NCSP, 2012 Conference Report

Contents Organizing Committee Conference Partner 7Academic Partners 8Executive Summary 9Preface 16Acknowledgements 18Conference Theme 19Many Firsts 20

Day One (November 8, 2012)Inaugural Session • Welcome Address by Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITY 21• Unveiling of the MBA (Educational Management and Leadership) Program 24• Launch of the PrincipalsFORUM 25• Key Note Address by Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Hon’ble Minister of State, MHRD, Govt of India 26• Address by Mr. Shantanu Prakash, Chairman, Educomp Foundation 30Plenary Session • Sharing Experiences - Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITY 32• The Session Panelists 34Parallel Sessions - Deliberations & Recommendations• Academics and Beyond- Preparing for Life 36• Challenges, Responses and Way Forward 39• Empowering Leaders for 21st Century Schools 43

Day Two (November 9, 2012)Plenary Session – Presentations • Sub Theme One: Academics and Beyond- Preparing for Life 46• Sub Theme Two: Challenges, Responses and Way Forward 47• Sub Theme Three: Empowering Leaders for 21st Century Schools 48

Closing Session 48 Vote of Thanks 49Conference Recommendations 50List of Delegates 55Photo Gallery 59

Backdrop 24

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Backdrop

importance if we wish to provide quality education at K-12 level. These must keep pace with the fast and profound demographic, socio-economic and technological changes of 21st Century.

The goals and purpose of education are also changing in view of fast and profound changes occurring all around us. The principals confront new challenges in schools every day, each requiring a different skill to manage. The principal must possess a very fine and balanced mix of transactional and transformational leadership styles. Meeting enhanced parental aspirations, intense competitiveness, increased societal demands; omnipresent media are some of other challenges that need to be addressed by the principals. The principal must ensure that K-12 schooling addresses the issues that extend beyond academics. It must prepare the child for life beyond school.

If we as educationists and as a nation are convinced about the pivotal role played

School Leaders shape the destiny of our nation by strengthening the foundation and fundamentals of the society by way of high quality K-12 schooling. The Principal defines the very character and identity of the school. Experience has revealed and research has endorsed that motivated, inspired, empowered and committed principals successfully lead schools in all spheres; be it academic ambience, students ‘achievement, teacher’s involvement and team building. They even turn around low performing schools to high performing ones.

While the criticality and centrality of Principal’s role in leading school is well established and acknowledged, yet we do not have a formal system or a mechanism in place in our country which empowers a teacher before taking up principal- ship. The skill sets and the competencies required by the school leader are very different than those required by a teacher. Empowering a teacher with desired skills and competencies to be able to effectively lead schools of tomorrow is of utmost

by the principals in leading schools and shaping destiny of our country than we must set in place a formalized empowerment program , mandatory for everyone aspiring to be a principal.

It was against above backdrop that National Conference of School Principals, 2012 (NCSP, 2012) was conceived to provide a collective and structured platform to in-service principals to share, discuss, brainstorm and debate various issues , challenges and concerns at the school and policy level and suggest a Way Forward.

NCSP would be an annual feature to give a collective voice to school principals to air and share their views. It would be an attempt to bridge the gap between the policy makers and the practitioners of school education. It would be a media for school principals to be a part of policy formulation and generation of new initiatives. It would provide opportunities and ambience for principals to network, interact and introspect. Last

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but not the least, it would constitute a microcosm of India’s school leaders representing regions, strata and types. It would be a pan India movement – of the Principals, by the Principals and for the Principals to draw Nation’s attention for the compelling need for empowering school leaders to successfully lead schools in providing quality K-12 education.

Backdrop

MR. OM PATHAKAs a member of Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Mr. Pathak served in the state of Uttar Pradesh. Prior to that he served six years in the Indian Army; saw action in East Bengal, presently Bangladesh. During his tenure with the IAS, he chaired various state ventures ranging from power distribution, dairies and milk products, urban housing, rural development, industrial development, social forestry, anti-poverty programs, rural education to electronics, hotels & hospitality. His role was largely built around strategic planning and operations.

He has passionately pursued his interests in school, technical and vocational education, promoting new school ventures and addressing schooling, employment & livelihood related issues. He continues to pursue education related issues and enterprises striving to bring about a paradigm shift in these areas. He is keen on building international collaborations to work towards these goals.

He brings a wealth of understanding and experience in school & vocational education related matters including networking that is critical to the achievement of his goals.

COL B. S. BRARIA (RETD)An alumnus of National Defence Academy, Col Braria was commissioned in Indian Army in 1971. The Officer superannuated from active service in 2008. He has been intimately and actively involved with school education, over the past 12 years having been Vice-Chairman at Army Public School, Mathura from 2000 to 2002 and later as Vice-Chairman at Army Public School, Bhopal from 2002 to 2004.

While in uniform, Col Braria was handpicked as Director Schools by Army Welfare Education Society (AWES), New Delhi in 2004 for managing an All India network of over 135 Army Public Schools. The Officer was appointed as Director, Faculty Development & Research Centre (FDRC), a newly created organization in AWES, New Delhi in 2009. He organized over 125 workshops attended by over 3500 teachers, principals and school counselors from Army Schools, Sainik Schools, Military Schools and CBSE affiliated schools in & around Delhi NCR.

Col Braria joined TeacherSITY as Director in July 2012. M.Sc. (Defense Studies) from Madras University and Masters of Management Studies (MMS) from Osmania University, Col Braria is currently pursing Ph.D. in Educational Management from Mewar University.

MS. MANJU SEHGALAs Director and member of Educational Research, Design and Training team at TeacherSITY since 2008, she has conceptualized and designed Professional Development Programs for; in-service teachers and has trained more than three thousand teachers. Has served as Principal and teaching faculty with Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan since 1978. In the span of 36 years in education, was deputed as Director and Resource person for coordinating and operationalizing training programs. She has worked as a team leader and subject expert for CBSE and NIOS and has also conducted school inspections for CBSE and NIOS for grant of affiliation. Has organized and participated in Evaluation workshops with CBSE and Curriculum Design workshops with NCERT. She has attended item writing workshops for preparation of English test papers for Public Service Exams (Short Service Commission). An M.A. in English from Delhi University and M.Ed. from Mumbai University with University Merit Scholarship, she has done a certificate course in teaching of English from CIEFL and a certificate course in Creative Writing from IGNOU. She has been awarded the Bharat Shiksha Ratan Award by Global Society for Health and Education for her contribution in the field of education.

DR. NEERJA DHANKARShe is highly qualified with a Ph.D. in (Education), M.Phil. in (Education), M.Ed. from University of Delhi (Merit Scholarship holder in B.Ed. and M.Ed.) and M.A. each in Political Science, Human Rights and Sociology. With NET in Education, Sociology and Human Rights and Duties conducted by UGC. She also holds PGDHE, PGDHRM, PGJMC, PGDESD, CHR and CIG. She has teaching, research and administrative experience of 18 years in colleges affiliated to University of Delhi, GGSIP University Delhi, Himgiri Zee University, Dehradun and HNB Garhwal University Srinagar, Uttarakhand. She was the Principal of the Army Institute of Education, Delhi Cantt from July 2010 to Aug. 2012. She has been associated with University of Delhi, GGSIP, IGNOU and NIOS for various academic activities. She has five books and ten research papers to her credit. At present, she is working as Professor of Education with SelaQui Institute of Educational Research and Training (SIERT).

Organizing Committee – Team TeacherSITY

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MS. V SUPRABHAA member of the Faculty of Educational Research, Design and Training team of TeacherSITY, she has worked as a teacher, trainer, researcher and manager with private schools in Delhi and Madhya Pradesh and has been a Senior Lecturer with Meerut University and GGSIP University, Delhi. She has ample experience in curriculum design and content planning for training with Indus World Schools. A consultant with S.Chand Harcourt India Ltd, she has designed and created e-learning material for Geography and has trained teachers in the same. She has also been an examiner for IGNOU and GGSIPU’s B.Ed. courses. She has for sometime worked as Manager with Global Trust Bank. An M.A (Geography) from Delhi School of Economics, she has a B.Ed. from CIE, Delhi University with Merit Scholarship, a M.Ed. from Annamalai University, an M.Phil. (Education), NET in Education conducted by UGC. She is presently pursuing her Ph.D. in Education from Shillong University

MS. KRITIKA GOSAIN She is working as Assistant Trainee with TeacherSITY in their Educational Research and Design Faculty. She is B.El.Ed. from Delhi University and a M.Ed. (Elementary Education) from Jamia Millia Islamia University in 2011 and is pursuing her M.A. in Psychology. She has worked as a Primary Teacher in Presidium School, Indirapuram; Ghaziabad.

Conference Partner - Educomp Foundation

Educomp Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Educomp Solutions Limited, India’s largest education company and promotes initiatives in education content and delivery in under served areas and among under served communities of children. The Foundation focuses on remote areas of the country with customized curriculum designed to serve the learning needs of the children. The Foundation also supports and sponsors disadvantaged students through scholarships and subsidies. The Educomp Foundation has already reached and impacted thousands of children in the duration of its existence and is poised to exponentially grow its reach in the near future.

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Academic Partners

National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT)

It is an Apex body set up under Government of India to assist and advice the central and state Governments on issues related to education. It is involved in research and innovative work in the

field of education. It also conducts training for pre-service and in-service teachers through its arms at the central and state levels. The main objective of the organization is to implement the National Curriculum Framework of Education which is revised and improved from time to time, universalization of education and vocational education among others. NCERT also publishes textbooks on all the school teaching subjects.

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)

An organization under the Government of India, CBSE is the Central board of education for assessment and evaluation that affiliates both private and government schools in the country and sets guidelines

for the smooth conduct of examinations. The board also conducts the external examination for secondary and senior schools and the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) for admissions to many undergraduate courses in engineering and architecture courses and All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) for admissions into the undergraduate courses in medical colleges across the country.

National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA)Established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, NUEPA is a

premier organization dealing with capacity building and research in planning and management of education in India. It has been conferred the status of Deemed University, fully maintained

by the Government of India. NUEPA offers programs in educational policy, planning and administration from a broader inter-disciplinary social science perspective. The research programs of NUEPA cover all levels and areas of education both from the national and international development perspectives.

Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU)A University established by the Government of Uttarakhand in Dehradun, it is the only University in the state that gives affiliations to institutions both private and Government for different courses offered. The University

offers technical courses that include B.Tech. M.Tech, MBA, B.Pharm, M.Pharm among others.

