Principal’s vision about School and Academic Development
“If you think of the best, you very often get it”. The vision of my school as the principal is premised on this axiom for an educational institution symbolizes energy, activity and growth and to achieve the best, the individual who heads the institute must have the best in his mind to generate and achieve that in terms of visions and results.
Learning is a continuous process. It starts since birth and continues throughout the life of an individual. Immediately after birth the child is exposed to a new environment. During infancy the child learns mostly from parents, home and surroundings. After attaining a particular age the child is put to relatively new environment of schooling and encounters different sets of people. It is this environment and the people which affect the physical, mental and emotional development of the child. Initially, for any child who comes to school, it is the get up and environment of the school which attracts the child and enables him to adjust in the school. So, for a better education and perfect learning, it is essential that the campus of the school should be attractive with good school building, beautifully decorated classrooms and corridors on BaLA (Building as Learning Aids) concept, equipped laboratories, music, art, sport & yoga rooms, enriched libraries & reading room with books and magazines for all age groups, school gardens with some sets of swing for children and full of greenery with plants and flowers along with facilities of drinking water and separate & specific toilets for boys & girls and differently able people in the line of Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan). Convenience of visitors must be taken care of and waiting area should be peaceful and comfortable with positive thoughts and some magazines to pass the time. The school plant should be such that it can impress every newcomer who enters the campus. Principal, being the head of institution, has to be careful in this regard and should make personal efforts to make the school attractive and impressive.
Nowadays good education is being considered synonyms with good academic achievement. Unfortunately this academic achievement of the child is being measured in terms of performance of the child in CBSE and other public exams. In today’s society the rating of a school is judged in terms of academic result of its students. The results are positively correlated with quality and quantum of textual learning of the child. In any school, teaching of textual material based on a particular syllabus is imparted by a team of skilled teachers. Learning should be with pleasure and not pressure. Principal as leader of this team has to motivate and guide the team to enable them to impart quality education so that the students of the school can achieve new heights of academic excellence and maintain the quality result every year.
Gandhiji, in his article “Nai Taleem” expressed his views about the shape of education in free India in which he expected that education should bring about all round development of body, mind and soul of the child and emphasized upon the need of the use of head, hand and heart. Schools should, therefore, have the facilities and environment to develop the 3 “H” to ensure overall development of students. For this, good school infrastructure is a necessity. In addition to these there should be regular emphasis on the inculcation of human values in students through various activities like Joy of Giving, Cleanliness & Plantation drive, Bharat Scouts & Guides/ Cubs & Bulbuls activities, Collection for Army Welfare Fund, exposure to cultural activities & heritage as well as through pamphlets and posters and lectures by teachers regarding saving environment, water etc. In the present cyber era, the concept of education has acquired dramatic dimensions. Curriculum, content, equipment, information or knowledge have ceased to be the only goals to develop a student’s personality. Today an educated youth must be equipped with not only all the required information and knowledge but he must also be prepared to face the life and it’s complexities squarely with confidence and grit. Mere bookish knowledge is a sheer waste. Therefore, education should be correlated with meaningful and relevant life related experiences and training in disaster management so that the student gets the optimum opportunity for blooming and blossoming and overcome from any dilapidated conditions or calamities.
Further, teachers are as software in hardware like school and regular updation of this software is essentially required to keep the institution useful, relevant & knowledge up-to-date. Teachers are the vital part of school’s infrastructure and “Faculty Enrichment Program” should run at every school level to ensure professional growth of teachers. The principal should be ready to help the teaching staff in solving their academic and other problems and take democratic decisions to create healthy environment of working in the school. The principal should spot the talent among staff and encourage the talented and enthusiastic teachers to grow in their carrier and competence along with the children. Teachers should be encouraged to take part in various training and scholarship programs like Guidance & Counseling, MEXT, Fulbright scholar program etc to enhance education competence. The school as an institution should strive hard for unparalleled academic excellence to be able to fulfill the aspiration of its students in particular and society in general.
Finally, a school can achieve academic development if and only if its ideas and applications are good. The ability of the principal as the torch bearer of an institution in developing excellent rapport with the teachers and students and also smooth inter-personal relationships with the higher authorities, management and parents, motivating teachers to work with a keen sense of commitment, integrity, accountability, and sincerity and involving parent in closely monitoring the studies of their wards at home on a regular level can bring glory to an institution in terms of its academic excellence.
Written by :
Ambrish Kumar Gupta
Principal
Kendriya Vidyalaya Rajkot. Gujarat.
Email- akgkvs@gmail.com
Education- M.A. in Ancient Indian History & Archaeology, B.ED.NET Qualified in History, Archaeology, Indian Culture.
इतिहास आज : ज्ञान का केंद्र 