A New Perspective on Education System

“He who binds himself to a joy, does the winged life destroy; but he who kisses the joy as it flies, lives in eternity's sun rise”, says Sharmila Chatterjee, Principal of Billabong High International School. As an academician and being in the field of education for almost last three decades, she feels that schools should focus on skill building and make life skills an integral part of the teaching-learning domains. According to her, community-outreach programs should be essential for the learners to make them aware of the reality of life.

To get a glimpse of her believes regarding the education system and the way she perceives to evolve today’s youngsters, read further.

According to you, what is education in a broader sense?

Education is a very broad term, the aim of education is to prepare the learners for the unpredictability of tomorrow; to be creative thinkers, critical problem solvers and objective decision makers. Education should provide the learner the 21^st century skills to be global citizens with secular & democratic values and life skills.

A good education will give both: one (knowledge) giving the other (skills) contexts to develop.

What are the positive changes that are experienced by schools these days?

There is major transformation and we are at the dawn of a new age with ensuing progress in science and information & technology at very rapid pace and we are moving from the age of information to the age of conceptualization.

What type of activities do you have that promote parent-teacher-student interaction?

We at Billabong ensure parents participate in their child’s learning process. For example:

• The curriculum of Billabong clearly highlights the where and how much a parent needs to intervene in the home work with clues like PG- Parental Guidance/PS-Parent Support/PI-Parent Involvement
• The school has three committees – PTA (Parent-Teacher-Association), Menu Committee & Transport Committee – comprising of parents
• Guest Speakers – parents are regularly invited to address learners on various special occasions.
• Celebrating Mother’s Day & Grandparents Tea Party
• Story telling sessions by grandparents
• Parents also actively participate in annual concerts/functions/sport days, PTM, etc.  

Do you think that in the past few decades education has expended a lot? If yes, how your institute deals with it?

Surely the education has undergone a transformation with the advent of information & technology. We provide non-competitive multi-age spaces for individualized learning. The curriculum is designed with significant impetus on research & inquiry based integrated approach with art, music, theatre, ICT, yoga and sports & games.

Since your school has won so many academic awards, would you like to share your success story behind it?

It is feeling of gratitude and sense of achievement when other stakeholders appreciate and acknowledge your efforts. We have been bestowed with several honors for best innovative curriculum, for inclusive curriculum, for being the best school for children with special needs.

We take pride in being an inclusive school where our learners are not discriminated and children with learning difficulties, mild autism, and mild mental retardation are a part of our inclusion setup and mainstream classes.

What is the need of extracurricular activities in a student’s life?

It is imperative to integrate learning with art/culture/theatre/music/dance for holistic development of a child. The students have to be future ready with life skills and empowered with creative/critical/problem solving/decision making skills. All this is possible when we integrate scholastic subjects with co scholastic disciplines.

Do you think convincing parents to let their children pursue their dream careers is a difficult task?

Today a parent is aware of the fact that there are several options available to pursue for their child as career. Also, the school too plays an important role in orienting the parents along with the students by organizing career counseling sessions with experts.