The government should focus on building quality schools so that the pressure of admitting children to private schools lessens . RATTANBIR SINGH, principal of St Kabir Public School, Chandigarh
Lt Col Rattanbir Singh (retd), an educationist with over 30 years of experience in the army, took up his current assignment in 2016. He shared with
Aneesha Bedi his views on school education.
What are your views on artificial intelligence (AI). Do you think schools should adopt it?
It is too early to talk about artificial intelligence. I feel laymen should not excitedly talk about the use of AI in K-12 schools. Augmented reality will prove to be a great teaching tool, but I cannot say so for artificial intelligence.
What is your biggest learning as a principal?
My biggest leaning is explained best in form of an English proverb — You can take a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink! I believe that no amount of technology inside the classroom or other parts of the school campus will make the students want to learn the topics and things which does not interest them as it is the teacher who has failed to evoke the interest of the students in the topic. It is the person behind the machine rather than the machine that makes the difference and draws a line between success and failure.
What kind of reforms is needed in schools?
A certain amount of laid back attitude is endemic to educational institutions as leisure is a prerequisite for the enlargement of the minds. Digital functioning across the matrix is also a prerequisite in order to reduce the time taken on closing the feedback loop between parents, teachers, students, school management and the government. The students and teachers should find happiness in doing things together, such as projects among other things.
Fee hike has always been a bone of contention between parents and institutes. What is the solution in your opinion?
The hue and cry about fee hike is more like a commentary on the unscrupulous exploitation of hapless parents by self-seeking opportunists who are shrewd enough to realise that in the age of social media, the government has become extremely vulnerable to public opinion. Hence, there is no option, but to pursue a populist agenda if it is to remain in power. The government should focus on building quality schools so that the pressure of admitting the children to private schools lessens to the extent that the factor of elasticity can play its role in the law of demand and supply.
What steps should schools take for making students successful citizens?
