One of the most profound statements that we hear especially from the Educationists the world over, refers to “Education” as the most powerful means of empowerment. In simple words, it should mean that an individual after getting educated, is in a position to lead a meaningful and a productive life, and is fully equipped to face and indeed, solve all challenges that life brings. It therefore presupposes that “Education” a person goes through during the formative years of his life, has a strong connect with real life situations and that he acquires necessary skills to handle them.

We all know that this is far from truth. The paradigm of education currently is structured only to score marks, prepare for competitions and is essentially directed towards facilitating better livelihood. Let us objectively examine the possibility of bringing in certain specific interventions and changes  that will make “Education” more meaningful.

1. The syllabus for all classes is too large and unwieldy. It has lot of width and by the time you move on to the last chapter, the earlier ones have been forgotten. So what is important is the depth on the subject and not the width. Shorter and meaningful content would ensure better assimilation and encourage critical thinking. Syllabus should be structured in such a way that it has pace, progression and challenge.
2. We need to move a filter over the content in all subjects and discard the peripheral and inessential components. This would require some application but is worth the effort. The content should be relatable to real life challenges and culturally relevant.
3. Every school must carry out a comprehensive exercise in curriculum progression and alignment so that subject specific content, moves from one class to the next in a seamless manner. A detailed exercise in curriculum mapping should be undertaken and to ensure that it becomes outcome driven.
4. While teaching and all associated pedagogical practices must focus on learning as the primary focus, a parallel assessment protocol must be put in place to ensure that learning is, indeed happening. Our neural system is structured to be a trifle repetitive to store information for a longer duration. Hence revision of what is being taught and learnt is strongly recommended.
5. As mentioned earlier, every subject has a strong symbiotic relationship with real life situations. Integrating that aspect should be an essential part of the content and pedagogy.
6. The teachers in the present context must act as facilitators, guiding students for concept clarity and analytical thinking. Information and data is available aplenty on the digital platforms and is easily accessible. Teachers must build up their own high order thinking and analytical skills to create right perspective for their wards.
7. Strong learning happens only by doing. Lectures and discussions on the topics should, wherever feasible be followed by project work related to the subject. Teachers need to innovate. Project based learning is gaining greater relevance.
8. The course book writers and publishers also need to do some research with a view to incorporate real life connect at the end of each chapter. It will then become easy to remember and co-relate all the learning with real life situations. Students will not easily forget that.
9. The future of the world is largely driven by a combination of knowledge plus skills. Technology will continue to be a powerful tool for achieving tasks with greater precision and efficiency, but problem solving skills will have to become an integral part of the education process.
10. The most important component of education will necessarily fall within the domain of Socio-Emotional learning. People will have to learn to be kind, compassionate, sensible and sensitive to one another, to society, environment and to the world at large. Without this, the entire education edifice of great intellectual or scholastic content will become meaningless.
11. We also need to develop suitable Algorithms with the help of Data Analytics and Artificial intelligence to determine effective pedagogies, student learning and identify areas of improvement.
12. Education is becoming trans-disciplinary. Study of science and arts need not be in separate streams. Both complement each other for creating a paradigm of holistic education. For instance, Music is not limited to be a hobby which is just an add-on. It can be the basis of a fulfilling life-long profession, and also help a student in understanding principles of science and mathematics. (Some of the greatest scientists in the history have been great musicians. Artists and painters understood, maths, geometry, dimensions and astronomy as good, or even better than mathematicians and astronomers.) There is no reason why these can’t be started at the school level.
13. It is quite evident that education is not complete unless it is supported by a sound and a structured curriculum for extra-curricular activities.
14. It is also not advisable to overemphasise the relevance and importance of soft skills. These must necessarily become an integral part of the holistic and wholesome education. Soft skills can be learned, imbibed and practised at an early stage of one’s life. Later in life, it is a bit too hard to learn them, leave alone practice them.
15. We are all equal, but we are all different. Our upbringing, our cultural ethos, sensitivity, habits, span of attention, and all other factors that have an important bearing on learning are vastly different. We need to consciously start working on creating differentiated curriculum to address the needs of individual students. The concept of “One size fit all” in the context of education is an anachronism.

