SHARING AN INSPIRING AND EVENTFUL JOURNEY OF MRS. SUNITHA SRIVASTAVA - A PASSIONATE EDUCATIONIST, AN EDULEADER & FOUNDER PRINCIPAL OF VLS INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC SCHOOL, BENGALURU.
Being calm about everything allows your mind to find solutions. Calmness is also a state of trust. Instead of overthinking and overreacting, you just surrender for that moment and allow yourself to receive guidance from the universe. This is the mantra I followed in my journey of Covid till now.
I always believed in my tagline. “Challenges are the testing tools; we need to embrace it, if we want to know our own hidden area of excellence”. Accordingly, I was always up to immerse myself in some kind of challenging situation which helped me to know my own ability to combat such locus moments.
To tell about my education background, I have done my MA in English, a B.Ed, Diploma in Education Administration and Management and CICTL. It was my dream to be a Founder Principal and that happened, after completing my tenure of three years as a School Principal.
15th March 2019, was a milestone in my career as I took over as a Founder Principal for VLS International Public School. It was my biggest dream to be there and I halted at the destination. The session 2019 was full of buzz of activities in the school campus. The vigour and zeal were paramount. The students were such, as though we hand-picked them. The vibrant teachers added colours to these children’s life. At the culmination stage of the session, the curtain raised of unheard and unforeseen story of Covid-19.
10th of March was the day we announced the end of the session. The parents were eager to know how the exams would be conducted as we had already announced that the exams would begin from 20th of March 2019. Exam papers were ready. Between these two dates, we brainstormed what would be the best way out to tame the task at hand. We arrived at the decision to convert those question papers into worksheets, to gauge the learning outcome of the students. Since the phobia of exams was not there, the students answered it pretty well. The teaching fraternity was overwhelmed with the learning which had happened for a period of a year. We announced summer vacation and got involved ourselves in preparing for the next session.
Then, everything looked as though things would settle down in few days. We were ready with our academic plan, calendar of events and all other stuffs related to the next academic year. Since, the situation was related to community, we just waited patiently for the government to announce the dates for the commencement of the session.
At the same time, the news of number of increased cases, spread like a fire. The offline classes seemed a bleak possibility. Once again, we put our heads together to find an option to continue the teaching learning process by other means. In the normal condition, the new session begins in the first week of June, here in South India. But it was already the beginning of the month June. There was still speculation of having offline classes. But we understood that would not be a feasible alternative. We started doing research of various options available to us at our disposal.
After analysing all, we landed on Lark app to carry out the session seamlessly. Then the challenge was to orient teachers, students and moreover parents about the usage of the app. It took several attempts to make parents understand how the app works and how it would facilitate the learning.
The new experience created immense curiosity among the children. The eagerness to explore on the device was novel to them at the same time it was challenging due to network issue, power cuts and so on. The uphill task of conducting classes through online was daunting for the teachers at the initial stage. They overcame several aspects which were not found in school offline system.
In between, the cases decreased and grade 6th to 12th classes were conducted offline. Since, our school was still in the baby steps, we did not have students from grade 7th. We decided to continue online though the permission was granted for grade 6th. This did not last long. The increase in the number of cases registered and once again the classes were called off. While navigating in this journey, we came to an end of this session also, without conducting exams.
In spite of conducting all kinds of activities, the charm of offline classes, can never be replaced by online. Online classes are acting as a substitute source to continue the academic sessions. The technology came handy in these untoward circumstances but the bonding which is seen in the school campus can never be replaced by online classes.
The whole education industry is also looking forward for a hybrid learning in the coming days. Even I had advocated this sometimes back. But that would be a rarity.
The novel challenge has taught all of us that no matter what the life is offering, one need to be dynamic in their thought process and in their action. Boulders can be moved with strong will and determination. We all have learnt many terminologies, upgraded ourselves with technical know-how, the decorum which the online classes demand.
Many of us have understood the value of family. On the contrary, few incidents of domestic mishap have also come into light. The brave dust up and look forward what life is throwing at them each day. Health and hygiene are the highest priority to all of us now. Locking ourselves not only save our life but also of others. Stay home; stay safe and keep adding new skills which can enhance you are a person.
I had an opportunity to explore The National Education Policy in depth and share the analysis on various platforms and also helping schools to implement it. During this journey, I also got an opportunity to be a mentor / advisor for five edu startups. Further, I enriched my knowledge in various domains. I become certified nutritionist which helped me to orient parents, teachers and students alike.
Mrs. Sunitha Srivastava
Founder Principal
VLS International Public School
Bharath Nagar 1st Stage, BEL Layout,
Herohalli Ward, Magadi Road, Bengaluru
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