Allowing children study what they want and at their own pace was the theme of an interesting panel discussion in the city on Sunday.
The chief catalyst of the event was Sagarikka Sivakumar, who chose to “create her own space” not just by launching her book ‘My Unskooled Year,’ but also by making the occasion an opportunity to discuss the pros and cons of the current system of Indian education.
In 2015, city-based Sagarikka, decided to embark on an unusual experiment of taking a year off the school calendar. The 16-year-old spent her time getting educated, but in her own style. “I am just a normal kid,” she said in her opening speech on Sunday. “What I followed was the ‘CHIPS’ plan – I attended conferences, took care of my health by going to the gym regularly (because there are no playgrounds left), visited industries, did projects and studied regular subjects for five hours in the night with my father’s help. Anyone can use this method to do much better than me.” Sagarikka, who is now attending Class 11 in a city school, has documented her gap year experiences in ‘My Unskooled Year.’ The book was launched in the presence of C.K. Kumaravel, founder and CEO, Naturals, Prafulla Agnihotri, director, Indian Institute of Management, Tiruchi, B. Prative Chend, CEO, CARE Group of Educational Institutions, and Ravi Murugaiah, chairman, Vasan Estates. “You don’t need to be genius in order to be successful in life,” said Dr. Agnihotri in his address. “What matters most is self-belief and the burning desire to succeed.”
The panel discussion on the future of education saw speakers re-examining the pitfalls of the Indian system in a world ruled by augmented and digital reality. “It has become very important to unlearn and re-learn in order to innovate,” said Mr. Kumaravel. “Simply making children run behind marks and professional courses will not be enough in the coming years.” Mr. Prative Chend spoke about the need for change to be all-encompassing, from parents, educators to the government, for any positive progress.
The discussion also considered the merits of home-schooling versus mainstream education. Mr. Murugaiah drew upon anecdotes from his own childhood and said that it was important for children to find their passion before they decided to pursue a subject for study. Proceeds of the sales of ‘My Unskooled Year’ will be donated to Pravaag Transitional Centre and School for Children with Autism.