It is time to revisit and redefine EDUCATION so that it becomes more relevant, relatable and user-friendly.

Mr. Vinod Malhotra

Director – Corporate Relations

Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions

The year 2020 is proving to be a watershed, an inflexion point in the lives of the entire mankind in all areas of human endeavour and activities. Suddenly an invisible tiny monster appears from nowhere and brings the entire humanity to its knees. Everything stops and everyone is pushed indoors, and waits for some signs of that monster relenting in its pursuit of an unprecedented wave of virulent infection and killing spree.

Great minds from the scientific and medical world are completely bewildered and cannot find an easy solution, or cure to the phenomenon, that has assumed a pandemic character in a short span of time. All economic activity, in practically all parts of the world has come to a standstill, barring those that are essential for ordinary sustenance.

One sector, however that stands out and has taken the challenge head on is the sector relating to knowledge acquisition, its dissemination, and notably the profession of teaching.  It would not be an exaggeration to state that a teacher today is the busiest, the most wanted entity who had to reinvent himself/herself to respond to a situation that had no parallel in the history of any paradigm, relating to the evolution and delivery of knowledge.

The mandates of social distancing, compulsory lockdown and inability to step out of their respective homes posed an altogether different challenge. The only option was to resort to distance-teaching (as against the practice of distance learning), create an experience of a virtual classroom and deliver content and syllabus without actually seeing who you were delivering to. These experiences were earlier shared by the same teachers in the form of fairy tales. Now they had to get into that role in real-time measures.

It is interesting to observe how the methodologies of delivery of knowledge and teaching, have undergone such drastic changes in different era. We are familiar of Gurukul traditions of teaching and learning, wherein the disciple/learner had to stay in the austere habitats owned by the Guru.  The commoner and royalty were treated alike by the Guru and his household, and they would spend formative years of their life in pursuit of knowledge on a model that was based upon the dictum- “serve and learn”. Interestingly, this model of education was complete and holistic, and covered practically every aspect of human growth, including knowledge, skills, sports, fine arts, warfare and everything that had contemporary flavour.

Guru-shishya Parampara now survives only in a few disciplines such as classical music, dance and a few crafts which demand life-long engagement and dedication.

With the passage of time and expansion of spaces, infrastructure and population, Gurukul system gave way to a more organized and structured system in the form of schools, colleges, universities and other institutes of specialized learning. The oldest existing and continuously operating educational institution in the world is the University of Karueein, founded in 859 AD in Morocco.

Available records also suggest that the oldest university in the English-speaking world is Oxford, founded sometime in the later part of eleventh century and continues to be one of the most prestigious institution of learning.

In the Indian context, there is adequate archaeological evidence available that points towards the existence of Universities such as Taxila an Nalanda in the BC era.

But that is as far as the historical narrative goes with respect to education and its evolution over several centuries.

In 21st century however, the narrative is very different. In fact, the education story of the first 20 years of the 21st century was just an extension (with minor modifications) of the story that was being in practice for little over a millennium.  The new-age teaching model with respect to the mode of delivery, pedagogical systems, assessment and examination will undergo a paradigm shift, and the entire teaching community shall have to reinvent themselves to stay relevant.