SelaQui EducationThe umbrella organization-“The Gurukul Trust”, manages SelaQui Academy of Higher Education, offering two years -- MBA (Regular), MBA (Educational Management & Leadership) -- first of its kind in India, MBA (Infrastructure & Urban Governance), a three Years BBA

(Hons) program, a five years integrated BBA-LLB, a four years B.Tech and a two years B.Ed (Hons), also first of its kind.

It also manages a residential SelaQui International School.

Executive Summary National Conference of School Principals, 2012

Genesis Experience has shown and research has validated that inspired, committed and motivated school leaders successfully lead schools in all spheres; be it academic ambience, teacher commitment and competence, student attainment and team building. They are even able to turn around low preforming schools. The ever changing and profound challenges of 21st century necessitate that principals must be equipped with skills, values and competencies to be able to address the challenges impacting the learners and the schools. The leaders of 21st century schools must possess a fine blend of transformational as well as transactional skills. While the centrality of the principal’s role in successful leading school is well established, then why we, as a nation, moving from agrarian to knowledge society still do not have a formalized or a structured mechanism to empower principals and what should be the contours and configuration of such a program?

Over 250 in-service principals, representing regions, types and strata congregated and shared, discussed, deliberated and brain stormed the above said and many other connected issues. This made conference a truly principal-centric and principal-specific i.e. a conference- of the principals, by the principals and for the principals.

The Organizers Keeping above as the backdrop, the theme of the conference was chosen as School Leadership - A Compelling Priority. The conference was organized by TeacherSITY, a collaborative Educational Research and Design initiative of the The Gurukul Trust, one of the very few organizations in the country conducting empowerment programs for K-12 teachers.

PartnersThe conference drew its intellectual strength from academic partners i.e. National Council of Education Research and Training (NCERT), National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), Central Board of Secendary Education (CBSE), Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU) and SelaQui Education.

Educomp Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Educomp Solutions Limited, India’s largest educational company was the conference partner.

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November 8, 2012

Welcome Address by Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITYThe conference was inaugurated by Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Hon’ble Minister of State, MHRD, Government of India with “lighting the lamp”, held at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi on November 8 & 9, 2012.

This was followed by welcome address by Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITY. He welcomed the chief guest, chairpersons, panelists and the principal delegates. He highlighted the need for empowering principals so as to improve the standard of school education in the country. He gave example of Finland’s school system which is considered the best in the world today.

Unveiling MBA (Educational Management and Leadership) ProgramThe MBA in Educational Management and Leadership was unveiled by the Chief Guest Dr. Shashi Tharoor, in the inaugural session. This program is first of its kind, launched in India approved by Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU). It covers four major areas of Educational Management and leadership (EML) viz. Personal Effectiveness, Instructional Leadership, Institutional Management and Strategic Leadership. The vision of MBA is to empower the next generation of principals.

Launch of www.principals.in The Chief Guest also launched the web portal www.principals.in. at the PrincipalsFORUM. It is a one stop window for all the needs of the principals. PrincipalsFORUM is a movement, a program and a web portal. In any or all of its avatars, the professional and personal challenges, opportunities and needs of the principals and their schools would be addressed. It is a virtual collaboration - through the web and physical; through conclaves, round tables, conferences and other modes, amongst teachers, principals, researchers, trainers, institutions, schools and school administrators in providing quality education conforming to global standards.

Key Note Address by Chief GuestThereafter, Chief Guest Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Hon’ble Minister of State, MHRD, Government of India delivered the key note address. The Minister in his address highlighted the government’s initiatives and reforms in school education and the vital role of the principals in improving standards of education at the school level. The Minister also commended the efforts and initiatives of TeacherSITY in empowering the teachers and principals across the country.

Address by Chairman, Educomp FoundationMr. Shantanu Prakash, Chairman, Educomp Foundation emphasized the need to put in place a structure to empower the principals to be able to successfully lead schools in the 21st century. He also congratulated TeacherSITY for organizing the conference and congregating a large number of principals on pan India basis to collectively voice their concerns, challenges, issues, and share their experiences.

The inaugural session concluded with a Vote of Thanks proposed by the Presiding Officer, Ms. Dimple Anil, Principal, Billabong High School, Noida.

Plenary SessionThe session was chaired by the Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITY, supported by group of panelists comprising of eminent educationists Ms. Vibha Parthasarathy, Ex-Chairman, National Commission for Women and Ex Principal, Sardar Patel Vidyalaya; Ms. Gowri Ishvaran, CEO, Global Education and Leadership Foundation and Ex-Principal, Sanskriti School, Mr. S. C. Arora, Vice-Chairman, Lotus Valley International School and Ex-Principal, Apeejay School; Dr. Saroj Sharma, Dean, Department of Education, GGSIP University and Mr. Ashok Mehta, Senior Vice President, Educomp Foundation.

Mr. Om Pathak set the tone of the conference by sharing his long experience in education spanning over three decades and also elaborated the details of MBA (EML) program. Other panelists similarly shared their respective experiences with the delegates while reflecting on the different issues facing school leaders of the 21st century.

Plenary session ended with the Vote of Thanks proposed by the Presiding Officer Mr. Radhey Shyam Pandey, Principal, JPS Global Academy, Hapur, Uttar Pradesh.

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Executive Summary – National Conference of School Principals, 2012


Parallel Session – I

The BackdropThe sub theme on Academics and Beyond: Preparing for Life urged the congregation to reflect, discuss and debate the different ways in which this can be achieved. Academics extend far beyond just preparing the learner to take exams and work on projects. It instead must prepare the learner to live and face life in all its facets. Are we really preparing our learners to lead a meaningful life?

The PanelThe session was chaired by Ms. Gowri Ishvaran. Dr. Mahesh Prasad, Principal, Heritage School, Gurgaon, Mr. Suraj Prakash, Member Managing Committee Bal Bharati Public School and Ex-Principal, CRPF School and Dr. Bindu Rana, Educomp Foundation were the panelists. Ms. Dimple Anil, Principal, Billabong High School, Noida was the session moderator.

ConclusionThe salient issues discussed during the session were:-

• Addressing diversity in classrooms.

• Addressing curriculum.

• Implementation of Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE).

Three parallel sessions were held, post lunch on November 8, 2012. The sub-themes for the parallel sessions were culled out from the conference theme. The delegates had the option of attending any one of the parallel sessions. Each parallel session had a Chair and a set of panelists. Each session started with ice-breaking activity to set the tune and tempo of the session and to connect with the delegates. The delegates actively participated in the sessions and freely shared their experiences and views. Salient issues of each parallel session are covered below.

Parallel Session-II

A BackdropThe sub-theme of the session was Challenges, Responses and Way Forward. Right to Education (RTE), admissions, learner attitude, parental expectations, management needs and current and emerging trends that drive the society are a few of the many challenges that the Principal faces every-day. Several have found answers to some of these challenges and there are others who are striving to find new and innovative ways to face these challenges and come out with the best possible solutions. Each of these challenges are contextual as in- to a different place and time, nevertheless one can learn from each other’s experiences.

The PanelThe parallel session was chaired by Ms. Rita Kapoor, Executive Director, DPS Ghaziabad Society. Ms. Maharukh Singh, Educomp Foundation, Dr. Tejwant Chhatwal, Chairman, Mine n Skills Education, Gurgaon, Mr. L.V Sehgal, Principal, Bal Bharati Public School and Chairman, NPSC were the panelists. Ms. Manju Sehgal, Director-Training, TeacherSITY was the session moderator.

ConclusionSalient issues discussed in this session were:-

• Parental contribution and support.

• Implementation of RTE.

• Revamping teacher education programs.

• Information influx and overload.

•Empowering teachers aspiring to enter principal-ship.

Parallel Session- III

The BackdropEach leader is a visionary and it is this vision that steers every institution towards success in all spheres. What works today may not work at a later date and every Principal focuses on the need to find mechanisms that offer opportunities for upgradation. The future holds so many promises and each leader wants to put it to best use. Empowering Leaders for 21st Century Schools was looked at as a key to unlock the future possibilities where the principals could evaluate their present practices and research, reflect and develop mechanisms that would prepare teachers to take up leadership roles, while helping the principals grow in their own roles.

The PanelThe session was chaired by Ms. Vibha Parthasarathy. Mr. S. C. Arora, Dr. Sarvesh Naidu, Director, Pathways World School, Gurgaon were the session panelists. Ms V Suprabha, ERD Faculty, TeacherSITY was the session moderator.

Conclusion

Salient issues discussed in this session were:-

•T eacher selection and recruitment processes.

• Managing parental expectations.

• Managing teacher-learner transactions.

• Managing leadership challenges.

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Parallel Sessions

Planary SessionsDuring parallel sessions in post lunch program on November 8, the delegates attended one session of their choice. They were not privy to deliberations and discussions held in other two parallel sessions. To acquaint all the delegates with proceedings of all three parallel sessions, a group from each parallel session presented their recommendations. Key note speakers were invited for each of the presentation sessions. Each presentation was of one hour duration which included 40 minutes of question-answer sessions. The presentation sessions lasted for four hours. Recommendations made by each sub-theme are summarized in the conference report separately for policy and practice areas.

Closing SessionMr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITY, concluded the National Conference of School Principals, 2012 by sharing his insights and learning. He cherished the fact that 106 cities from 18 states of India were represented making the conference truly national in stature and character. The international feel to the conference was given by the two overseas delegates who represented Saudi Arabia. He acknowledged and appreciated the experiences shared by the principals and motivated them to keep sharing their practices and proficiencies at the first ever principals’ web portal of PrincipalsFORUM www.principals.in launched during the conference which will be one stop window for all the needs of the principals.

Vote of ThanksCol B. S. Braria, Director, TeacherSITY and Conference Convener proposed the Vote of Thanks.

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November 9,



Prefacing The Conference Report

I do feel humbled yet privileged in presenting to you the “Report of National Conference of School Principals - 2012” organized by TeacherSITY at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi on November 8 & 9, 2012.

TeacherSITY, a collaborative Educational Research and Design initiative of “The Gurukul Trust” is an empowerment movement for K-12 teachers in schools across the country. It is amongst a few organizations in the country that have addressed the training and empowerment needs of the in-service teachers and school principals. It has provided high quality professional development opportunities to more than 3,500 teachers from across the country, in addition to 130 school principals in school leadership programs.

During the course of our trainings, we felt that academic administrators, teacher educators, university officials have often debated the virtues of professional development and have suggested prescriptions to teachers. Principals as school leaders have rarely had the opportunities or the for a to debate their challenges and charter their course. Research suggests that energetic, inspired and competent school leaders (Principals) have successfully led teams in ensuring high standards, high student achievement and turning around even the low-performing schools. Research also clearly indicates that there is an empirical link between school leadership and improved student achievement.

