An alumna of Mumbai and Pune universities, Meera Isaacs is the long-serving principal and dean of the CISCE and IB (Geneva)-affiliated The Cathedral & John Connon School, Mumbai (CAJCS, estb. 1860), ranked among India’s Top 10 co-education day schools in the EW India School Rankings 2017-18. Are you satisfied with the Union Budget 2018-19 allocation of Rs.85,010 crore for education? India has 400 million children — the world’s largest child population. Of them, a considerable number either don’t attend school or drop out before secondary school. Given that so many children don’t have access to a decent education, the allocation of Rs.85,010 crore is small, but welcome nonetheless. The Union government proposes to scrap the no-detention until class VIII provision of the RTE Act. Are you in favour of this amendment? I am not in favour of scrapping the no-detention policy as I see no reason for detaining children in primary classes except in very rare cases. It is the combined responsibility of the school and parents to monitor and help a child to progress academically. Learning difficulties of children can easily be identified at the primary level and remedied by schools’ special needs departments. What is your solution to reforming the country’s exam/assessment system? I don’t believe in putting young children (class VIII) through the stress of formal examinations. In my opinion, grades can replace marks as a fair indicator of students’ progress. Learning should be a stress-free, joyful experience. Moreover, a wide palette of subjects ranging from music to mathematics, life and time management skills will equip children for the 21st century jobs market. What are your Top 5 suggestions for reforming K-12 education? • Revamp school curriculums and syllabuses to encourage creativity, critical thinking, experiential learning through hands-on activities, travel and collaborative learning. Also introduce digital teaching-learning tools. • Design secondary and higher secondary assessment to test understanding of concepts, creativity and higher-level thinking skills. Reproducing from memory should be totally abolished. • Institute mandatory professional development programmes for teachers across all exam boards. • Design balanced academic, co-curricular and sports education curriculums supplemented with purposeful life skills and values education. • Allow children to exercise their right to a happy and healthy childhood by minimising school stress.