Some of the essential features of the new paradigm will be as follows;

1. Technology will play a pivotal role in the dissemination process.
2. There will be a proliferation of technology platforms driven by the varying needs of learning models. Needless to mention that it will have to be secure, fast and user-friendly.
3. Rote learning and didactic practices will have to give way to the experiential format.
4. Education will be imparted in a mode of active learning and on a PBL format.
5. Education will have to reorient itself to establish close nexus to real-life situations.
6. The emphasis therefore will shift from acquisition of knowledge to acquisition of skills. Teachers will have to get appropriately skilled to pass them on to their students.
7. Students of the 21st century are smarter and this is an oft repeated statement. They are smarter not on account of any superior genetic reengineering, but because of an independent access to huge amount of data and information. But whether they are more knowledgeable or wise is a debatable proposition. Teachers will have to take on a new role of Information/data analyst to guide the children in right direction.
8. Education will have to be redefined and the curriculum/syllabus will have to be restructured to become more meaningful, relevant, relatable and user friendly.
9. Education will also become trans disciplinary creating a judicious mix of science, philosophy and liberal arts.
10. Study of Nature, natural phenomena, environment and maintenance of ecological balance will become an integral part of the course content. These areas of study will have a strong experiential bias.
11. Every educational institution will create a structured curriculum for imparting socio-emotional learning. Academic and character building will run as parallel streams with hands-on activity and purposeful engagement.
12. Teachers and schools will also be called upon to create a pattern of differentiated learning. “One size fit all” will not work.
13. Artificial Intelligence, Machine learning, cloud computing and Data analytics will become important tools that will be used extensively in the education space. Children will have to become adept in writing computer programs, coding and algorithm for multiple usages. Teachers will have to keep pace with these developments.

These are formidable challenges and the entire teaching community shall have to take a serious note of these changes and prepare themselves appropriately.

Mr. Vinod Malhotra

Director – Corporate Relations

Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions

DATE: 16.5.2020
Organised by : Nehru Science Centre, National Council of Science Museums, Ministry of Culture,Govt. of India, Mumbai
Resource Person : Mr. Umesh Kumar Rustagi Scientist

An online workshop for the students of Class IX was organized by Nehru Science Center, Mumbai. It was hosted by Biology Department on 16 th May 2020.About 140 students and all Science teachers actively participated in demonstrations.It was a very lively and enriching session , comprising various activities performed by the resource person with proper explanations.Mr. Rustagi demonstrated and explained Scientific concepts behind a number of activities which are performed by us knowingly or unknowingly without knowing the mechanisms responsible for the same. It was thrilling for the students to exercise these practices. In the question answer session ,the queries of students were answered.

Some interesting demonstrations were as follows:

1. To find the blind spot of our own body (that is even helpful while driving.)
2. Knuckle cracking ,and once it is done, why can’t it be done again immediately after?
3. Either the left or right eye dominates (which helps the shooter to use right or left hand for shooting.)
4. The disappearing figure. (the reason behind illusion)
5. Reason behind wearing a ring in the ring figure.
6. A demonstration where the resource person folded his middle finger and placed the tip of his fingers and palm on the surface(tendons join the muscles at the joint and all are independent, so he could not lift his ring figure.)
7. He made the students blow on the back of their palm with o-shaped mouth and asked them to do it again by inhaling (to find the reason for heat radiation and sensitiveness).

It’s surprising and strange, yes, but also meaningful. COVID 19 restricted humans in the houses and gave the opportunity to nature to replenish and rejuvenate itself.

Few of our SAJSK ecowarriors were highly motivated when they read in newspapers the reappearance of Dolphins in Ganges due to reduction of Industrial pollution. Their anxiety about nature led them to participate in GANGA QUEST conducted under Namami Gange Project. They shared their enthusiastic participation with us:

Thanks
Dr. Anupma Srivastava

Hindi Creative Writing activity was organised for the students of classes VI to X and Class XII. The activity was conducted on 27 May 2020. The topics were given to the students a day before the activity. A good number of 95 students participated virtually in the competition and expressed their profound thoughts on the following topics:

Class VI – “Vah Mere Jeevan Ka Sabse Aanandmay Din Tha”

Class VII – “Online Kaksha Ka Aanand”

Class VIII – “Us Din Main Bahut Khush Tha Kyonki……..”

