I still remember the first day when I joined this private school into the first grade. Just next to the assembly ground of the school, there stood a high rail bridge. It was fascinating to see trains come and go. I had no idea that even my stint there was going to be only transactional, like those trains. I heard my parents talking about my admission to one of the KVs in the city. They were desparately hoping that it comes through. Not just because it was near and economic but because they like everyone else had heard so much praise for the KV teachers. Determined, passionate and a repository of knowledge.
I was very fortunate to make it to the list, something I feel strongly with the advantage of hindsight now. Although then, I liked the red colored uniform of that private school more than bleeding blue. The next 12 years were spent in the guidance of several amazing teachers who have shaped generations after generations. My father once told me,"Your teachers must have been real good, not once in these 12 years I had to bother". It was true. Every bit of it. The KV family was not just about education. It was much more, it was rather about growing up into a decent human being. Grounded, humble and simplistic socialisation into the world.
All these memories came gushing back to me when we were in the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan HQ as part of our work as Assistant Secretaries in Department of School Education and Literacy , MHRD. It was then that it occurred to me that the place provided an opportunity to give back to my alma mater. We were told that Delhi itself had more than 40 KVs. I thought we, as a batch are 180 officers, even if 20 per cent of us spare two hours on a weekend, we could cover all these schools by arranging an interactive session with the senior most classes. At this level, it may seem extremely ordinary a thought, but try to see it from the side of students.
We, in our schooldays never got such forums to interact with people from all walks of life. This is something which is paramount to have clarity in thought process and to generate adequate amount of confidence to achieve your ambitions. And hence, with the concurrence of Commissioner Sir, I floated this idea amoung my collegues. Education is that one domain that is perhaps close to everyone. It's quintessential nature is ubiquitously accpeted without opposition. We had several people who signed up for this initiative and it was decided that these special interactive sessions for the students would be kept on every Saturday. And so it began.
About Kendriya Vidyalayas, there is this one thing you will always notice, the warmth of welcome they offer to any guest coming into the premises. The preparedness of the scouts, the colorful paintings on the walls, inspirational words floating on the notice boards and the endless youthful outbursts in the air. As far as in the schools we went to, we never had a fixed framework in mind for the workshop. We just asked the dear students to fire their questions without hesitation. And one hour passed, then the second and then some more time passed. But the questions never ended. They had so much to ask, so much to discuss, to understand and extrapolate. If only we could have such sessions more often.
"Why don't they allow girls to join the Army? We are strong, just like the guys!"
"I want to became a scientist and help the poor with my innovation. But how?"
"I want to become a teacher. But my parent wants me to go for IAS. How can I convince them?"
"I only like Mathematics. Why do I have to study other subjects?"
I am not saying we could answer all questions perfectly and that we are the best people to at least attempt answering these questions. The whole point is to promote the idea of having this dialogue. At least begining to talk about it. There is no gurantee that we would adequately answer all these questions but surely we would trigger a thirst for answers, which would suffice. Similar was the experience from everyone who had gone for these workshops. The students were elated and teachers happy for them. They desired that this forum be instituitionalised going forward. Something that we must do at the national level. We have willing people from all professions wanting to go to schools explaining their work to our future generations. We must make that connect.
This experiment went on for several weekends and we tried to cover as many schools as we can. We also got requests from several other school chains for conducting such workshops clearly indicating the vacuum of human resource when it comes to counseling and guidance. Unfortunately our tenure was pretty short but we all have resolved to continue the spirit in our subdivisions, in our districts and in our cadres. All of us, you and me, have been fortunate enough to receive decent education which ensured that we stand on our feet. And ergo, we have a moral obligation towards the younger lot, to guide them, to help them and to enable them to fly.
At the end, I would like to sincerely thank all those from IAS 2015 batch who took out time for these students. I know you would continue doing that whereever you go. We all should, for a better tomorrow.
For reading more posts on IAS Diaries, CLICK HERE.
I was very fortunate to make it to the list, something I feel strongly with the advantage of hindsight now. Although then, I liked the red colored uniform of that private school more than bleeding blue. The next 12 years were spent in the guidance of several amazing teachers who have shaped generations after generations. My father once told me,"Your teachers must have been real good, not once in these 12 years I had to bother". It was true. Every bit of it. The KV family was not just about education. It was much more, it was rather about growing up into a decent human being. Grounded, humble and simplistic socialisation into the world.
All these memories came gushing back to me when we were in the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan HQ as part of our work as Assistant Secretaries in Department of School Education and Literacy , MHRD. It was then that it occurred to me that the place provided an opportunity to give back to my alma mater. We were told that Delhi itself had more than 40 KVs. I thought we, as a batch are 180 officers, even if 20 per cent of us spare two hours on a weekend, we could cover all these schools by arranging an interactive session with the senior most classes. At this level, it may seem extremely ordinary a thought, but try to see it from the side of students.
We, in our schooldays never got such forums to interact with people from all walks of life. This is something which is paramount to have clarity in thought process and to generate adequate amount of confidence to achieve your ambitions. And hence, with the concurrence of Commissioner Sir, I floated this idea amoung my collegues. Education is that one domain that is perhaps close to everyone. It's quintessential nature is ubiquitously accpeted without opposition. We had several people who signed up for this initiative and it was decided that these special interactive sessions for the students would be kept on every Saturday. And so it began.
About Kendriya Vidyalayas, there is this one thing you will always notice, the warmth of welcome they offer to any guest coming into the premises. The preparedness of the scouts, the colorful paintings on the walls, inspirational words floating on the notice boards and the endless youthful outbursts in the air. As far as in the schools we went to, we never had a fixed framework in mind for the workshop. We just asked the dear students to fire their questions without hesitation. And one hour passed, then the second and then some more time passed. But the questions never ended. They had so much to ask, so much to discuss, to understand and extrapolate. If only we could have such sessions more often.
"Why don't they allow girls to join the Army? We are strong, just like the guys!"
"I want to became a scientist and help the poor with my innovation. But how?"
"I want to become a teacher. But my parent wants me to go for IAS. How can I convince them?"
"I only like Mathematics. Why do I have to study other subjects?"
I am not saying we could answer all questions perfectly and that we are the best people to at least attempt answering these questions. The whole point is to promote the idea of having this dialogue. At least begining to talk about it. There is no gurantee that we would adequately answer all these questions but surely we would trigger a thirst for answers, which would suffice. Similar was the experience from everyone who had gone for these workshops. The students were elated and teachers happy for them. They desired that this forum be instituitionalised going forward. Something that we must do at the national level. We have willing people from all professions wanting to go to schools explaining their work to our future generations. We must make that connect.
This experiment went on for several weekends and we tried to cover as many schools as we can. We also got requests from several other school chains for conducting such workshops clearly indicating the vacuum of human resource when it comes to counseling and guidance. Unfortunately our tenure was pretty short but we all have resolved to continue the spirit in our subdivisions, in our districts and in our cadres. All of us, you and me, have been fortunate enough to receive decent education which ensured that we stand on our feet. And ergo, we have a moral obligation towards the younger lot, to guide them, to help them and to enable them to fly.
At the end, I would like to sincerely thank all those from IAS 2015 batch who took out time for these students. I know you would continue doing that whereever you go. We all should, for a better tomorrow.
For reading more posts on IAS Diaries, CLICK HERE.
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