The school leaders (principals) define the very character and soul of the school. The principals play a pivotal role in building and taking schools to greater heights of excellence in all spheres; be it academic ambience, teacher commitment and competence, student attainment and team building. The school leaders of the 21st century must poses a balanced mix of transactional as well as transformational leadership skills.

While the criticality and centrality of the Principal’s role is well understood and acknowledged, yet little or no efforts or investments are made by individuals, schools or Government to train, empower and equip Principals with skills, competencies and attitudes to enable them to lead from the front.

With above backdrop, the pertinent issues that, we as educators need to debate are:-

• Are we, as Principals, providing opportunities and incentives to the teachers for upgrading their skills and competencies enabling them to step into higher role of school leaders?

• Is there a need to institutionalize a formal system or mechanism to train and equip teachers with requisite skills, competencies and attitudes before being appointed / selected to lead schools of tomorrow?

• Is our curricula and pedagogy conforming to the profound and fast changing demographic, socio-economic and technological changes of the 21st century?

• Are our schools equipping students with the skills and competencies required to prepare them for life beyond school?

• Is there a need to formalize a “PrincipalsForum” in the form of web and face-to face programs which can act as a trigger for personal, intellectual and professional development?

Considering the criticality of time, (we are already 12 years into the 21st century), enormity and complexity of issues (as evident from above), advancements in educational philosophies (Modified Bloom’s Taxonomy, Gardener’s MI Theory, Caine and Caine’s Brain – Mind – Learning Principles, Boyatzis’ Theory of Self Directed Learning, Kolb’s Learning Cycle, Meta-research by Marzano and others in the field of education at school level), Team TeacherSITY brainstormed various methodologies and postulates to address the above issues in a holistic manner.

The best way, the Team decided to attempt this was to congregate principals under the umbrella of Principals’ Forum to brainstorm and suggest a Way Forward, keeping it as realistic and as close to the school environment as feasible.

The Team further argued that the conference should be true Principal-centric and Principal- focused - a conference For the Principals, Of the Principals and By the Principals; let in-service school leaders congregate representing regions, types and strata of schools thus constituting a microcosm of India’s school leaders. Even the Chair and Panelists were in-service or retired principals of known repute and educational acumen.

The conference also drew its intellectu-al support from government organizations that included Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), National University of

Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU) and SelaQui Education. NCSP- 2012, thus would be the start point of a massive pan India movement in reawakening of the national conscience, induce and be a catalyst in policy changes and last but not the least bring about practice shifts in the school systems responding to challenges of 21st Century. While the policy makers in the government may respond through policy changes in the wider context, the school leaders and management must fine tune the curricula and the pedagogy such that these conform to ever changing goals and purposes of education. The task becomes even more challenging, urgent and critical, as the pace of change escalates.

As a parting thought – If we as teaching community and Nation are convinced about the pivotal role of school leaders in improving students achievement and success (which is also validated by research), then Why don’t we think of institutionalizing leadership programs in the country for teachers yet to enter Principalship and for those who are in first/second year as Principals? Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE), Harvard University in USA and National College for School Leaders (NCSL), UK are conducting several such programs. NCSL trains over 30,000 school leaders every year. HGSE conducts 13 Master’s Programs for teachers and school leaders each year, in addition to training over 3000 education leaders across the Globe.

THE BIG QUESTION IS - WHO WILL BE THE TORCH BEARER IN OUR COUNTRY?

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Prefacing The Conference Report

Acknowledgements

The Organizing Committee (OC) places on record sincere appreciation to Dr Shashi Tharoor, Hon’ble Minister of State, MHRD, Govt of India for accepting to be the Chief Guest and delivering the Key Note address in a very lucid and impressive manner. The OC acknowledges the august presence of Mr. Vineet Joshi, Chairman, CBSE. We acknowledge the sagacious thoughts shared by Mr. Shantanu Prakash, MD, and the support and backing of the Educomp Foundation, the Conference Partner.

The OC appreciates the intellectual richness provided by Academic Partners viz. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU) and SelaQui Education.

Our genuine thanks and appreciation to esteemed Chairs & Panelists – Mr. Om Pathak ,Chairman, TeacherSITY, Ms. Vibhaparthsarthy, Ex Chairman NCW and Ex Principal Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, Ms. Gowri Ishvaran, CEO, Global Education and Leadership Foundation and Ex Principal Sanskriti School, Mr. S. C. Arora, Vice Chairman, Lotus Valley International School and Ex Principal Apeejay School, Prof Saroj Sharma, Dean, Department of Education, GGSIP University, Ms. Rita Kapoor, Executive Director, DPS Ghaziabad Society, Dr. Mahesh Prasad, Principal ,Heritage School, Mr. Suraj Prakash Member, Managing Committee, Bal Bharti Schools and Ex Principal CRPF School, Dr. Bindu Rana and Ms. Maharukh Singh from Educomp Foundation, Dr. Tejwant Chhatwal, MD, Mine n Skills Foundation, Mr. L. V. Sehgal, Chairman NPSC and Principal Bal Bharti School, and Dr. Sarvesh

Naidu Director, Pathways World School for sharing and enriching delegates with their vast experiences and making sessions lively, enriching and thought provoking.

Our appreciation to group members of each sub theme who presented their deliberations in a very interesting and thought provoking manner on Day Two. OC also thanks Key Note Speakers – Mr. Sushil Dutt Salwan, Member, Managing Committee, Salwan Public Schools and Advocate, Supreme Court, Mr. Sushil Tripathi, Ex Secretary, MHRD and Mr. Ashutosh Batta, Director Principal, Bloom Public School for their contribution during presentations .

Thanks also to Ms. Jyoti Gupta, Principal DPS Ghaziabad, Meerut Road and her team for their tireless efforts and support to provide the much needed administrative sustenance. Thanks to each and every volunteer for his/her contribution.

We also would like to thank Mr. Sandeep Tandon and his team at India Habitat Center to provide the desired ambience and nourishment which enabled us to conduct the conference in a receptive and meaningful manner.

The Conference ThemeSchool Leadership - A Compelling Priority

The theme of the conference “School Leadership – A Compelling Priority” was born of the inescapable and dire need to institutionalize a system to prepare leaders for 21st Century schools. The detailed and intensive deliberations that India, an emerging knowledge society must address the leadership challenges of education both at K-12 and higher education levels keeping pace with the fast and profound demographic, socio-economic and technological changes of 21st Century, resulted in identifying the gaps in school leadership which gave birth to the theme of the conference.

The most important aspect of any institution is its academic rigor. Keeping pace with the constantly emerging challenges vis–a-vis learner needs and aspirations, teacher quality, parental expectations and management demands, the conference provided an opportunity to the school leaders to share their thoughts, views and practices on all aspects of the school system. Thus these came to be the sub themes for discussion and debate during the parallel sessions.

Academics extend far beyond just preparing the learner to take exams and work on projects. It instead must prepare the learner to live and face life in all its facets. Are we really preparing our learners to lead a meaningful life? The sub theme Academics and Beyond - Preparing for Life urged the delegates to reflect on these lines and discuss and debate the different ways in which this can be achieved.

Right to Education (RTE), admissions, learner attitude, parental expectations, management needs, current and emerging trends that drive the society are few of the many challenges that the principal faces everyday. Several have found answers to some of these challenges and there are others who are striving to find

new and innovative ways to face these challenges and come out with the best possible solutions. Each of these challenges are contextual as in- to a different place and time, nevertheless one can learn form each other’s experiences. The sub theme Challenges, Responses and Way Forward brought alive all these issues that have been playing on our minds.

Each leader is a visionary and it is this vision that steers the institution towards success in all spheres. What works today may not work at a later date and every principal should focus on the need to find mechanisms that offer opportunities for upgradation. The future holds so many promises and each leader wants to put it to best use. Empowering Leaders for 21st Century Schools was looked at as a key to unlock the future possibilities where the principals could evaluate their present practices and research, reflect and develop mechanisms that would prepare teachers to take up leadership roles, while helping the principals grow in their own roles.

The outcome of discussions and deliberations on these sub themes have been penned in the later part of the report along with conference recommendations.

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Welcome Address by Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITY

Ladies & Gentlemen, On behalf of the conference organizers and partners, I wish to welcome Dr. Shashi Tharoor, our most honored guest this morning - with a thunderous applause. We also congratulate him at his induction in the union

cabinet. And given his profound knowledge and erudition and understanding of global movements in education, we sincerely hope that school education in India has the messiah to show us light and lead us to excellence. I am indeed thankful to you sir, that you agreed to meet the conference delegates and guests, despite your preoccupation with ministerial briefings and heavy agenda. Thank you and welcome indeed.

I also welcome the delegates, panelists and our esteemed guests to India’s First National Conference of School Principals, 2012. This conference, I hope, would become an annual fixture, getting bigger and better every year. This will evolve as a forum for debate, discourse and discussion on issues that we grapple with. This shall be the place where principals as school leaders would come to seek and find solutions to their problems and challenges, ranging anything from policy to practice.

The business of school education is much too serious and vital to be left alone in the care of members of my former fraternity, the IAS or to such outfits who have little or no experience of building, managing, nurturing and leading schools. This standing conference would give voice to several hundreds of thousands of people like you, who have great potential to shape the destiny of this great

NSCP, 2012; Many Firsts

The two day National Conference of School Principals, 2012 was truly a national conference in stature and spirit that witnessed the presence of noted educationists, school leaders, government officials and dignitaries. The august gathering of educational leaders and thinkers

deliberated on issues and challenges of school principals and shared their thoughts and ideas with all present, churning the minds of principals and other delegates with a number of questions and seeking their answers.

It is befitting to state here that the NCSP-2012 had many firsts to its credit. About 250 school principals, educational managers and administrators congregated, representing regions, types and strata of schools thus constituting a microcosm of India’s teaching

The Inaugural Session

The Chief Patron: Mr. Om Pathak, Chair-man, TeacherSITY

The Chief Guest: Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Hon’ble Minister of State,MHRD, Govt of India

The Associate Patron: Mr. Shantanu Prakash, Chairman, Educomp Foundation

The Guest of Honour: Mr. Vineet Joshi, Chairman, CBSE

The Presiding Officer: Ms. Dimple Anil, Principal, Billabong High School, Noida

Lighting the LampThe Conference was inaugurated by the Chief Guest and other dignitaries by lighting the lamp accompanied by shlokas invoking blessings of Sarswati – Goddess of Knowledge.

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professionals. Principals from 18 states spanning over 106 cities pan India representing all regions were present making it truly a conference of National stature. The conference also had representation from Saudi Arabia giving it an international feel.

