualized the need to redesign our thought processes decades ago when he mentioned Education in the Future Tense in his book Future Shock. It is a fact that we are training our students to take up roles, jobs or professions that are not even in existence till now. I, as a student, never imagined that Nanotechnology would be the go-to word in the 2020s and waste management or technologies to rid our oceans of plastic debris will be tantamount to our sustainable existence on this blue planet. The nuclear idea we need to promote can be – don’t cull imagination, but promote questioning and interrogation, and build student agency so that they don’t just aim to be followers. Rather, they should dream to be leaders who have the confidence to make a difference in the lives of others.

On the occasion of Children’s Day, share your message with your and your children on the Curious Times platform. My message to my amazing students would be to Stay Unique. As they charter a course for themselves, staying imaginative and inquisitive are two virtues that they need to keep alive and kicking. The current vistas that have opened up for students in terms of access to information, databases and literature are amazing. Students ought to build their skills of undertaking research which in itself is crucial to building a balanced understanding of concepts that are free from geopolitical biases that we are so unaware about. There is a mine of opportunities that communities of learners can engage in globally and collaborate to make real-time changes to the world around them. I take this opportunity to wish all the children reading this message an Amazing Children’s Day. Stay happy, Stay Motivated and Never Let Anyone tell you that you are less in any way.

Saroj Raman, Principal, The Academy School, Pune

Do also catch her complete interview and motivational message in a chat with Curious Times Director, Deepti Beri on our YouTube Channel Curious Times

Many thanks to Ms. Saroj Raman, The Academy School, Pune for sharing her thoughts on Curious Times.

Curious Times wishes A Happy Children’s Day to all the students of The Academy School, Pune.

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