The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : ‘Schools must be learner-centric’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 29, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

‘Schools must be learner-centric’

Correspondent

Golden jubilee conference of ICSE schools held

BANGALORE: Why do children feel joyful and liberated when the school bell rings at the end of the school day? That is because they feel that they have emerged out of another day of rote-learning, teacher-centred delivery of facts and more facts in the name of education.

The need to heighten children’s sensitivity while providing refreshing changes in the methods of learning was stressed by speakers at the golden jubilee conference of schools under the Indian School Certificate Examination (ICSE) organised at the NIMHANS Convention Centre here on Wednesday.

Delivering the keynote address, Neil O’Brien, Chairman of the ICSE Council, New Delhi, told the gathering of principals, headmasters and headmistresses of ICSE schools to be aware of the drawbacks of archetypal system of education. The process needed a revamp, from teacher-centric to learner-centric. “The teaching-learning process must be made more interesting and attractive through interaction between teachers and students,” Mr. O’Brien said. There was a dire need to mitigate the mental and physical load on children.

He said that there is an urgent need to turn our schools into happy, democratic places of learning.

Commissioner for Information K.V.R. Tagore said that although modern technological tools had an important place in schools and could effectively act as great motivators for youngsters, there was the danger of sacrificing the personal touch, the all-important human interaction necessary for nurturing well-balanced citizens.

D. Jawahar, Chief Executive Officer of the PES Group of Institutions, spoke.

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