Class IX – “Us Din Maine Paropkar Ka Sahi Arth Samjha”

Class X – “Man Ke Haare Haar Hai, Man Ke Jeete Jeet”

Class XII – “Yahi Vah Ghatna Thi Jisne Mere Jeevan KI Disha Badal Di”

Inter House Hindi Recitation Competition was held on 26 May 2020. A total of 16 students from classes III , IV and V participated  in the contest . Owing to physical constraints under the given times, the contestants recorded their videos at home and sent them across to their respective teachers and thereafter they were adjudged  by the renowned poetess of the state , Mrs. Alka Mishra.

One of the most fascinating areas in the journey of progress and development of India has been its education sector. The magnitude of sheer numbers of stakeholders associated with this sector directly or indirectly, is awe-inspiring. If you were to add the number of parents whose children attend schools, the total count will dwarf the population of practically all countries of the world, save a few like China. Another noticeable feature of this sector is the remarkable dynamism and a prudent flexibility to keep on improving. There has been some paradigm shifts in several areas in terms of content, pedagogical innovations, and introduction of project based learning, as distinguished from the didactic style of learning.

Another thing which probably has influenced this process is the impact of multi-cultural ethos and international curriculums. There has been some kind of fusion and eventually the Indian education system has benefited. Changes have been happening over time but the one that have taken place in the last three months have been absolutely tectonic.  There has been a complete overhaul, a complete change of perspective by which we used to look at education, educational institutions, education managers, promoters and most importantly, teachers.

24th March – the Prime Minister announced the lockdown – and after that, 25th March onwards, everything in this country was shut. The shops were shut, restaurants were shut, so were the malls and cinema halls. Pilots were grounded. Taxi drivers could not move out of their homes. Government offices were not functioning.  But, one particular institution did not shut shop and that is the Institution of education. It continued. In fact, it continued with greater vigour because they really had to reinvent the entire process by which they were delivering. Children were at home, teachers were at home, and they could not connect with each other on a real time situation.  But, students and parents community wanted education to continue as if nothing had changed.

How do you imagine reinventing the entire process, the content, pedagogical situations, the means of delivery to students whom you could not even see? But, as they say,  necessity is the mother of invention. Suddenly, you found a large number of technological platforms mushrooming. Zoom came into operation. We had Microsoft  teams, we had Google Hangouts and whole lot of other platforms which were there  leveraged by  the teachers and that had to be done with a lot of imagination. It could not possibly happen otherwise because some of them, in fact a large majority of them were not conditioned or used to that mode of teaching.

It was a great responsibility and I have no hesitation in saying that the teaching community in India, took on this responsibility with such great elan, aplomb, and tremendous amount of excitement. It  seems to me that teachers are one of the greatest treasures that we have in this country. It would not be an exaggeration to state that our teaching community is our  national treasure. We need to preserve that treasure with all our strength, with all our commitment.

Here is a great opportunity for us, for our country when we can see that the normal economic activity like the manufacturing, services and many others that contribute to the overall economy, will probably take much longer time to begin again. But, the world, as we all understand, is now moving heavily towards knowledge economy and I think that this is a great opportunity for a country like India to harness its intellectual capital, in the form of knowledge economy. I think there is no reason why we cannot become world leaders.

Coming to the strength that we have – I think the teaching community really has to be given tremendous amount of respect which is overdue. We don’t pay them well. We do not provide them with the facilities that we should be doing like the western countries. According to our old tradition, Guru Brahma Guru Vishnu Guru Devo Bhav etc., but in real practice, do we do that? I think that  we need to restore all that.

Imagine, the way the teachers have  completely reorganized, reinvented. They were not familiar with the situational challenges that they were going to face. Around 40 to 50 students sitting in their own respective homes, along with the parents sometimes. And parents have become the watch dogs. Parents keep on saying all kinds of things, criticising the pronunciation, accent, concept clarity, etc. Teachers got to face all that and then make adjustments. In such circumstances, it is not possible to see the   body language of the child. The teacher is not even aware what the child is doing or whether the absorption is happening or not. But despite all these challenges,  he or she has been performing with absolute commitment.

