Shiksha – Renaissance of Education

Recently, I encountered something called a lucid dream (I think!) and the narrative of it was education. Wait, what? “education”? Who cares about education these days? Well! People who care do exist. Otherwise, how are modern amenities, state-of-the-art classrooms, and world-class educational infrastructure possible? Education wouldn’t have developed into an “industry” if people hadn’t cared about it. Yes, education is a business these days. An industry is something that manufactures or a business that produces a particular kind of good or service. I read somewhere that by 2025, the Indian education sector is expected to reach US$225 billion.

An “industry” has emerged around education.

Let’s talk about teachers, despite their qualifications, teachers and educators are no longer regarded as respectable professionals. Example: Nobody goes to a surgeon and lectures him or her on how to do a surgery or goes to an armed force and teaches them how to win a war, but schools and teachers are under constant scrutiny. Why? I think people are looking for a return on investment — they want good marks and high-paying jobs for their kids. These days, schools and teachers are not able to do that. Are the teachers or the schools incapable? Not at all!

A few years ago, teaching was a noble profession. Teachers were dignified, respected, and honored across society. Teachers became presidents, social reformers, expert economists, and much more. These days, it has become an industry or a business that consists of balance sheets on which nobody wants to see losses. Education, which is supposed to be pursued, is now supposed to be purchased? It’s all transactional — institutes collect the fees, complete the syllabus, conduct exams, announce results, and rinse and repeat like an “industry”, correct? The difference is that in any industry, there are extremely important elements like good workers, good standards, and, most importantly, consumers. The industry ensures that all areas are well taken care of so that the final product is marketable or monetizable. Consumers are extremely important for the industry. Well, the education industry also has raw material(kids), workers (teachers), standards (exams), consumers (potential employers), and products (students), but the education industry hasn’t been consumer-friendly at the moment.

It’s based on my own experience (hiring people is one part of my job). It’s been several years now that most students who finished their bachelor’s and master’s degrees are not employable. why? because soft skills like emotional intelligence, teamwork, critical thinking, and problem-solving are missing, which renders them unemployable. The consumer of the education industry (potential employer) is upset because standards (exams) focus on memorizing, not understanding or learning, and it’s not helping anyone, neither the consumer (employer) nor the product (students), and we can’t even fathom the situation of workers (teachers).

Now, in this whole ecosystem, who suffers the most? Everyone! Except the industry, which is driven by and for money.

So,

Is money bad for education? – of course NOT
Is profit bad for education? definitely NOT
Is providing modern amenities and state-of-the-art classrooms bad? Are we serious?

Then, what’s the problem? The consumer is not happy with the product. Period! We need to rewrite the rules.

The good news is that it’s never too late, and we are not alone. There have been paradigm shifts in education at almost every level. Starting from policy reforms to raising awareness among parents. Schools have started adopting various methods, such as applying ancient wisdom, having sensible curricula curated by educationists, etc. There are a very few schools, though the number is growing by the day, that are adopting a very holistic and inclusive approach that promotes learning.

One such school is Flomont World School.

We (me and my wife) have always wanted our children to be empowered, not burdened, through education. We are very flexible about academics but keen on education. We feel that academic achievement is a byproduct of sound learning. We are among those parents who focus more on self-reliance, compassion, care, experimentation, etc. We are not worried about their test scores or class ranks at all. We are more interested in their passion(s), curiosity for learning new things. We want them to enjoy the process of discovering the world and themselves. We think that this is the best way to prepare them for their future and make them happy. Finding such a method, let alone a school, was a mammoth task. And during our research, my wife came across Montessori education. So, we realized it’s not a new concept or 21st-century phenomenon. It’s 100+ year old wisdom that is now widely picked up by many. We have plenty of schools in early education that echo these ideas, and one such school is Mithra Jyothi. We were so happy when we found this school for our first kid, Smayan. This school was the best decision we ever made for him. Now, we are faced with another task, as Mithra Jyothi was only available for a 3-year program. We would love to let him continue with the same method in elementary or even high school. Flomont World School was the answer to the question.

Flomont World School is a complete Montessori-based school in Bengaluru. If you go to their website, their mission statement is

Our mission is to provide children with quality education and attentive care in an atmosphere of love, which promotes learning and successful socialization. In addition to encouraging academic achievement, we strive to help the children develop joy in sharing and take pride in self-reliance while developing them as compassionate and caring individuals.

I have seen them deliver it since we have been associated with them.

Background:

We wanted to let our children flourish in an environment where they were allowed to make mistakes and learn from them. We would let them fall and find their way out. We let them fail and eventually gain success on their own with need-based assistance. It’s not about how scholarly they become; it’s about how grounded they are. We want them to be responsible, respectable, and humble. We want them to be empowered to make their society, country, and the world a better, more inclusive place for every living being. So, our quest for school came to a happy end (I hope!) when we found

Our experience:

It’s a school that believes in a child-first approach. They don’t have fancy class rooms or extravagant facilities on the premises. The teachers are like you and me. However, they have the desire and passion to educate kids. It’s a school where the day starts with the national anthem. Yes, the national anthem, and nothing beats the national anthem. Period! It takes unconditional commitment to set an entire generation on a path dedicated to the nation. When a school nurtures each and every kid with such uniformity, everything else becomes secondary.

Our interactions:

• 2019:First interaction (face-to-face)

For Smayan’s admission into elementary school, we went to Shahista Ismail, the founding director of Flomont. She made us understand the importance of a 3-year program and why it is so important for Smayan to continue at his existing school. WHAT?? A school founder is letting an admission go (child-first approach)? It’s the first time we have witnessed a school letting an admission go because that’s right for a kid. It’s unusual, but we appreciate the transparency.

• 2021:Second interaction: We said yes.

Post-pandemic, we went through the online admissions process. During the process, they wanted to talk to us first to understand our expectations from school. What are our expectations from school? We were stunned! They wanted to understand our views about education, academics, co-curricular activities, thoughts about home work, etc. It wasn’t an interview but a conversation to understand each other and ensure we shared a common goal—the development of our children. Finally, we said yes, and our Flomont journey began.

• 2022:Onwards

Smayan settled into his school for over a year, and his academic activity started picking up speed. It was like an exponential progression in his overall development. Be it reading skill, writing skill, attention to details, or curiosity, he absorbs everything wholeheartedly. He is excited to go to school, which means he is enjoying it. Throughout the year, we have had several interactions with the school administration. According to us, there were areas where the school could have done a little better, and there were areas where they were unstoppable.

A recent sports day was one such memorable event. It was mesmerizing! Kids as young as 3 or 4 years old are happily marching past in front of an entire parent community. It takes a whole village to make a kid eat or drink, let alone parade in synchronization. Wow! It was a unique experience. Annual day celebration is also worth mentioning because it was an amazing amalgamation of efforts from support staff, administration team, teachers, and kids.

Now, this doesn’t make Flomont World School “the school” for any kid. It’s what we choose for our children. It may or may not suit someone else, but I really appreciate their effort and dedication. They may have room for improvement, but that’s the beauty of any journey, isn’t it? Everything evolves!

• 2023:What a start!

The orientation session for the new academic year was very informative and inspiring. I was impressed by how they have incorporated our feedback into their plans and policies. Yet again, they echoed their mission statement they have shown a great commitment to excellence, innovation, and commitment.

For us, education is about the liberty of learning. It’s about how strong-rooted kids are and how conscious they are of making society, their country, and the world a better place. How inclusive they are for everyone and everything. Most certainly not at all transactional: fees > syllabus > exams > results

Journey continues….!