You can lose everything, but not edu: Sumita Mukherjee

Sumita Mukherjee, Principal Ryan International School, Noida talks to DNA about the growing concern of peer pressure among young students, the importance of sex education in schools and more. Excerpts from the interview.
 
How can one help students struggling with peer pressure?

There are a  lot of students dealing with performance and peer pressure. It’s very common among teenagers. First of all, we need to identify such students in our schools and then understand their issues. Recently, we identified a Class 12 student in our school who was brilliant till Class 11. He suddenly stopped coming to school regularly. We called up his parents and what we got to know that the excuse he had given to them was that nothing important was happening at school. We asked the parents how can they take it for granted. We talked to him and realised that he was going through peer pressure. We told him about the challenges of life and convinced him that he can’t give up on his future like that. Now, he attends school regularly. So, we need to handle such students very carefully and it is also the responsibility of parents to approach the chool immediately when something like this happens.

How important is sex education at the school level?

Sex education is very important, especifically in co-ed schools. But it is effective only when you personally talk to students and take up their issues. We, at Ryan, regularly conduct talk sessions with our girl students, starting from Class 10, about the ways in which they can take care of themselves. We take up issues related to adolescence — the physical changes and mood swings. We invite experts to hold workshops with the students. It’s very important to tell the right thing at the right time.

What are the initiatives taken up by the school to give its students a global experience?

Ryan group has 139 schools across the country. We organise regular foreign educational tours for our students. Recently, we collaborated with University of Pennsylvania. A batch of 10-12 students from our school will be going there for a short-term course in September this year. Students also get scholarships for such educational tours.

The death of a six-year-old after he allegedly fell into a water tank in Ryan’s Vasant Kunj branch last year drew huge criticism to the group. What measures is the schools taking?

We are very particular about our children’s safety and security. We take all precautions before recruiting anyone to our school be it a teacher, helper or a driver. The incident was really unfortunate but it was something so unsual.

Any message for students?

You can lose everything in life, but not education.