I know lot of teachers who used to earlier work for about 7 to 8 hours and now working for more than 12 hours. My heart goes out to them. My salutation to all the teaching community in this country. I think it is time that we started respecting this great national treasure.

I would also like to mention that lot of parents keep on making certain statements now since they have the opportunity to sometimes sit next to the student – the child – when simultaneously listening to what is being delivered.  They make certain comments. I would like to mention this to these parents.  Parents – you are not a trained teacher,  you may be a trained parent at the most, but you are not a trained teacher. The person who is talking to your child is a Trained Teacher. He or she knows the art of teaching, knows what to say, when to say, and how much to say. So, please respect her word. There are certain issues – I am sure these can be addressed.

I would also make a strong  case for teachers, the management of the schools and would personally request all parents to make sure that the sustenance part of this program or teaching does not get jeopardized. I am sure they want the child to keep on studying every day, day in and day out. Moreover, as of now, a lot of add-on and co-scholastic activities are happening. The teachers are usually busy, hugely occupied in trying to deliver the best. So, it is the societies’ responsibility that if you want your child to continue being engaged in a fruitful, productive educational paradigm, you got to support that. You have to pay the fees in time. At the end of it all, the teachers’ sustenance depends upon no other source, except the one which is given by you on regular basis.

Today, fortunately, our expenses on other activities like fast food,  malls, cinema halls  etc.  is coming down.  Spending on education is a much better option than spending on material objects, since education is going to stay with you for a much longer period of time.

Again, my profound appreciation and felicitation to all teachers and the teaching community in this country. You have done a fantastic job and my salutations to all of you! What has really happened is that India has discovered a new category of teachers –  highly motivated, very strong, technologically very grounded. India has discovered them and I think teachers have also discovered themselves – the kind of potential they have.

Mr. Vinod Malhotra
Director – Corporate Relations
Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions

Seth Anandram Jaipuria School, Kanpur, organizes its annual Model United Nations conference known as the Seth Anandram Jaipuria Model United Nations with a view to ingrain the ethics of internationalism, promote conflict-resolution through dialogue, and foster humanity in today’s generation. It simulates a setting which enables delegates to explore the intricacies of geopolitics and international relations besides providing an experience that gives the delegates a valuable insight into the functioning of the United Nations and its subsidiary organs. This enriching experience is further accentuated by replicating an environment that propels the use of diplomacy, hones leadership qualities, promotes consensus building, necessitates quality research, and above all- lays the foundation for the eventual transformation of an Indian civilian into a global citizen. With a collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre for lndia and Bhutan and support of the noble HeForShe campaign, the conference ensures that the emphatic voice of the youth does not go unheard, rather it successfully reaches the highest echelons of our society- the United Nations itself.

SAJMUN strives to serve as a forum where delegates achieve a consummate learning experience that motivates them to take the world to new heights through their creativity and practical approach guided by acumen. Year after year, it succeeds in providing the delegates the holistic experience that the Executive Board and the Organizing Committee aim for. The committees are a success when it comes to delving into the international community about agendas and conflicts that are deeply rooted in history, and are shaping our lives today.

Each year, SAJMUN transcends to a new level by bringing about dynamic changes in the organization of the conference and the committees that are simulated. This year too, in a bid to save humanity from being butchered by us, humans, deliberations on agendas like the Kurdish Conflict, mobocracy in India, the 9/11 attacks, etc. were effectuated in order to sensitise the participants to such issues and concurrently draft solutions for the same. The theme for this year’s conference was “Gender Equality”-which is gradually coming out into the open and is being addressed on various platforms-in the wake of which, a form titled “Viva La Resistance” was designed in order to delve into the conditions undergone by the victims of gender discrimination and curate methods to nip the cataclysmic issue from the grassroot level.

