History

Embarking On Our Child’s Education: Finding An Academic Home

enrouteI
March 1, 2024

Ever since our children are born, we as parents are faced with multiple questions and choices and one of the most important ones is which school our child will attend. We all have memories of our school days. Some have the sweetness of a confetti-sprinkled cupcake while some are like the bitter bottle of gourd juice. One might wonder if this article is about food but trust me when I say this it’s about kids and their school. The examples are just a way of showcasing how we talk to our children and give them examples of what is expected in school (we do leave the bottle gourd example out though). Education after all lays the foundation for the course our life takes.

What is a school though? According to the definition in the Cambridge Dictionary, a school is where children go to get educated.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF EDUCATION IN INDIA:

India has had a rich history of education systems and schools. While exploring the history of the Indian education system and the schools in ancient India one gets a better understanding of the importance and role of a school. The earliest examples one finds of a school are the ‘Gurukul’s. A Gurukul was the house of the teacher where the pupils were imparted education in the house of the teacher and then there was a Vidyapeeth where the students were sent for a higher spiritual learning. These two sub-divisions namely Aparvidya (material knowledge) and Paravidya (spiritual knowledge) were taught to the students. The students were taught in accordance with their individual characteristics. So, they were imparted education in ‘apar vidya’ which was helpful in them forming a livelihood for themselves (this subdivision covered elementary philosophy, elementary mathematics, etc. or they were taught in ‘Paravidya’ which covered the Vedas and the Upanishads. After their time in the Gurukul, each student was given a testimony by their teacher or Guru.

The advent of Buddhism between 300 BCE to 100 BCE brought the concept of setting up monasteries and these also aimed at emancipation and liberation. The coming of Islamic education in the period of post AD 1200 was when education was offered in two stages and these were stage one which covered the study of the Quran and metaphysics and the second stage which has been referred to by Ibn Sina as the stage of specialization. 1800-1940 was the period of the British and during this time many Christian missionaries opened elementary schools. This period was also the time for policy-making and educational reforms.

The post-independence time was when the Indian Constitution included articles for the development of school education and ensured that children were imparted education. Article 45 highlighted that the state had to make provisions to ensure the right to free and compulsory education to all children till the age of fourteen within ten years from the commencement of the constitution.

The equality of opportunity in educational institutions was provided by Articles 29 and 30 of the Indian Constitution and that was to guarantee the minorities certain cultural and educational rights with which they could establish and administer educational institutions of their choice, and those could be based on either religion or on their language.

After having briefly highlighted the historic journey of our education system and the articles in our Constitution that highlight the necessary guidelines for the schools in the post-independence era I now explore the journey that I as a parent undertook with my husband when it was time to send our child to school.

FINDING AN ACADEMIC HOME FOR OUR CHILD: OUR JOURNEY:

When our son was turning 2.5, we were also faced with the question of which school to enrol him in. Alongside this very basic question, we had a lot of other questions and concerns in our minds. The journey of choosing an academic home for our children and then helping them get settled involves a roller coaster of emotions; some happy ones and some emotional ones!

The one factor that we have to keep in mind in today’s day and time is which education board’s guidelines would be followed in the school. One has to choose mostly between CBSE, ICSE and IB. phew! It just makes one so confused. Having been brought up in the times when CBSE was the undisputed king of the education boards in our part of the city we also had an inclination towards the same. However, we were open to exploring ICSE and even IB. Cut to one of our first school visits, we explored the infrastructure of the school, the facilities which were offered and made accessible to the kids (medical room, library, sports etc), we discussed the meals which the kids ate and of course, discussed the board the school followed and what was their outlook towards shaping the future of our child. We also discussed the examination pattern that the school followed.

The teacher, as I told my child, was a Mother figure. I would often say this to make him ready that at home you have your mother who supports you, loves you, and nurtures you, and at school, you will have Ma’am. She will be your guiding light. Your first educators will be the most special for it will be they who will hold your little finger and make you walk into your second home. Your school, my child will be your academic home. The educators today make our children learn and there were some with whom we instantly connected. It is very important that we as parents feel trust and a bond of respect for the teacher. We had a good experience mostly everywhere we went and then we had to ponder over which one to choose?

We were also asked if twenty years from now we see our child in a foreign university (so we should consider IB board); if we see him in an IIT (CBSE) or if would we want him to excel with clear concepts (ICSE). We were rather amazed at how we started compartmentalizing our child’s future in our heads. How do we start pressuring them indirectly to follow a certain path while they are still exploring which activities give them more joy. We should work towards a process of wholesome child development and not put undue pressure on them.

OUR ORIENTATION JOURNEY:

Every school also follows a different way of orienting the child and getting him or her used to the idea of being away from home for a few hours. Some schools told us that you need to accompany the child for a week, some said that you have to be in the class till the child does not say for himself or herself that he or she has settled down and won’t be needing you to hold their hand every day and then there was the school that clicked for us. They suggested that I come for the first three days for two hours each. On the first day, we were in the classroom together, on the second day I was there for an hour while he played without me for the second hour with the rest of the kids and the educators. The third day was when the actual transition of being away from Mamma happened. The educator took the children to their classroom while the parents waited at the reception. That was the day the children understood that from then on it would be them and their educators in Pre-Nursery and that they would go home to their Mothers and their families in the afternoon.

We chose the school that had embraced our child in a warm and safe hug the very first day that he visited their campus. It was the same warm embrace that I had felt from my teacher when I walked into the campus of the Mother’s International School. We were neighbors with a sister concern called ‘Mirambika’.

ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLING: A SHORT NOTE ON MIRAMBIKA.

Mirambika School, Copyright: Debarpita Mohapatra.

Our beautiful school campus was nicely demarcated and both the schools had their own grounds and classrooms. Mirambika, Research Centre for Integral Education and Human Values is a school that is till grade eight and then from grade nine the students would often join the bigger Mother’s family and would pass out from the school as the ‘Mother’s Blossoms’. Mirambika follows the idea that every individual has a potential and they explore and nurture the potential of each student. At Mirambika the students refer to their teachers as Diya (Didi) and Bhaiya. The day starts with a wholesome breakfast that is followed by group activities for the students. The school stresses the importance of meditation (something that is common with the philosophy of the Mother which is followed at the Mother’s International as well). Meals in the school see the coming together of students and their diyas and they sit together and eat on the durries or mats on the floor. This creates the feeling of group communication where they value eating together. The school also works towards making the students more independent and responsible by making them wash their own utensils as well. Mirambika also offers the students the opportunity to explore their liking by participating in clubs such as jewelry making, and calligraphy amongst others. In Delhi, this was a fresh concept of learning which came with a no uniform concept and it being a day boarding school they provided meals also to the children. The parents didn’t then have to search for a day-care elsewhere.

Coming from a school such as Mirambika however, comes with a share of adjustments that the students have to make when they join a regular school which has a school day compartmentalized into different classes and activities and where they follow a more regular approach to teaching and learning. We did have students join us from Mirambika and it was indeed a completely different world for them. From being a part of small groups they were now a part of the bigger Mother’s family and that did come with a fair share of adjustments for the students and the teachers both. At the end of the day, however, they do come to accept and enjoy a regular and what may be called a more ‘typical’ school day.

CHOOSING WHAT WORKS BEST FOR US AS PARENTS AND OUR CHILDREN:

For us, it was the traditional CBSE board that clicked and we enrolled our child in a school that ticked off all the markers of a good school (infrastructure, healthy meals, playtime, library, medical assistance) and most of all an environment that made the child feel that I may be away from my house and my mother for a few hours but I am in my second home, my academic home where my educator loves me, educates me and nurtures me like a mother figure.

The educational pattern followed at Mirambika is considered the alternative mode of education and is different from the more traditional ways of teaching. What we chose is considered the more traditional mode of imparting education. Be it experiential (where the student is free to pursue an activity for as long as the student desires) to following the method of compartmentalizing the day in different periods with a time-bound activity period it is the choice that rests with the parent as every parent hopes to know what works best for their child.

REFERENCES

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/school
C.V, Sindhuja & Ashok, Honnedevasthana. (2021). Education in India: A Historical Perspective. 10. 47-64.
Conference Proceeding Issue Published in International Journal of Trend in Research and Development (IJTRD), ISSN: 2394-9333, www.ijtrd.com National conference on Multidisciplinary Contemporary Research in Humanities, Science and Education (NCMCR-19), Joseph Arts and Science College & Kamala College of Education, 15th & 16th March, 2019 29 | P a g e A Historical Perspective of Indian Education System Dr. J. Krishnamoorthy, Assistant Professor, Kamala Collage of Education, Thirunavallur, India

4.https://worldarchitecture.org/article-links/eemnc/mirambika-school-new-delhi–a-divergent-education-experience.html