It was a conference which was “For the Principals, Of the Principals and By the Principals”. The Chairs and panelists were all principals (serving and retired).

India Habitat Centre, the venue of the conference provided the right ambience and administrative backup to conduct the conference in a very receptive and meaningful manner.

the kind of scholars that these research laboratories need.

So, the question is – if schools are so important and defining - what are we doing to upgrade the quality of learning and rearing?

At another level, the purpose and goals of school education must remain in sync with movements in societal values, ethics, morality, business processes and must also factor in the changes that communications, travel and technology have induced or would continue to do so. Schools are thus fast becoming very complex social organizations that not only transact knowledge but also foster values, ethics, life skills, and morals; build skills and prepare the school graduates for life – and life beyond school. The parental and societal expectations of schools are forever on the rise and their ambit is ever so expanding. Schools and school systems must therefore, respond to student, parental and societal aspirations. That only amplifies the challenges that you face and may also redefine the skills you may need to meet these challenges head-on.

A lot of investment in the last few years or may be in last decade and half has come into education sector but most of it has largely been on constructing school buildings; the brick and mortar, paying salaries, maintenance etc. And metaphorically speaking all of this constitutes only the body. The soul in this body seems to have gone missing. I wonder and I ask as how much have we, as a nation, invested in rejuvenating the soul of the school; i.e. the TEACHER. And what have we done for the nucleus of that soul – that is the PRINCIPAL - the school leader.

We have all been to school, I guess. We have been there as students, teachers, principals, administrators or whatever. Just think about your school; Could it have nurtured you if it did not have a set of good teachers, led by an able leader called principal? There is enough evidence to suggest that this one person can spell doom or lift school to greater heights. I have often spoken about this in informal gatherings and

I have yet not been contradicted on this score. I am sure all of you present here today, would agree too. There is enough research worldwide that only substantiates what I just said. The Wallace foundation in the US is amongst several bodies that have extensively researched the impact of school leadership on student learning and all round development. They all seem to suggest that if you wish to transition to become a knowledge society, REINVENT your school leadership. SUPPORT, SUSTAIN AND STRENGTHEN the school leadership, Empower them through structured training and role definition.

If that be so, then what have we, as a nation, as a society, done to build this up? What moves have we made to empower the principal as an effective school leader? What have we done to REINVENT, REBUILT OR REFURBISH ourselves? It is a question that we all need to ask. I ask you to figure out your answers.

I am reminded of the Finnish experience. Finland, as you all know, has been rated to have the best school system. PISA [Program of International Student Assessment] sponsored by OECD and TIMSS (Trends in Math& Science Studies) & PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) conducted by IEA, rated Finland Schools as the best. Finland until 1992 was struggling to improve student learning. It was only in 1992 that they, through an act of parliament mandated - ‘school management & leadership training’ as an essential precondition for any school teacher to become a principal. This had a magical effect on their schools. In less than 10 years, they were topping the international tables. Singapore and Korea, amongst the Asian Countries, have invested heavily in empowering their teachers and school leaders. What are we doing???

Most of us are used to getting the governments to do SOMETHING about it? What is that something, we want the government to do? The gathering here would have a million ideas and suggestions. We will discuss and debate

those over these two days and see if we can reach some consensus and make suitable recommendations to the government – both at the states and central level. While we actively recommend any policy shift, if so needed, we should in fact, look at our practices and begin to do that SOMETHING, we want someone else to do. Let us remember that Governments worldwide are not the vehicles of change, though some may so claim. I call upon each one of you present here today to become the change that you desire.

But while we do that, we at TeacherSITY have taken a call to launch initiatives to empower our prospective and present principals. Now what exactly that be, will be unveiled during the course of this conference. I am not yet letting the cat out of the bag. Or may be you already have the cat!

In the final analysis, I can only wonder as to what is it that can turn India into a major super power of tomorrow. It may be any body’s guess? Is it Infrastructure, Telecom, Aviation, Roads, Mining, Power or is it Manufacturing or Services sector? Or may be it is a combination of all of that or more.

But whatever that be, it can only be achieved through our institutions of learning; elementary, secondary and university education. Education being a key enabler and differentiator between prosperity and poverty, we must foster high quality learning. And this may only be possible through the process of EMPOWERMENT of educators. We all need to come together to agree on a common agenda of educational reforms; both at policy and practice level. I sincerely hope that this new forum would help in bridging the gaps in policy - and between the policy makers and practitioners of education. It may well mark the beginning of a new dawn. Thank you, Jai Hind

country, INDIA. For, if we did not do this and strengthen the fundamentals of Indian society by way of high quality K-12 schooling, this great dream of India reaping the demographic dividend could well turn out into our scariest nightmare.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is in this backdrop of grave threat - and great hope that we can - and we shall traverse through the 21st century as an emerging Asian or perhaps the world superpower, that we gather here today to debate our issues, challenges and revisit our purpose and goals. Together, we also re-examine our school practices – all of that in the overall context of National Policy on Education 1986 and National Curriculum Framework of 2005 and now the Right to Education and enlighten the policy makers to help us steer the desired course.

The issues of quality in higher education, the un-employability of university graduates, questionable performance at the work places and educational reforms have been debated at the national forums for quite some time now. The roots of such failings are usually seeded in the quality of elementary and secondary education. Can any reform in higher education be even considered in isolation of elementary and secondary education? Higher education is a continuum of whatever good or bad the child brings over from school. Research has proved that the initial five years of schooling have a defining impact on the learners.

The quality of schooling therefore sets the stage for success or failure; - even years after the students have left the school. At this point I refer to a fairly well read report titled ‘A NATION AT RISK’ presented to the US congress in the year 1983. The report concluded that a nation is as secure; militarily, diplomatically or financially; as their schools make it out to be. It may sound strange. The logic was that the US hegemony was largely based on its research & development and in view of falling scores in science and maths at the school level, the universities may not produce

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The Inaugural SessionWelcome Address

The Inaugural SessionWelcome Address

Unveiling of the MBA Educational Management and Leadership (EML) Program

The challenges for a school leader begin the moment one steps into the shoes of a leader. It has been observed that the aspiring principals have no way to know and understand how to grapple with these challenges but to experience themselves and find solutions through trial and error. The need for training that would prepare these aspiring principals to lead schools has been greatly felt all along. Research across the world shows that programs for preparing aspiring teachers to become principals is not only the need of the hour but also a desirable requirement for effectively leading successful schools. We, in India, do not have, as yet, any such program that prepares the future principals to wear the mantle of leadership.

TeacherSITY has been exploring avenues, collaborations and talking to people at different forums and with various agencies. After a series of such discussions, the Uttarakhand Technical University (UTU) finally appreciated the need and has become a pioneer by

Launch of the PrincipalsFORUM

It is rightly said, that the Principals have a hawk’s sight, for nothing should escape their attention in the smooth conduct of their schools. Dr. Shashi Tharoor also launched the PrincipalsFORUM, a web portal which will act as a one stop window for all the needs of school leaders.

Giving the details of the web portal, www.principals.in, Ms. Manju Sehgal, Director Training at TeacherSITY said:

“A web portal is essential and principals.in has been specially created for the principals to share their thoughts, ideas, experiences, solutions and challenges by presenting them in the form of articles, blogs and mails”.

First of its kind in India, this web portal has been designed to function as forum for interaction, reflection and collaboration to address the needs and concerns of school Principals and function as a one stop window for all the needs of the school Leaders (Principals). It will also help them with information about different By-laws – Examination, Affiliation, State Rules and Regulations, important legal frameworks, rights and duties, important circulars of CBSE, NCERT and other educational bodies, articles related to educational and education systems from different parts of the world, etc.

Principals can register themselves by filling in the details as requested though a form given on the site which would give them access to the contents of the website.

All are welcome to contribute and help in value creation for one and all.

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announcing the MBA program in Educational Management and Leadership, first of its kind in India. This program was unveiled by the Chief Guest Dr. Shashi Tharoor, who released the brochure of the said program to the august audience. Uttarakhand Technical University has approved the SelaQui Institute of Management (SIM) to conduct the MBA

(Educational Management and Leadership) program at its Dehradun Campus.

The details of the MBA Educational Management and Leadership (EML) program were elaborated by Chairman, TeacherSITY, Mr. Om Pathak in his plenary address.

Key Note Address

Presiding officer Mrs. Dimple Anil, Principal, Billabong High School, Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITY, my colleague Mr. Vineet Joshi, Chairman, CBSE, Mr. Shantanu Prakash, Chairman, Educomp, Principals, Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends,

I am very pleased to be with you. We are here today dealing with issues that you all as principals are aware of that constitutes, from my view amongst the most important challenges facing the nation. Of many paradoxes with which our country burns, the saddest must be that we are a country where nearly one-third of our population is illiterate but we produce the world’s second largest pool of trained scientists and engineers. A country which invents most sophisticated software for computer manufacturers than any other country in the world and yet, in which there are multiple millions of children who have not seen the insides of the school.

So we are facing a world in which the challenges are

truly enormous and yet of course the countries across the world face the phenomenon we face, of the declining propensity amongst educated young people especially the top performers to join the teaching profession. This cuts across all levels of teaching, schools as well as higher education. I know India is not alone in grappling with this huge problem. We do need, all of you principals and rest of us in government policy making positions to address this challenge on a common platform. In our Ministry, we are witness to tremendous consciousness especially among state governments about the need to create an environment which enables persons with appropriate professional qualifications and aptitude to join the teaching profession.

With the enactment of RTE Act, a major push has been given to the appointment of professionally qualified persons as school teachers as also to improve their conditions of service including remunerations. In the last two years itself, six lacs eighty thousand additional teacher posts have been sanctioned for government schools across the country. With the novel concept of teacher eligibility test, the TET as some of my friends might say, has been introduced which envisages the filtration of best amongst those with the professional qualifications. State governments have come in full support of this concept and there is now a common perception that the teaching profession is only for those who have correct aptitude and sensitivity towards the learning needs of the children.

At the same time we have to reorient the existing five million teachers in our country. Their service and continuous professional development programs are being reformed with renewed vigor and focus. The concern for quality of course extends also to the teacher education institutions, the institutions which prepare prospective school teachers and this has led to some significant initiatives. A new National Curriculum for Teacher Education has been developed which will guide reforms, revision in the syllabus and curriculum of various teacher

education courses. A group of experts is developing a framework for accreditation of the teacher education institutions and we have a pending bill in parliament to develop a National Accreditation Authority which will subsume within its role the registration of reputed organization and institutions as accreditation authorities and periodic accreditation of all the higher institutions in a transparent manner.