Virtual Round Square discussion; The SDGs during this pandemic time and seen through the Round Square and IB lens.

The COVID-19 pandemic is one that has taken all the nations by storm and has affected the daily lives of many. In lieu of the Pandemic, Ashbury College, a school based out of Canada organised a discussion on the Pandemic using the UN Sustainable Development Goals as the lens. The discussion consisted of 80 schools from over 5 continents, part of the Round Square network. A teacher – Mr. Manish Seksaria (Round Square Representative) and 4 students of Grade 12: Divy Tandon, Suryansh Agarwal, Aryika Mehrotra and Ishan Gupta participated in the discussion.They explored the issues on poverty, disparity, equality and environmental sustainability.

It was an enriching experience and a great networking opportunity for the students and the school to globally connect with their peers.

Seth Anandram Jaipuria School, Kanpur, organizes its annual Model United Nations conference known as the Seth Anandram Jaipuria Model United Nations with a view to ingrain the ethics of internationalism, promote conflict-resolution through dialogue, and foster humanity in today’s generation. It simulates a setting which enables delegates to explore the intricacies of geopolitics and international relations besides providing an experience that gives the delegates valuable insight into the functioning of the United Nations and its subsidiary organs. This enriching experience is further accentuated by replicating an environment that propels the use of diplomacy, hones leadership qualities, promotes consensus building, necessitates quality research, and above all- lays the foundation for the eventual transformation of an Indian civilian into a global citizen. With a collaboration with the United Nations Information Centre for India and Bhutan and support of the noble HeForShe campaign, the conference ensures that the emphatic voice of the youth does not go unheard, rather it successfully reaches the highest echelons of our society- the United Nations itself.

SAJMUN strives to serve as a forum where delegates achieve a consummate learning experience that motivates them to take the world to new heights through their creativity and practical approach guided by acumen. Year after year, it succeeds in providing the delegates the holistic experience that the Executive Board and the Organizing Committee aim for. The committees are a success when it comes to delving into the international community about agendas and conflicts that are deeply rooted in history, and are shaping our lives today.

Each year, SAJMUN transcends to a new level by bringing about dynamic changes in the organization of the conference and the committees that are simulated. This year too, in a bid to save humanity from being butchered by us, humans, deliberations on agendas like the Kurdish Conflict, mobocracy in India, the 9/11 attacks, etc. were effectuated in order to sensitize the participants to such issues and concurrently draft solutions for the same. The theme for this year’s conference was “Gender Equality”-which is gradually coming out into the open and is being addressed on various platforms in the wake of which, a form titled “Viva La Resistance”  was designed in order to delve into the conditions undergone by the victims of gender discrimination and curate methods to nip the cataclysmic issue from the grassroots level.

Summer Fiesta organised by Seth Anandram Jaipuria School, Kanpur was a ten-day virtual camp from May 26 to June 4, 2020, immersed in fun and exciting activities.

The activities were welcomed and enjoyed by more than a thousand enthusiastic students who wish to excel in extra-curricular activities as well. There was an overwhelming response from the students as well as the parents.

The credit goes to the activity teachers for taking up painting, craft, fitness, gymnastics,non-fire cooking, Bollywood dance, light music, western dance, badminton, aerobics, karate, guitar, sketching and pottery to the next level of learning by hands-on activities. The camp was conducted under the leadership, relentless efforts and guidance of Mrs. Madhushree Bhaumik, Headmistress, and support and guidance of Mrs. Shikha Banerjee, Principal, Mr. Ashley Fernandez, Vice Principal, Mr. Mahesh Mishra, Headmaster, and the hard work and dedicated efforts of the Art, Music, Dance, Sports, English and Administration departments.

At the Culmination Ceremony on June 4, the Leadership Team along with the students, parents, and teachers was present to bestow their blessings and good wishes on the entire group which was instrumental in making this event a great success.

