Grace Pinto is not only an educationist, but also the managing director of Ryan International Group of Institutions located in 15 states across India. Recently nominated as chairman’s circle member for a unique educational initiative by the US India Business Council, she also represents various educational committees of the government and IIT Delhi.
DNA spoke to her about what’s ailing the education system in India today and askedwhat could be done improve the scenario. Excerpts:
What is lacking in the Indian education system today?
One of the drawbacks of Indian education system is that it does not gives due importance to vocational education. As a result there is a mismatch between skilled manpower required and skilled manpower available. Every year, we churn out millions of graduates who do not have the specific skill sets required by the market. If this trend continues, it would hurt our economic growth in the long run. This requires a well-knitted infrastructure for vocational education in India, which should be nourished from the secondary school level.
School teachers are highly de-motivated in the present scenario. What can be done to motivate them?
Teachers should understand that teaching is not a job, but a calling. In today’s times, we have many individuals wanting to be teachers, but they still lack passion and commitment as compared toearlier times. To motivate them, it is important that they are strengthened to be passionate towards teaching. The society has an important role to play in this. It is very important for every teacher to understand that professional self-development in teaching skills is highly important.
A lot of in-service and professional development (PD) programmes should be introduced to sharpen their teaching skills in line with the current environment. What the teacher gains from such PD programmes should be applied in their classrooms for better student learning outcomes. Feedback is a vital part of teacher motivation. Everyone wants acknowledgement that they are doing a good job, and suggestions on how they can do even better.
The B Ed and M Ed programmes lack the kind of training for teachers that is needed in today’s scenario. Please comment.
I strongly believe that the curriculum, which develops teachers for the community, needs to be evolved as per the needs of the students, their environment and the community at large. We strongly propose that teachers should be regularly evaluated and encouraged for continuous professional development.
What are the steps you have taken at Ryan schools to ensure that best education is imparted to students?
Students in our schools embark on ‘International Student research projects’ as a part of its curriculum delivery.
What do you think about the reforms taking place at centre and the state level today?
The Right to Education Act is in line with the vision to educate every uneducated child of the country. We need to formulate and adopt an educational system that will suit each and every student.
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