But even with the best of infrastructure, a school or a college can become a learning environment only if it has quality teachers with the appropriate skills including the soft skills. Teachers who are sensitive to the varied socio-economic backgrounds of their children, their aspirations, their specific needs and do allow and encourage the process of self development and creation of thinking and constructive minds. I have long argued well before coming to this Ministry, that we must move in our country beyond the notion of education as filling our children’s’ minds with facts. We do not need children with well filled minds but with well formed minds. Minds that are able to look around familiar facts and figures, developments, to synthesize them and to relate them to the real world in which they have to live and grow up.

So we need to move away from the excessive focus on examinations in our culture where certainly in my time as a student, must be some decades ago, the focus was not so much on what we are learning in the classroom but to what degree we are prepared to answer the questions in the examination paper and I enjoy telling children when I see them that the examination is all very well and they have to do well in them, of course to survive in our culture.

But then, true education is what is left behind in their minds when they forget about what they studied for the examination and the true education must come as we know, from teachers and principals. Since times immemorial education has been providing meaning to our lives enabling us to provide decisions about our goals,

guiding us to achieve them. It’s said, sometime back, knowledge is fundamental. It is wisdom that creates the environment in which the spirit of people finds the true expression. Knowledge may come from text books and increasingly from computers but wisdom, only a good teacher led by capable principal can impart.

Many suggest, particularly among our urban student population, that with the introduction of computers into their lives, their entry even into the education, the learning software that is now widely available, the ease with which one can search the internet for information, instead of having to know where to find it in a book, the role of teacher is being relegated to the background as they are no longer perceived as the giver of knowledge or transmitter of wisdom, values and tradition in the society.

In America Jacques Barzun said that “teaching is not a lost art but regard for it is a lost tradition” and viewing this trend from the prism of hour, I think it is vital to accept that the discussion about the role and status of society and teachers has actually become all the more relevant today. When we think about the moral aspect of the learner, consideration should be to elevate the quest for wisdom, for which technology can never be an adequate substitute. Computers can never explain to the youth what is fairness, generosity, patriotism, cooperation, leadership, human values. This is why we need teachers, whether it is the school or the university. Teachers can use computers to supplement their own knowledge but the difference between the teacher and the computer is that he/she uses the intellect that computers cannot.

The intellect with which the guru can educate his/her chelas is many times more creative than the most outstanding piece of computer software. Jiddu Krishnamurthy, the philosopher and the educationist whose ruminations cover a vast range of subjects observed and I quote “Education has no meaning unless it helps you to understand the vast expanses of life with

by Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Hon’ble Minister of State, MHRD, Govt of India

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Key Note Address by Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Hon’ble Minister of State, MHRD, Govt of India

all its subtleties, its extra ordinary beauty, its sorrows and joys. In the earned degree, you may have a series of letters after your name and you earn a good job but then what? What is the point of it all when in the process of it your mind becomes dull, very stupid. So when you are young must you not need to find out what is life all about and is it not the true function of education?” Krishnamurthy asked to cultivate in you the intelligence that helps you to try and find the answers to all these problems.

Now the fact is all about the individual aspirations in a competitive economy that tend to reduce education to being an instrumental material of success. We are a particularly competitive culture. I was remarking, when you look at the IIT examinations, 0.01% of those who apply for them get selected to an IIT. Even Harvard and Yale have a 10-11% of admission rate of those who apply. So the competition in our society, because of our much larger population is a cause of extreme concern. This competition and competitive relationships that engenders in the education field, learning sometimes suffers. The focus is on achievement. Learning from each other becomes a matter of little consequence.

The motivated teacher, the visionary educationist in your slot as a principal, you have all the greater challenge to promote the life-long values that should humanize in many ways and soften these pressures of competition in our diverse and multicultural society. The recent education reforms piloted by the Ministry of Human Resource and Development, for example school based assessment, enables a greater focus on life-skills, attitudes, secular values, democratic citizenship, creative self expression and even environmental and social issues and cultural heritage. We want to see a situation and I am sure most of you will agree with this when an educator holds the student’s hand as a friend, as a facilitator, as a guide, a student carefully treads those steps that would lead towards the right direction. Universal ideals of love, peace, respect, tolerance, forgiveness, humility,

coexistence and non-violence are also the cornerstones of learning in their classrooms.

Our National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education has a very interesting quote that says “the expectations of the school systems from the teachers, change from time to time responding to the broader socio-economic and political changes taking place in the society. The issue of teacher education accordingly has to be discussed in the much wider and changing context and demands of school education”. Now this is why I am so happy to welcome the initiative of TeacherSITY. Happy to know that under this initiative, an association with the international association for the evaluation of educational achievement, programs are being offered like school based assessment, teacher training and empowerment to improve the standard of teachers and student attainment. It’s heartening to know that in association with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), Army Welfare Education Society (AWES), Central Schools (KVS) and Navodaya Vidyalayas (JNVs), TeacherSITY has already trained more than 3500 school teachers and 130 school principals from across India.

A true teacher as I was observing is a guru in every sphere and meaning of the word with his / her vision to introduce and explicitly individualize dimension through teaching and learning to prepare our learners for the 21st century world with all its opportunities, experiences, responsibilities and also to compensate for the potentially dehumanizing nature of our 21st century world in which, (computer relationships can also be a substitute for the real relationship, where people communicate by the internet rather than face to face, where the human values by which we live are often eclipsed), the pedagogical competencies of a teacher of course must also be judged. This can be done by observing the teachers’ ability to enable students to be reflective, value laden learners, introducing them to ethical vocabulary, which even the most advanced

communication device can never produce.

A classroom in many ways is a miniature society in itself. As individuals have different values and religions at their home environment, students are very often heterogeneous in their beliefs and value systems and some sections of our society may think that they impart values only at home and it’s not the school’s business to change the attitude that are being gained in the family value system. It seems to me that, it is where the teacher can compensate that. For example: a family, for arguments sake that believes in a stratifying division of society, privileged or whatever sends their child to school not, I hope, to have those prejudices reinforced, but have the child’s eye open to the universals or values enshrined in the constitution and therefore, the principals are so very necessary for this democratic strength.

There is, I would say, a great awakening across the country and indeed globally, a heightened awareness that cuts across all social strata to initiate a certain level of reengineering of society through educational reconstruction that relates to Mahatma Gandhi’s vision of social justice and equality and opportunities to every child regardless of his/her background becomes a reality.

The teaching community must have within itself the spirit or the dynamism to make this vision a resembling reality and it’s in this context that I am happy to be addressing you all school principals because of the fact that role of principal and other educational leaders in providing transformational leadership is crucial. Educational leaders have to set goals and directions, share your institutional vision widely, set up systems for building capacities of your own teams to achieve these goals, measure outcomes and provide feedback.

In the process of course, you principals may even have to redesign culture, structure, policy and community relationships in your schools. This means, of course, Principals needs to be pretty much trained themselves

in problem solving skills and motivational abilities to ensure that your teachers are committed to change and for me, a principal must have the ability to create the conditions for growth in teacher’s professional knowledge and skills and to ensure that they are imbued with the passion to make inclusive and relevant quality education available to all.

I have spoken, perhaps too much, in this age of information technology, but in this era of information in which we live it’s important that we take advantage of what is offered through the information era, supplement it with the vision of humanity and wisdom that is available to us through our own intellect, and join hands to ensure that we become a knowledge society in true sense of the word. That in our country no child remains without access to quality education and no adult remains without access to basic literacy and life skill development. For you as Principals challenges seems to be a commitment and that of relentless perseverance.

I, therefore, take this opportunity to invite all of you to join hands with us and strengthen the hands of the government in our common endeavor to realize the dreams of our children. In fact, if we are going to prosper we must invest in our human capital and key strategy for creating human capital is to focus on education for all our children and educating them well. As the noble prize winner poet Gabriela Mistral has so poignantly written “We are guilty of many crimes, but our worst is abandoning the child, neglecting the foundation of life, many of the things we need can wait, the child cannot, we cannot answer tomorrow, her name is today” I think these are the lines I want to leave you with and I hope your deliberations in this two day national conference will be enriching and purposeful and you just end up not filling an agenda for meeting, All the best. Jai Hind.

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Address by

Minister Tharoor, Mr. Vineet Joshi, Chairman CBSE, Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman of TeacherSITY and Friends, Being amongst so many principals, is a bit scary and I remember when I was in school, how I used to shiver with the thought of being in front of just

one of them but as time has gone by and I find myself, heading an organization that has the opportunity to run about 70 odd high schools across the country. I have become increasingly cognizant of the fact that leave everything aside, one of the most critical resources in the education world is the school leader or the school principal and I can’t tell you the amount of effort that we for example in Educomp have to put in to find one good principal, and today while sitting on the dais as I was actually counting as to how many people are here. I must congratulate TeacherSITY hat they have over 200 school leaders in one room, that must be a new world record for India at least.

I have also always been amazed about the fact that our system, so very often, throws up such amazing talent as school leaders especially because of the fact that there is no real track or real career path to actually becoming a school principal, isn’t that right? So how do we get school leaders for our schools, it’s a very interesting thought process. You go through a teacher training program, you become a teacher, then you become a coordinator, you become head of the department probably then getting up a leg for becoming a vice-principal or a principal. But as you all know that the job of the principal is so very different from the job of

the teacher and if you actually start listing down all the things that the principals need to do , I think from a very practical perspective , its impossible for a school principal to devote more than 15-20% of his/her time on academics because you have to be a great PR person, a great administrator, there is a boss breathing down your neck asking you to control budget, control cost, you have to be a great marketing person as well. Do you agree? Because there is constant pressure to bring in enrollment as well and it goes on and on and on, being a mentor, being a guide, being an HR manager, so this is like being a CEO of a mini enterprise.

So first I salute the people who are here, you are the reason why the school system in India stands today, but we have a lot of work to do as we come together in this community of like-minded people and one of the most important thing that we have to do is to figure out how can we have a structure in place to create the next generation of school leaders and why do we need that structure?

We need that structure for many reasons, firstly we all heard Dr. Tharoor talk about the shortage of schools in our country, it’s a well known fact that we live with, every single day. So India is going to get another fifty thousand new schools as per the recent Boston Consulting Group’s research studies over the next five years. Where are we going to get top school leaders from? The one thing that keeps me awake at night is one of the critical questions for which I have suggestions but I don’t think I have any real, simple or cute answers. So MBA program that TeacherSITY has just launched in collaboration with the Uttarakhand Technical University is a step taken in the right direction. I think we need formal leadership training, we cannot leave it to chance the fact that we are going to get another fifty

thousand school leaders. Do you agree with me? So I hope over the next two days, in your deliberations, you can think about, how to create more structures like the one we are seeing today, because we need another fifty thousand school leaders over the few years coming up.