ONLINE INTER SCHOOL ART COMPETITION-‘ Fight against Covid 19′ organised by Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls’ Public School, Jodhpur

An ONLINE INTER SCHOOL ART COMPETITION-‘ Fight against Covid 19′ was organised by Rajmata Krishna Kumari Girls’ Public School, Jodhpur. 42 Esteemed Schools from the Nation and across the globe participated in the event.

24 out of 200 entries in Junior Category and 28 out of 281 entries in Senior Category were judged as the best entries. The selected entries will be sent for being Judged by artists of National repute.

RS Global webinar on How to Make Face-Shields

RS Global webinar on “How to Make Face-Shields” was hosted by Jeremy Brown (Incharge -Markham Maker Space Face-Shield Project) of Markham College, Peru on 8th June, 2020.Markham College has offered MINSA (The Ministry of Health) its expertise design to make Face-shields for healthcare workers in Peru. The webinar consisted of schools from across the globe which are a part of the Round Square network. Head of the Department (Computer Science)- Mr. Manish Seksaria (Round Square Representative), Computer Science Faculty – Vidhuupriya Rastogi along with 4 students of Grade 12: Divya Tandon, Suryansh Agarwal, Aryika Mehrotra and Ishan Gupta were a part of the webinar. The demonstration of the face shield at the assembly line was an enriching and enlightening experience.The webinar came as a great networking opportunity for the students and for the School to connect with other Round Square Schools globally

One of the most interesting age-segments in the life span of all of us, undeniably, is 10-15 years, when most of the school-going children are studying in classes ranging from 5th to 9th.  Much has been written about the toddlers and young children in the age group 1-8 years. Parents and child psychologists seem to spend more time in tending and researching this age-group for several reasons, and one of them happens to be a general perception of fragility in the physical and cognitive context.

In comparative terms much less has been written or commented upon the age band, most of us associate with adolescence. This is indeed, a very interesting stage because it marks the transitional phase of growth and development between childhood and adulthood.

The etymology of the word adolescence lies in the Latin word ‘adolescere’, which means ‘to grow up’. It is also a transitional stage of physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to legal adulthood, which is the age of majority. Adolescent is sometime used to describe young people who are no longer children but have not yet become adults. It also refers to their behavior. English language often equates adolescence with synonyms like immature, teen juvenile etc.

Several physiological changes keep happening, from the time an infant is born, but these take place in a very protected environment where figuratively speaking, every step taken by a child is guided. There is also a pronounced change/growth that is visible in the physio-musculoskeletal frame of a child which is essential for the development  of his physical strength,  motor and kinaesthetic skills. For example a baby has 300 bones and by the time he grows into adulthood he is left with 206. By the time a child reaches the age of 10 years, he manages to gain a smart control in areas such as physical growth and development, thinking and reasoning, emotional and social development, language development and sensory and motor development. Much of the foundational work of the child growth is done by now and he is now ready to take-off on a faster trajectory of growth on all fronts.

Child psychologists never tire of saying that much of what we are is done in the first 8-10 years of our existence. There is indeed, enormous truth in this statement, but much remains to be done yet in the next 6-7 years, and that is where we need to focus our attention.

Ironically, an adolescent is not too young to be kept under a watchful eye, nor is he too old to be treated as an adult. He is somewhere in between, and largely seeks answers to many questions on his own,  that arise in his not-yet fully grown neural system. This is also the age when very distinct and perceptible changes are happening in his physiological structure. The hormonal disruptions, heaviness in his voice, growth of hair on hitherto soft skin, are all visible signs of the transition. He also experiences gender differences, sexuality in a soft and subtle manner. These are new experiences, partly weird and partly pleasant, and he is yet to come to terms with them. The parallel experiences for girls is however traumatic and both adolescent boy and girl desperately need someone to confide in. They need a confidant who helps them understand, does not laugh at them nor frightens or confuses them. The respective parents are perhaps the best allies in such situations. Sometimes children hesitate to open up, and it is the responsibility of the parents to engage them in a mature conversation and disabuse their minds from all fears and give a clear perspective.

