Dr. Suresh Reddy
Chairperson, Candor International School, Bangalore

Dr. Suresh Reddy is founder-chairperson of the Saketh Educational Trust and the Cambridge International (UK) and IB (Geneva)-affiliated Candor International School, Bangalore (estb.2010), ranked among India’s Top 15 day-cum-boarding international schools by EducationWorld. He is also director, LearnBeyond, an affordable, cloud-based eLearning solution and Sai Srushti Group, a strategic investments company.

Candor International’s Covid-19 response.

Candor was an early mover in switching to online learning in virtual classrooms. For over three months, our teachers have been actively engaging students with high-quality interactive content as well as video messages about health and safety precautions. Our parents community has also actively supported our efforts to continue the teaching-learning process. We have also taken the admission process for the new academic year online.

Also read: Candor International School, Bangalore online learning success story

Major challenges confronting Indian K-12 education in the Covid era.

The pandemic has exposed the inequities of the country’s education system with millions of children from socio-economically disadvantaged households unable to access virtual learning. And with schools closed for over three months, all children are deprived of peer interaction and physical/sports education.

Top 3 proposals for reforming K-12 education.

•  There’s too much emphasis on academics in Indian K-12 education. School curriculums should promote a balance between academic rigour and co-curricular and sports education.
• Government should focus on bridging the digital divide and ensuring online education reaches all children, especially in rural India.
• Our education system needs new pedagogies and 21st century curriculums to prepare children for a constantly changing world. I am inspired by the words of Michael Chui of the McKinsey Global Institute: “Prepare today’s young people for a world of constant uncertainty.”

Future plans…

Next year, we are starting a new day-cum-boarding campus in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh in association with the National Public School, Bangalore.