There are a lot of operational challenges that school managements face while implementing the reservation quota under the RTE Act. However, there is a need to ensure that we plug these challenges, said Kumari Shibulal, patron of Sarojini Damodaran Foundation and Advaith Foundation, here on Thursday.
She was addressing a gathering of principals and educators at the Principals’ Conclave-2015, a ‘ The Hindu in School’ initiative. The theme of the event was ‘Education in a new age’.
Ms. Shibulal said that there were several challenges in integrating children from the quota, but pointed out that those from disadvantaged and lower economic backgrounds required all-round support. There was a need to take steps in that direction, she said.
On the 25 per cent reservation quota being misused by “affluent” sections of society, Ms. Shibulal said there was a need for school managements to make an effort to overcome these challenges.
Sunita Maheshwari, Chief Dreamer and Paediatric Cardiologist, who was the other keynote speaker, highlighted the need for using e-teaching platforms to connect classrooms across the globe. “With shortage of teachers and teacher training not keeping in pace with the demand, e-teaching seems to be a viable alternative where a teacher can connect to students not only in her/his classroom but even students who are on the go,” she said. She also pointed out that the platform could be used to beam classes for students from government schools. Various principals and educators, who attended the seminar, discussed and debated about adapting to education in the new age where a plethora of career opportunities had opened up.
R. Shenbagavalli, Assistant Director (Events), SRM University, highlighted the need to collaborate with companies and tweak their curriculum to suit the demands of the industry.
In a message to principals, T.R Pachamuthu, Chairman from SRM University, said, “Education in this age has been added to the existing list (food, clothing and shelter) of fundamental necessities to handle all affairs of day-to-day life effectively and know the world.”