More than the physiological changes, something more profound is going on inside the adolescent’s mind and intellect, which is far more subtle, strong and yet completely invisible. His cognitive capabilities are on a rise and these are on an exponential trajectory. He starts developing logical reasoning, analytical abilities and begins to understand right from wrong. A few years prior to this stage he was always told and he seldom questioned. In fact, these became embedded in his sub-conscious and substantially influenced his habits, reflexes and some of the negative emotions which he may have sub-consciously acquired during the observational phase of his early childhood. He can tell right from wrong but perhaps does not fully understand the consequences of either action.

But this stage is very critical and deserves to be observed by parents and teachers from a very close quarters. His intellect is developing but is very sharp. Most importantly, it is yet not contaminated with externalities of any kind. It is raw, virgin and intensely productive. He is not yet stressed up unlike his seniors studying in classes 10 onwards who are carrying an unusually heavy burden of Board examinations, competitions. Adolescent has not even made a choice of what he or she wants to do. This is the right time to bring in all elements of intellectual stimuli with respect to critical thinking, creativity, collaboration, communication and put them on a track of higher order thinking. On the academic front he is most receptive at this phase and teachers will do well to spend time in creating concept clarity, develop scientific temper and create opportunities of experiential learning.

This is also a dangerous age when a child is extremely impressionable. It is easy for him to get carried away by the glitter or temptations of the world to which he has a better access now. The peer group influence, company of friends from varied backgrounds, desire to try out new things, especially those that are forbidden have the potential to lead him astray. Again this is the age where children need their parents the most and parents should develop requisite knowledge and sensitivity to spend adequate time with them. Although, there is no straitjacketed approach to this, but mother with daughters, and fathers with sons, and combination of profound love and affection from both of them will create great individuals and strengthen unbreakable family bonds.

Mr. Vinod Malhotra
Director – Corporate Relations
Seth Anandram Jaipuria Group of Educational Institutions

Inter Section Hindi Recitation Competition was held on 26 May 2020. A total of 16 students from classes III, IV, and V participated in the contest. Owing to physical constraints under the given times, the contestants recorded their videos at home and sent them across to their respective teachers and thereafter they were adjudged by the renowned poetess of the state, Mrs.Alka Mishra. Results of the competition are as follows:-

Class- III

• Anvi Nemani – III-B
• Raj Nandini Jain – III-B
• Miraya Puri – III-B

Class- IV

• Nyasa Arora – IV- A
• Divyana Kapoor – IV-A & Arna Kapoor -IV-B
• AryamanSonkar – IV-B

Class-V

• Ishanvi Kanodia -V-C
• Vinamra Jain V-C  &  Somil Pandey V-B
• Shubh Bansal V-C  &  Yashika Oberoi  V-D

“The vision must be followed by the venture. It is not enough to stare up the steps- we must step up the stairs.” 

-Vance Havner

Dr. Rajaram Jaipuria Memorial Inter Section Declamation Competition was held in June 2020 for Classes VI-X and XII on a Virtual platform. As the Co-curricular Activity being an integral part of the curriculum, Seth Anandram Jaipuria School, Kanpur organized the Declamation Competition to promote public speaking skill and critical thinking among the students. The students showcased themselves as great leaders of the world and got into their shoes and gave a chance to see history come alive with the famous speeches that had been delivered by them. The first round was conducted in each section wherein the students were shortlisted for the Final Round.

The revered judges for the event were Mrs. Anjali Khanna, Mrs. Sushma Raturi, Mrs. Neena Hussain and Mrs. Madhu Hora. We also had with us the proud parents of our students as judges Mrs. Mansi Tondon and Mrs. Aarti Gupta. The judges highly appreciated our students for they remarkable performance.

The result of the competition was as follows: