Secondary Education coordinators meet in Bangalore

On : 2022-10-06

The annual meeting of Province/Region coordinators for education - 2022 was held in Bangalore from October 2 to 5. Twenty-one delegates from different Jesuit provinces were present. Fr John Ravi, Conference Secretary for Secondary Education welcomed the gathering.  Fr Dionysius Vaz, Provincial of Karnataka province, in his inaugural address focused on the challenges faced by secondary education in the present scenario. He also gave a critique of the present education system and called upon the delegates to reflect on 6 Rs as a way forward to face the challenges that we are facing during post pandemic. They 6 Rs are: (1) Restructuring the curriculum to help students learn the core content of the syllabus; (2) Reinventing of teaching methods in the blended mode; (3) Restoring confidence in parents and teachers who are stressed about their children’s learning losses; (4) Rekindling the interest in the students through motivational exercises, games and activity-based learning; (5) Reskilling and upscaling digital skills both in teachers and students and; (6) Reaching out to students of rural and semi-urban areas.

An input on latest trends in school education today was given by Anthony Joseph, teacher-educator, consultant with National Centre for School Leadership, Delhi. Prammetha Adoni, programme officer, NEP Cell and English Cell, Samagra Shikshana Karnataka, Bangalore, spoke on NEP implementation plans. Introducing entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship in secondary education was shared by Fr Ashok Ohol SJ from XISS Ranchi and Dr Padmaja V., HOD (OB-HR), Ramaiah Institute of Management, Bangalroe. Dr Vincent Aroyappa, Vice Principal, Loyola Degree College, Bannerghatta Road, Bangalore, spoke on Jesuit education – lay apostolate.

 Fr Stany D’ Souza SJ, POSA, in his address called upon the delegates to be transformational leaders and  be the agents of change through discernment, communion, collaboration and networking. He also called upon the delegates to update and upgrade oneself regularly.

- Rohan D'Almeida SJ