The other thing that I have always been fascinated with is the fact and you know people on the dais have also shared this, as to how schools get linked to the personality of the school leader and how school leader starts getting identified with the school they serve. You all should be well aware of the fact. I want you to debate whether that is a good thing or a bad thing. I am not coming up or taking sides, but it is a fact that school leader gets identified with schools and schools with school leaders and perhaps it is time to break the shackles and move towards more process driven school leadership rather than personality driven school leadership. But it’s not a simple solution to it, we have to think deeply about it because a great school with a great school leaders and what happens when the school leader transitions away? School cannot then suddenly, start acquiring a whole new personality of its own because the leader changed. So that is something I constantly think about and of course, there is now this new challenge before all of us today, the challenge of regulation and we have Chairman, CBSE here today and I am sure we will also learn from his experience and his wisdom about how as a school leader or principal we need to rise to this new challenge.

Every challenge comes along with an opportunity and I think I may not be mistaken if most of the school leaders in this room today are those that are present are from non-government schools. That would be a fact, I think? And I think the RTE is one of the most amazing pieces of legislation. I, recently, about two weeks back

Vote of Thanks by the Presiding officer, Ms. Dimple Anil, Principal Billabong High School, NOIDAConcluding the Inaugural Session, The Presiding Officer, Ms. Dimple Anil, Principal, Billabong High School, Noida thanked the Chief Guest, Dr. Shashi Tharoor, Hon’ble Minister of State, MHRD, Mr. Vineet Joshi, Chairman CBSE, Mr. Shantanu Prakash, Chairman, Educomp Foundation and Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITY for their enlightening words of wisdom.

She also thanked Mr. Om Pathak for organizing the conference and launching a forum for principals where they could share their thoughts and seek assistance from each other and specialists. She thanked all the delegates for attending the conference.

Mr. Shantanu Prakash, Chairman, Educomp Foundation

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wrote an article in the Economics Times about the fact that this act is truly the first formal legal public private partnership initiative. Every new private school is now creating 25% additional capacity for government, for society, for public good and as school leaders let us be appreciative of this most important fact. Also there is another aspect and that is the aspect of social re-engineering that has been put in your lap.

I am really happy to be here and again amazed to see such an amazing collection of school leaders. There is more experience in this room than in any other forum. I wish this conference all the best. Thank you, Mr. Pathak for taking this initiative and for bringing all these brilliant teachers together.

Thank you.

Address by Mr. Shantanu Prakash, Chairman, Educomp Foundation

The Plenary Session

Sharing Experiences- Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITYRecalling his long years of experience in education, spanning over thirty two years, starting from his association with La Martiniere School and Convent College, Lucknow to founding the DPS Ghaziabad Society culminating in starting the first International Baccalaureate school, the SelaQui International School at Dehradun, Mr. Om Pathak observed that most principals learnt the job

critical role of curriculum & content, instructional strategies, emerging pedagogical models, wider and comprehensive meaning of assessments, leveraging Information Technology to engage and transact learning.

As the next step and part of Institutional Management, the aspiring principals learn, practice and imbibe skills in managing Institutions. It includes Human Resource Development, Finance & Accounts, Budgets, Regulatory and Legal Frameworks, Organizational Behavior, People Dynamics, Collaboration with Stakeholders, Goal Setting & Review mechanisms.

Strategic Leadership module sensitizes participants to understand educational macros, environments, issues, challenges and solutions across nations. It equips future principals with enough knowledge and understanding of shifts in educational paradigms. They are then able to understand, analyze and address their challenges and goals in the Indian and local contexts. This module of the program helps candidates to reposition their schools in the dynamic environments and respond to the societal changes, manage and lead change and finally help improve every learner’s potential and achievement.

Mr. Pathak further informed the audience that in order to facilitate teachers to attend the program, University allows complete freedom and convenience to the participants to pursue a program or certification of their choice. The MBA degree can be attempted in three formats namely, Regular, Sequential or Progressive.

In addition to a full time regular MBA [EML], the University allows participants to opt for the SEQUENTIAL format, wherein the participants can complete all four semesters of the program in four years or sooner, instead of prescribed two years.

However successful completion of all four modules conducted over four semesters will lead to award of

an MBA [EML] completed in either the regular or sequential format.

In the PROGRESSIVE format, the participants may register for any one of the four modules conducted over one semester. Participants would qualify for award of a University Certificate.

Anyone having enrolled or completed a certificate program may upgrade to diploma by attending another certificate program.

Those enrolling for any two modules over two semesters shall be awarded a Diploma upon successful completion of the course. Participants can enroll in Regular or Sequential format stretching it in two years instead of one year. Upon completion, if the participants wish to upgrade from Diploma to a full MBA, they may do so by enrolling for the balance two modules.

Concluding information on MBA program, Mr. Om Pathak assured the delegates that the program would meet the highest standards of excellence, world wide.

Mr. Pathak also brought out the various issues concerning introduction, implementation and interpretation of CCE.

Mr. Pathak exhorted the principals, being the key stake holders, to air their views freely and frankly during the conference, whether these pertained to policy or practice. Copy of the Conference Report, he assured, would be forwarded to policy makers at state and central Govt level for consideration. The recommendations related to policy matters would also be debated at appropriate level in the MHRD. Each delegate would receive a copy of the report

Mr. Pathak in the end wished the delegates a very fruitful and engaging discussion.

of principal-ship, while on the job. Simply to say, an outstanding classroom teacher takes years to transform into an effective principal. He is of the firm belief that the Principal plays a vital role in managing school. The success or failure of school as a community depends upon the Principal. There is a need to equip school leaders with requisite skills, attitudes and competencies to enable them to lead 21st Century schools effectively. Unfortunately, a developing country like ours has no such system or mechanism, as yet.

With above backdrop, Mr. Pathak informed the august gathering that MBA (Educational Management & Leadership) unveiled by Hon’ble Minister is first of its kind in India. The program has been designed to train prospective principals to effectively lead 21st Century schools.

Mr. Pathak thereafter explained salient features of the MBA program. This program prepares the next generation of principals. It addresses four major areas; viz. Personal Effectiveness, Instructional Leadership, Institutional Management and Strategic Leadership.

In addressing the Personal Effectiveness, the program helps candidates to build self and social awareness, acquire effective communication skills and linguistic competencies, in addition to relationship management and personal leadership qualities.

Conventionally, the schools are about academic challenges and attainments. While this may be changing as Education acquires broader dimensions and new nuances, the instruction continues to be the soul of all school activities. Quality of Instructional Leadership thus remains an essential precondition for the success of any school or its leader. This constituent of the program equips candidates with the globally contemporary or somewhat futuristic trends in curriculum designs and transactions. Candidates learn and understand the

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The Plenary Session

In Chair: Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITY

The Panelists: Ms. Vibha Parthasarathy, Ex-Chairman, National Commission for Women and Ex-Principal, Sardar Patel Vidyalaya

Ms. Gowri Ishvaran, CEO, Global Education and Leadership Foundation and Ex-Principal, Sanskriti School

Mr. S. C. Arora, Vice-Chairman, Lotus Valley International School and Ex-Principal, Apeejay School

Dr. Saroj Sharma, Dean, Department of Education, GGSIP University

Mr. Ashok Mehta, Senior Vice President, Educomp Foundation

Presiding Officer: Mr. Radhey Shyam Pandey, Principal, JPS Global Academy, Hapur, UP.

The Sessions Panelists –

Ms. Vibha Parthasarathy

Vibha Parthasarathy was educated at Cambridge University and Boston University. She was Principal of New Delhi’s Sardar Patel Vidyalaya for over two decades. Vibha Parthasarathy was nominated by the NDA government as the Chairperson of the National Commission for Women in July 1999. The position is equivalent to the rank of a Minister of State in the Union government. Her term ended in 2002.

Ms. Gowri Ishvaran

Recipient of the Padma Shri Award in 2004, Gowri Ishvaran is an innovative educationist with over 30 years of experience in leading schools in India. With a very clear vision of the type of educational experience and nurturing that children deserve, she has brought a paradigm shift on how education needs to be imparted to young students. She has been the Founder Principal of Sanskriti School, New Delhi, an institution that has become one of the leading schools in India within a short span of 10 years. Mrs. Ishvaran is currently the Chief-Executive-Officer of The Global Education & Leadership Foundation (GELF). Mrs. Ishvaran serves on the advisory board several Institutions and Foundations including Asian University for Women in Bangladesh, Shiv Nadar Foundation, The Wockhardt Foundation and TERI Prakriti School in India. A recent survey of Times of India has identified her as among the 4 Women Principals in the country who have made a difference.

Parallel Session, November 8, 2012

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The Sessions Panelists – Parallel Session, November 8, 2012

Mr. S. C. Arora

Mr. S.C. Arora did Postgraduation (Maths) from Punjab University, Chandigarh and Postgraduation in Education from the University of Bristol (U.K.)

He started his career at the Rashtriya Indian Military College, Dehradun, in 1961 and has since served in many prestigious Public schools of the country . He was the Principal of India School, Kabul (Afghanistan) for 7 years, he established the Apeejay School, Noida as the Founder Principal and was the Principal for 19 years and then as the Director for Apeejay Schools for 3 years. He has been the Chairman of National Progressive Schools Conference, a body of over 100 Public schools. For the last 7 years he has been the Vice-Chairman of Lotus Valley International School, Noida.

Prof. Saroj Sharma

Saroj Sharma is steering the USE, GGSIPU to new heights with respect to different dimensions of professional development of teacher Education and addressing quality concerns of the stream.

She has been in the field of teacher education since last 20 years and has rich and varied experience as a seasoned faculty member in Education departments of different Institutions and Universities offering the graduate and post graduate degrees (B.Ed. and M.Ed.) in Education. She has a sound administrative and academic experience. She is member of many educational associations and is actively involved in various research projects of UNICEF, UNESCO, UNFPA, NCERT and other social and cultural forums.

Recently she has been awarded with the ‘Radhakrishnan Award’ for showing excellence in the field of Education.

Chair: Ms. Gowri Ishvaran

Panelists: Dr. Mahesh Prasad, Principal, Heritage school, Gurgaon

Mr. Suraj Prakash, Ex-Principal, CRPF School, Member Managing Committee, Bal Bharti Public Schools, New Delhi

Dr. Bindu Rana, Educomp Foundation

Moderator: Ms. Dimple Anil

Parallel Session I - Academics and Beyond- Preparing for Life

The session started with an ice-breaking activity to set the tone and tempo and to connect with the delegates. The delegates were actively involved and were ready to raise issues and examine their leadership styles and practices.

