Corporation Commissioner S. Aneesh Sekhar appealed to the teachers to go beyond just teaching and build a bonding with their students so that the children were at ease to communicate their problems.
Speaking at the inauguration of the ‘Happy Schooling’ initiative, which aims at promoting emotional well being along with academic excellence in Madurai Corporation schools, here on Friday, he said that the success of the initiative depended crucially on the involvement of teachers.
He said that the problem with the system was that it encouraged the teachers to look at children only as ‘students’, who must be taught to score high marks. By doing so, the system failed to encourage the innate talents and creativity that every child possessed.
Stating that the Corporation was committed to making a real impact through the initiative, he said that National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) had been roped in to monitor and measure the outcome of the initiative.
M. S. Chellamuthu Trust and Research Foundation (MSCTRF) and HCL Foundation are the other partners in the initiative. While MSCTRF will play the key role in implementing the initiative through various measures like training the teachers in providing counselling to children in need, HCL foundation is funding the initiative besides assisting in implementation, the Commissioner said.
Hailing the initiative as a first-of-its-kind in government-run schools, J. Nisha Banu, Judge, Madras High Court, said that teachers must avoid focussing only on providing impressive results in examinations
Pointing out that the children spent more time in schools than with their families, she said that there must be a conducive atmosphere in schools for them to discuss all their problems. “I have personally seen in many family disputes that children do not have anyone to share their thoughts, including their parents. Teachers must fill that role,” she said.
C. Ramasubramanian, founder, MSCTRF, said that the initiative would focus on the emotional well being of students, teachers and parents. Bharath Krishna Sankar, Chairman, Aparajitha Corporate Services, spoke on the need for children to develop self-confidence.
K. Sekar, Registrar, NIMHANS; B. Subbaraman, Associate Vice-President and Centre Head, HCL, and Nidhi Pundhir, Director - CSR Lead, HCL Foundation, also spoke.
