Speech of Mrs. Anu Aga principal I would bury
my head in shame rather than tell parents that my school
pushes students to kill themselves! In my own city we have
a school called Jnana Prabodhini which separates the
gifted from the ordinary. It takes children with above
average IQ. At first when I heard about it I was a little
put off thinking that they must be producing intellectual
snobs. But to my surprise, I have never come across a
student from Jnana Prabodhini who is arrogant or
self-centred. What Jnana Prabodhini emphasizes is that
intelligence is bestowed by God, and we don’t have
to do anything to earn it. Fact because of this unearned
gift, we owe it to society to take care of the needy. All
the students at Jnana Prabodhini are encouraged to be
involved in some form of social work, and when they pass
out of school they are extremely aware of their
responsibilities to society. Though Eklavya and Jnana
Prabodhini follow different philosophies at the entrance
level, both have achieved something unique because of
their total dedication and commitment. Teachers must believe
in the unlimited potential of every student. Potential is
invisible to the superficial gaze. It takes patience and
faith to discern it. Each student is material for a work
of art and a beautiful piece can be sculpted out. On the
other hand if the teacher does not believe in the
student’s potential, it sows seeds of doubt in the
student’s mind. Picking up negative signals students
withdraw and stop taking risks. When this happens
everyone loses. Teachers must have the
humility that there is a lot that they do not know and
that they need to be continuously in search of knowledge
and remain students themselves. They also have to realise
that there are many things that they can learn from a
child. The teacher needs to
let the student realise that knowledge grows with
sharing. It is the only resource that grows with sharing
and does not get depleted. James Bender, in his book how
to Talk Well, relates the story of a farmer who grew
award-winning corn. Each year the farmer entered his corn
in the State Fair and kept winning the best award year
after year. On e year a newspaper reporter interviewed
him and was surprised to hear that the farmer shared his
best seed corn with his neighbours. “How can you
afford to share your best seed corn with your neighbours
when they are entering corn in competition with yours
each year?” the reporter asked. “Why sir,”
said the farmer, “didn’t you know? The wind
picks up pollen from the ripen corn and swirls it from
field to field. If my neighbours grow inferior corn,
cross-pollination will steadily degrade the quality of my
corn. If I am to grow good corn, I must help my
neighbours grow good corn.” So it is in other
dimension. Those who choose to be at peace must help
their neighbours to be at peace. Those who choose to live
well must help others to live well, for the value of a
life is measured by the lives it touches. And those who
choose to be happy must help others to find happiness,
for the welfare of each is bound with the welfare of all. Classrooms need to create an atmosphere where students compete not against each other, but with themselves to bring out the best in |