The Session Chair Ms. Gowri Ishvaran addressed the session and introduced the panelists. Mrs. Ishvaran spoke about the assessment system by an example of how an Asian mother is always keen to know about the highest marks scored in the class rather than her own child’s scores. This is indeed a telling comment on our approach and attitude towards the evaluation system.

Ms. Ishvaran asked some pertinent questions to raise certain issues:-

• What kind of assessments processes do we have?

• Should these be changed? Why?

• How should a paper be set?

• Does the assessment process help children learn better and get them in a state of readiness for life?

She argued that CCE is the right approach but is not implemented properly. So, there should be a system devised to implement it properly. In our report cards, FA’s are not really reflective of student learning. Rote learning still gets priority and teachers still write the answers on the blackboard. About vocational courses, she observed that since there is no weightage given to the vocational subject’s marks at the time of admission in universities, then why is vocational subject part of the school curriculum?

Mr. Suraj Prakash shared his experiences with the delegates and said that each child should be physically fit. He gave an example from the 2nd chapter of The Geeta and said that we should prepare our children to apply their wisdom to identify what is desirable and that which is undesirable. A child should be able to

discriminate for himself/herself between the desirable and undesirable, for then alone will success come his/her way. Sessions can be conducted in schools to develop relevant skills, life skills, to make children aware and confident to face the challenges of the times they live in.

The delegates responded to Mr. Suraj Prakash by raising some issues:-

• Life skills are a part of CCE, but teachers felt that they were not able to devote adequate time in developing such skills.

• CCE is not being implemented in the real sense. The delegates felt that there is ambiguity as far as implementation of CCE is concerned.

• The Principals felt that more clarity is required in developing life skills through teaching different school subjects.

Responding to the above, Mr. Prakash advised principals that they should lay emphasis on inculcating three important skills among children which will contribute to their holistic development i.e. Swadhyay (Self Study), Chintan (Reflection for Positive Thinking), and Sangati (Company) and that will prepare them for life’s challenges. He said that our problem is that we do not allow students to ask questions. So we must develop the skill of asking good questions among our students. He concluded by giving lots of examples from his experiences as a principal.

Dr. Mahesh Prasad reiterated that questioning should indeed be encouraged among the students. He said Questioning is something very close to his heart and gave examples where students are asked to design question papers themselves. Indeed a unique pedagogy.

He raised questions like:-

• Is our education preparing the students to know who

they are and what they want?

• Are they ready to face the challenges of life?

• Does the teacher’s teaching have any connection to the outside world?

He shared his concern that professional life today means living to earn. According to him, schools are focusing too much on the cognitive domain, at the expense of the affective domain. Everything in life can be learnt spontaneously and experientially but schools are making learning a tedious and stressful process - very marks oriented. We should keep the curiosity of students alive and give them more freedom to ask questions and learn naturally.

Dr. Bindu Rana raised the issue that today students are under a lot of pressure. And this pressure starts from admission to the nursery class itself. Parent’s expectations are putting huge pressure on both- their kids leading to stress and also the school and its working.

She suggested that learning to ask the question ‘why’, will improve the creative and problem solving skills of children. To de-stress the students, we should adopt different transactional strategies.

As a concluding note, the Chair recalled that since our children come from different cultures and backgrounds we should address their needs and facilitate their learning accordingly. She laid emphasis on the physical fitness of students and need for developing healthy food habits among them.

Some of the issues raised for discussion and debate by the delegates in an open house were:-

• How can we make the parents realize about the importance of physical fitness?

• Is this not time to bring together the inter-disciplinary approach to learning and assessment?

In sync with the theme of the conference and having heard the views of many distinguished educationists in the inaugural and plenary session, three sub-themes were taken up for discussions and debate with the delegates in parallel sessions. Each session had its own Chair, who steered the session and the Panelists who shared their thoughts and called upon the delegates to share, question, discuss and debate issues. The details of each session proceedings are covered below.

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• Do we really empower teachers and respect their autonomy?

• How can we discourage students from taking tuitions?

Session’s RecommendationsThe following recommendations, related to a leader’s role, emerged at the end of the session:-

Addressing Diversity

• The learning process should not only address diversity but respect it by making transactions interdisciplinary and contextual. Since our children come from diverse regions, background and cultures it becomes critical that we are sensitive to their individual needs.

• Planning content and identifying transactional and assessment strategies should always cater to individual needs and learning strengths.

• Knowing, doing and feeling should form part of comprehensive learning as it would address real life situations and their solutions to make learning more meaningful.

Addressing Curriculum

• The curriculum should clearly reflect if it is a process for earning and / or a process for learning. This realization of the purpose of life would then become obvious to each learner by the end of his/her school years.

• Devise child-based curriculum to allow open-ended questioning by the students.

• Value education and vocational education, are integral part of curriculum, How should these be developed and inculcated? Community work should form a vital part of the process.

• There should be a uniform policy for vocational course

grade weightage at the time of university admissions. Since there is no advantage to the students they do not take these courses seriously. This gap is thus suspect and undermines the intent.

• Health and wellness and physical fitness require more attention at the school stage. Food and eating habits need to be monitored with parental collaboration.

• Importance to inculcation of three important skills among children which will contribute to their holistic development and that will prepare them for life’s challenges. Swadhyay (Self Study), Chintan (Reflection of Positive Thinking), and Sangati (Company) should be made note of.

Implementation of CCE

• There is a dire need to devise a scientific and proper system for the implementation of CCE in schools across the country.

• In the report cards, FA’s are not really reflective of student learning for they do not clearly show the personal and individual progress made by the child. There is no provision of sharing the feedback and feed forward with the stakeholders, students and their parents.

• The report cards should be a mechanism to convey the child’s own progress on the developmental continuum, clearly defining the milestones in the learning graph.

Parallel Session II- Challenges, Responses and Way Forward

The Chair: Ms. Rita Kapoor, Executive Director, DPS Ghaziabad Society

The Panelists:

Ms. Maharukh Singh, Educomp Foundation

Dr. Tejwant Chhatwal, Chairman, Mine n Skills Education Mr. L.V Sehgal, Chairman, NPSC and Principal, Bal Bharati Public School, New Delhi

Moderator:

Ms. Manju Sehgal, Director Training, TeacherSITY

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Research and experience have together shown that leadership is second only to teaching among school related factors that influences learning. Schools therefore are as good or bad as their teachers, who in turn are as good as the leader who leads them. The need to maintain the high standards of student attainment has resulted in the increased recognition that successful school reform depends mainly on having principals well prepared “to change schools and improve instructions than merely manage buildings and budgets.” It is rightly said, “People who change after change may survive; people who change with change will succeed but people who cause the change will lead.” Principals thus are like athletes who through sustained practice build an inner reservoir for evolving educational changes that can impact both policy and practice.

With this as the underlying thought, the session Challenges, Responses and the Way Forward, started with an ice breaking activity, conducted by the moderator, setting the tone for the discussion and debate to follow.

The session Chair, Ms. Rita Kapoor, introduced the participants to the needs of 21st century schools and to its greatest challenge, the element of “Change”. She drew attention not only to visualizing change but responding to it in a systemic, significant and sustainable manner. The larger challenge, according to her, is keeping pace with the change and synergizing all stakeholders to be a part of the change process.

Session panelist, Mr. LV Sehgal, shared his concerns about changes brought about by Information Technology and its use, misuse and abuse in schools. In an era of high technology gadgets and free flow


of information the techno savvy children are far ahead of their teachers and parents. The challenge then is to monitor and mentor children on the use of technology creatively and effectively to derive optimal benefits. Consequently, the challenge for the school leader is to build teams who can keep pace with the ever changing scene. He laid emphasis on the need for school principals to further empower themselves by monitoring systems and procedures governing the use and protection of data, acquiring knowledge of cyber laws as also the use of authentic and licensed databases on school campuses.

Ms. Maharukh Singh, another panelist, reiterated that the challenge is not the change but the pace at which the change is taking place. The 21st century has seen a paradigm shift. The world is in a transitional mode; be it in politics, economy, social structures or environmental factors. Education cannot remain unaffected. As such the school principal has to be a multi-faceted, multi-skilled professional juggling between several roles and demands on her/his persona and time. The principal’s vision, academic rigor and human resource development insight has to be further enriched with administrative and operational wisdom to make the institution a revered place of learning.

According to the panelist Dr. Tejwant Chhatwal, the challenge is to accomplish goals through a shared vision. As such each stakeholder should be part of the dynamic vision which will change and evolve as per the needs

and through ever changing times. He took an energy packed session, “Going Above and Beyond”, through an Audio-Visual that defined the thought that there are two things to be granted to every child, Roots and Wings, by highlighting that it is important to provide ample opportunities to children to develop the abilities and skills of their potential, choice and interest. This will help match and align people to abilities, taking care of the rest.

The Chair then presided over the open house in which the delegates enthusiastically participated. The discussion and debate revolved round the following questions with significant interventions by the Chair, Panelists and Moderator.

• Are the goals of education in sync with the changing times? How are these goals incorporated in the vision statement by the school principals?

• What are the challenges faced by the principals of the 21st Century? What are their responses?

• How do you think a principal needs to equip herself/himself to lead schools of the future?

Session’s RecommendationsThe following recommendations, related to both policy and practice, were recorded at the end of the session.

Parental Contribution and Support

• Parents as important stakeholders must be engaged in school activities and processes. They should be informed of their role and responsibilities at the time of admitting their child. The school vision and mission be shared with parents. The parents should be able to

identify how they can contribute to the school activities. Their part in the growth and development of their child should be communicated to them.

• Continuous and sustained counseling and guidance sessions may be organized in schools to increase awareness and involvement on the part of parents. Best practices - Calling Tree, Parent Directory, Parental Handbook etc. - may be adopted to improve communication to and through parents.

• All communication with the parent about the child should be, keeping all stakeholders in the loop. This creates a sincere and healthy precedence and avoids any miscommunication and misunderstanding. Inversely it discourages the child taking advantage of any gap thereof and reinforces the parent teacher relationship, taking it to new heights.

Implementation of Right to Education

• More clarity is required regarding implementation of Right to Education Act. The reform is indeed praiseworthy in its intent and provides equal opportunity to all as a fundamental right under the constitution. However clarity in the uniform implementation of the clauses under the said Act by providing appropriate guidelines regarding its process and procedures would be extremely helpful and will do away with ambiguity in putting it into practice.

