HT celebrates with Mumbai’s top 50 schools

While teachers form the backbone of the education system, good teachers are hard to find, said experts at the HT Top Schools Conclave 2019 on Tuesday.

While teachers form the backbone of the education system, good teachers are hard to find, said experts at the HT Top Schools Conclave 2019 on Tuesday.

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The event marked the culmination of the eleventh edition of Hindustan Times Top Schools Survey, an annual initiative that recognises the best schools in the city and suburbs. Top 60 schools from the city were felicitated at the awards function at The Orchid in Vile Parle.

“We have been focusing on schools and students every year. However, this year we wanted to shift our focus to teachers, and how technology has changed their role in classrooms,” said Sachin Kalbag, executive editor, Hindustan Times.

The question for the panel discussion was – ‘Is the talent pool shrinking in school education, and how can institutions reverse the trend?’ Kalbag, who moderated the panel, kicked off the discussion with a question on whether the schools were facing a dearth of talented teachers and what were the reasons behind this shortage.

One of the three panellists, Ranjini Krishnaswamy, director of education at Dosti Foundation, said poaching of talented teachers is a major problem faced by most schools. “There is talent in schools, but poaching among schools has become a common phenomenon. It happens brazenly these days and schools need to form a code of ethics for teachers to retain them,” she said.

According to Krishnaswamy, monetary compensation offered to teachers needs reconsideration. “Most talented employees don’t consider teaching a viable profession because it does not pay as well as some other professions. Society equates success with material possessions. This mentality needs to change,” she said.

M Haripriya, former banker and currently a secondary school teacher at Children’s Academy Group of Schools, agreed that remuneration and reward for joining the profession is not on a par with some other professions.

“We need to project a positive image around this profession to make it lucrative for the younger generation. Teaching is a profession that gives immense job satisfaction,” said Haripriya.

Jose Kurian,regional director, western region, DAV schools, said shortage of talented educators is a “real problem” that surfaces during the hiring process. The panel deliberated on what schools can do to retain the talent pool in the teaching sector. A solution pitched by the panellists was that schools should help teachers hone their skills on a regular basis.

“Teachers have to update themselves, and school managements must facilitate such training. Institutions must take the responsibility to train teachers,” he said. Panellists also highlighted that “human touch” in education was vanishing, especially with technology playing “a disruptor” in the field. “Technology is here to stay and has brought in many positive developments in the education sector. At the same time, teachers must understand the need for human interaction with students,” said Krishnaswamy.

Kurian emphasised that school managements must also understand the human side of the teacher. “There has to be collaboration between principals and teachers, with principals playing the role of mentors. Mental health of teachers should also be looked after,” he said.

The panellists said that institutions must own the responsibility of training teachers at regular intervals, with Krishnaswamy saying that schools must set out a budget to train their teachers regularly.

Beyond the curricula

Panellists collectively agreed that teachers needed to expand their horizons to stay abreast of the latest developments in their chosen subjects. “Qualification on paper is not enough to judge the knowledge of the teacher,” said Kurian. He added that most people, while studying for BEd, focussed on passing their exam. “Most people are not willing to look beyond the curriculum. Teachers have to update themselves to stay relevant,” he said.

Added Haripriya, “Teachers are lifelong learners. When teachers keep up with the latest, it becomes a more engaging experience for both the teacher and students.”