Since the year 2000, there has always been a constant debate on how India is one of the youngest nations in the world and how should we leverage this demographic dividend. Great thought-leaders such as Dr APJ Abdul Kalam initiated the ‘India Vision 2020’ program — that aimed at leveraging the demographic dividend and unleash its true growth potential. The cornerstone of ‘India Vision 2020’ relied on three principal elements — Realising the potential as a nation, building an economy based on technological leadership and balancing growth model where rural and urban can thrive together. However, looking back to the development of 20 years, many policymakers have realised that India has already missed the boat and was unable to leverage the demographic dividend even partially.
As the world is recklessly heading to skill-driven society, it has become imperative for the parents to push their children towards skill-based programs and practical learning environment. Even in the times when technology is hitting every nook and corner of the world, the old-school (traditional) teaching practices are still prevalent in the Indian classrooms. The concept of ‘Rote Learning’ has ingrained so deeply in the colonial Indian Education System, that ‘Learning’ has become synonymous with ‘mugging theories’ or ‘memorizing formulae’. Additionally, even the evaluation process in the examinations focus more on grades or marks scored in written tests, rather than analysing the concept-grasping skills of the child. While good marks in such examinations might help your child to get great ranks and decent placements, but the aftermath of ‘workplace performance’ is quite shocking and distressing.
It’s high time to realise that the Indian Education System needs a complete overhaul wherein — it could shift the focus from rote-learning to concept based learning; mugging theories to project-based learning; and from brick-and-mortar system to open learning environment. In a broader context, the need of the hour is the ‘Holistic Approach to Education’ and this is possible only when we accord equal importance to all three-pronged aspects of child’s overall development:
Intellectual Development :
The current education system in India is largely aimed at enhancing a child’s memorizing skills, rather than building the essential set of cognitive skills ( such as critical thinking, comprehension skills, communication, logic and reasoning skills). Theoretically, the very purpose of education is to provide meaningful learning opportunities to the child and instilling curiosity and imagination in their mind, while enhancing their knowledge, strengths and capabilities effectively. But, in reality, the Indian education system keeps the child over burdening with massive syllabus, memorizing-based curriculum and outdated ways of learning, while leaving a very little scope for innovation and critical thinking. Therefore, it is important to indulge your kids into expert-designed programs or activities — that would focus on conceptual and application-based learning and thereby strengthen experimentation, creative expression and improvisation skills. This way of learning will help your child to strike a perfect balance between mental development and knowledge retention, while fuelling their entrepreneurial skills, innovation and strategic thinking in the long run.
Emotional Development:
While intellectual development is viewed as the primary determinant of child’s success, ‘Emotional Dimension’ is where the Indian education model has faltered the most. As the child’s abstract thinking and language skills increase, they begin to identify, understand, exhibit and discuss their emotions more freely. Therefore, it is important to consider ‘Emotional Quotient’ as one of the mainstream skills, and thereby try to create a learning environment — wherein your child becomes aware of their emotions and grow into well-rounded individuals with healthy attitude. According to a well-known study, an emotionally intelligent child is known to foster more meaningful relationships, have better mental health and can voice out their opinions confidently in the classroom.
Creative Development :
The fundamental importance of ‘Creativity Quotient’ is a broadly underscored aspect in our Indian education system. In order to develop the child’s problem-solving skills and enhance their creativity score, it is essential to focus on three major areas of expertise — multidisciplinary collaboration, student-centered pedagogy, and a culture of experimentation. With multidisciplinary collaboration, your child will develop deeper skills of evaluation — as they learn different logical and methodical approaches. Further, ‘Student-centered pedagogy’ emphasizes on child’s interests, abilities, and learning styles, while placing the teacher as a ‘facilitator of learning’ rather than ‘information provider’. Lastly, creating a culture of experimentation gives a platform for your child to analyze a particular problem, bring new ideas on board, take positive risks and drive a meaningful change.
Conclusion:
Right from learning the basics of English language to performing mathematical expressions, from thinking critically to exploring the solutions for diverse problems, from meeting challenges at educational institutions to developing peer relationships at workplaces, ‘A comprehensive and holistic Education’ can provide it all. However, our Indian Education system has miserably failed to equip the much-needed critical competencies in the child and instils the value of ‘Application-based learning’ in them. And that’s the reason why our young minds need an effective and interactive platform — that could cater their new-world needs and make them a perfect fit for tomorrow.
How BeyondSkool is bridging the jarring gap created by Indian education: BeyondSkool is world’s first upskilling academy that intends to bridge the glaring gap between what is required by the “New World Careers” and the child’s skills. BeyondSkool provides comprehensive and explicit programs for young school going kids — that cover a multiple intelligence curriculum to sharpen their IQ, strengthen EQ and magnify their CQ, while preparing them for overall development. BeyondSkool’s expert-designed pedagogy and definitive style of teaching evolves the child from ‘Knowledge Seekers’ to ‘Knowledge Multipliers’, while enabling the child to increase their logical reasoning, critical thinking, articulation and decision-making competencies.
With the vision to create new-age innovators, influencers, and problem solvers, BeyondSkool’s comprehensive programs tend to complement the current education system while equipping the child to grow beyond the school curriculum. At BeyondSkool, we help kids to enrich their educational experience by showing them real-life applications of theories and building the habit of ‘conceptual learning’ in them. This means by bridging the gap between the education system and the practical world, BeyondSkool prepares your child intellectually, emotionally and mentally for the future competition and lifelong success.
Beyondskool’s Philosophy: Built on the approach of developing child’s ‘Multiple Intelligences’ at an early age, BeyondSkool’s ‘Primary Years Enrichment Program’ covers subjects such as STEM, STREAM Innovation, Leadership, Communication and LOGIMATH — that facilitates a holistic cognitive development of the child. At BeyondSkool, their integrated program aims at addressing intellectual, emotional and creative intelligence, rather than the verbal-linguistic and mathematical-logical skills which are primarily highlighted in schools. BeyondSkool’s IQ+EQ+CQ integrated curriculum goes beyond the traditional models of learning, and therefore helps the child to find their interests and push those abilities further. In simpler words, BeyondSkool aims at creating ‘Sharp Learners’ and ‘Innovative Thinkers’ rather than pawns — who are obsessed over marks and mugging bookish knowledge.
With BeyondSkool, you can be sure that your child is getting exceptional educational support -which has quality, variety, and value that every young mind deserves. Let your kid start their learning journey with us, and see them blossom into smart, eloquent and confident leaders of tomorrow!