• The Clause on the ‘No Fail’ criterion till Class VIII needs to be revisited as a policy. It was felt by some principals and some others expressed the fear that the clause would dilute the importance of assessment in learning, leading to disciplinary challenges, and further leading to low standards of learning. It was

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Parallel Session III- Empowering Leaders for 21st Century Schools

The Chair :

Ms. Vibha Parthasarathy

The Panelists :

Mr. S. C. Arora,

Dr. Sarvesh Naidu, Director, Pathways World School, Gurgaon

Moderator:

Ms. V Suprabha

An empowered Principal can turn the institution into an arena of success as it has a cascading effect not only on the teachers but on students and other staff members as well. A visionary school leader steers the institution through ever changing challenges into an abode to reckon with. Empowerment comes with learning. Accepting the change and transitioning along with change, while maintaining the ethos is the most important challenge to overcome.

The Chair for the session Ms. Vibha Parthasarathy, in her introductory note mentioned that the significance of a teacher’s role lies in the meaningful education imparted to the learner which is conceptualized in agreement with the needs of the learner. She felt the need for the teachers to feel free while transacting their curriculum enables better learning. The role of Principal in helping the new teachers acclimatize in the new atmosphere of the school was of utmost importance and affects the performance of the teacher. The integration of co-scholastic activities in regular classroom teaching was reiterated by her as all the awards can be equally distributed among all the learners.

Spelling out the need for change and thinking out of the box was emphasized by Dr. Sarvesh Naidu, one of the Panelists of the session. He stressed the need for satisfaction in work that brings out the best in the teachers. He felt that each teacher is competent and informed enough to be the best, provided they are given the proper platform and sphere to perform and excel. In the technology driven world, a teacher must reinvent and learn more as to stay in sync with the present day learner, who is sprinting faster than could be caught. For enabling this, he felt, that the schools and school leaders must provide the required infrastructure and

strongly felt that quality was being conceded for the sake of quantity, laying norms which will ultimately compromise the quality of our human resource in a global environment.

Revamp of Teacher Education Programs

• Teacher training programs, curriculum and processes, at the pre service level, need to be reexamined in the light of the challenges faced by schools. Some process of checks and balances should be initiated on those colleges that were almost distributing degrees to teachers without imparting knowledge, skills and attitudes for the profession they are going to enter into. The Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) results are a bleak reminder of the state of teacher education institutions in the country.

• The curriculum must be designed to prepare professional teachers for the future who are empowered with knowledge and skills to cater to the issues and needs of children. Along with subject competency, pedagogy and assessment know how, a teacher should be a counselor and mentor to the children.

• In service professional development norms should be advanced to chalk out a teacher professional development path, for every single teacher, in order to keep them abreast of the times, its changes and challenges. Attendance at these programs must be made mandatory as a policy initiative, just as TET is mandatory for aspiring teachers.

• Professional development programs for school principals as in several other countries around the world, too should be mandatory to prepare them for school leadership roles and responsibilities. These

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programs would also provide an opportunity for them to align with changing policy and practices and what is expected from them.

Information Influx and Overload

• Members felt that there was an overload of information, in the form of circulars and instructions, flowing out of government offices and agencies on a daily basis thereby creating a flux with no appropriate response time. This resulted in an overload of paperwork which has no significant impact on the day to day school processes; in fact it hampers the teachers’ instructional work thus influencing the teaching learning processes. Members felt that this concern must be addressed to the concerned authorities and agencies.

• Too many circulars regarding Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation, (CCE) are being forwarded without proper guidelines on its implementation and feedback processes. Lack of adequate training in CCE for both teachers and principals, has resulted in poor understanding of an ingenious reform. As a result, schools are implementing CCE differently, as per their own understanding and convenience. More uniformity is required.

• It was felt that understanding of rubrics in CCE requires more rationality and lucidity since there is a lot of confusion and ambiguity in understanding its role, need and function in assessing learners continuously and comprehensively. The delegate principals conveyed that this concern be communicated to the board for them to make note of it and to address it holistically.


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assistance. He also strongly advocated training for the school leaders and the teachers.

Mr. S C Arora, called upon the principals to ruminate as to how knowledge is being transferred? With the increase in the kind of schools that accommodates learners from all the parts of the world, the language barrier is broken. Hence use of different languages is becoming increasingly significant. With the advent of international schools, change is the new key word and adaptability is the only means which can help attain this change. Referring to the Multiple Intelligence by Howard Gardener, he urged the principals to look beyond even at their own teachers and allow them space to reinvent themselves. Free hand in every day teaching-learning process helps teachers understand her learners and the same is applicable to principals, he felt.

Session’s RecommendationsThe following recommendations were proposed at the end of the session on Empowering Leaders for 21st Century Schools after a lively and animated discussion among the Principal delegates with meaningful and pertinent interventions from the Chair, panelists and the moderator.

Teacher Selection and Recruitment

• Although there is no ideal process for teacher selection and recruitment, the principal delegates felt that a process be developed and refined to get teachers who have the potential to be prepared and groomed as per the needs of the schools of tomorrow. This need is even more acute in the light of our pre-service professional development program being below par and not aligned

with the needs of 21st Century schools. As such the teacher’s profile, with all essential parameters, be clearly defined for teacher selection and recruitment

• Newly recruited teachers should undergo an induction program which should be obligatory and could be organized in the school itself. Proper on the job training should be given to them, so as to familiarize them with the vision and mission of the organization.

• Under the mentorship of a colleague or a buddy the teachers should not only be able to acquaint themselves with the school processes but also learn, early in their career, the demands that will be placed on them from time to time. These early and guided sessions, according to the delegates, will go a long way in building professional and effective teachers with high self esteem.

• Collaborating and seeking help from other schools is desirable and the need of the hour. Teachers should be sent to other neighboring and cluster schools to enable them to observe and imbibe other effective teaching learning processes and methodologies. This will be beneficial in instituting learning cohorts and give an impetus to building learning communities.

Managing Parental Expectations

• The principal delegates felt that managing parental expectations was a challenge which could effectively be addressed by making them party to and an active stakeholder in the school system. As such they too are made accountable and participative in their child’s all round development by providing relevant support rather than connecting with the school only for complaints or placing demands.

• Parents today have high expectations, both from their ward and from the school. In a highly globalized and fast paced world parenting skills have suffered with excessive pampering and the inability of parents to handle their children’s undue demands. Also they want their children to excel and thus, sometimes, have very unrealistic expectations. This concern can only be addressed jointly and with opening all channels of communication with the parents. This requires training teachers and principals in effective public relations and communication skills for dealing with parents. This aspect should be part of professional development programs.

Managing Transaction – Teacher and Learner

• According to the discussion, delegates vehemently advocated that the leader should ensure that there is no communication barrier created between the teacher, the parent and the student. There should be a meeting ground as a result of the defined roles which may be shared from time to time, both in a formal and non formal environment.

• The delegates came to a consensus that the learners of today are tech savvy and highly aware. The teachers should use original and imaginative pedagogies to facilitate learning. Teachers therefore have to be very creative and advanced in their understanding of the entire learning process. As such in-service professional development becomes the cornerstone of good classroom transaction. Hence, continuing professional development be made mandatory.

• It was further stated by delegates, that all reforms and policy initiatives in school education be a result of public debate among all stakeholders and piloted for

feedback before being launched all over the country. These should also be preceded by trainings to ensure their successful implementation

• The principals went on to share their genuine concern regarding the gaps in the reforms and policy initiatives in the last five to six years-NCF 2005, CCE, RTE, (to name a few) and their implementation.

Managing Leadership Challenges

• School Principal should ensure that the door of communication between teachers, learners and parents remains open at all times. Barriers in communication, if any, should be addressed at the earliest.

• Building of trust and faith to build effective collaborative teams will result in smooth functioning of the school.

• Focus should be maintained on the school instructional processes. The principal should not cease to be a teacher.

• Lead the school rather than be a boss. The principal is not apart from the crowd; in fact, he/she are one in the crowd.

• The leader should learn to set high standards, be a researcher and reflect on his/her practices critically

• Be a part of reform and policy to articulate and raise ones concerns.



November 9, 2012Program Day Two

Sub Theme - OneIn Chair: Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITY

Key Note Speaker: Mr. Sushil Tripathi, ex-Secretary, Ministry of HRD

The Panelists: Ms. Dimple Anil, Mr. Radhey Shyam Pandey, Mr. Dheeraj Arya, Principal, R.K. Public School, Badaun, Uttar Pradesh

Address by Key Note SpeakerEducational Management is a neglected area, felt Mr. Sushil Tripathi, Ex-Secretary, Ministry of HRD. He emphasized on private-public partnership in enforcing the RTE Act. He aptly compared the need for in-service training of principals

and teachers with the sharpening of the axe. As the blunt axe won’t slice, similarly the principal who is not abreast with the changes taking place around them will not be able to lead his / her team.

Sub Theme - TwoThe Chair: Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITY

Key Note Speaker: Mr. Sushil Dutt Salwan, Member, Managing Committee, Salwan Public Schools, Advocate, Supreme Court of India

The Panelists: Dr. Priyanka Mehta, Principal, DPS International, Ghaziabad Ms. Nirmal Bhataiya, Principal, City International School, Pimpri, Pune Ms. Smita Patterson, Principal, Podar International School, Pimpri, Pune Ms. Sandra Swarup, Principal, Arwachin International School, Delhi Mr. JaydebKar, Principal, Calorx Public School, Kutch Gujarat

Address by Key Note SpeakerAddressing the august gathering of principals, Mr. Sushil Dutt Salwan, Member, Managing committee, Salwan Schools and Advocate, Supreme Court of India, observed that teaching is a life long learning process, hence professional

development courses are required for both principals and teachers. Being a lawyer, he felt strongly that the laws in India are not education friendly and as such while framing the laws, the stakeholders should be taken into confidence. On similar lines, he shared that just as in all religions where we advocate the theory of One God; we should have one board for education across the country. This would ease the environment positively impacting the teaching-learning process and assessments to ensure uniformity.

Sub Theme - ThreeThe Chair Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITY

The Key Note Speaker: Mr. Ashutosh Batta, Director Principal, Bloom Public School

The Panelists: Mr. Prakasam Jacob Meesarapu, Principal, Lowry Educational Institutions, Bangalore Ms. Debika Chatterjee, Principal, JBCN International School, Mumbai Mr. Khomdram Basanta Meetei, Principal, Mother’s Pride Academy, Manipur

Address by Key Note SpeakerComplementing principals on being the backbone of the school system, Mr. Ashutosh Batta, Director Principal, Bloom Public School said that the principals are at the forefront of all school activities. According to him a principal with a clear vision steers the school to success. He emphasized the generation and use of authentic data on the different aspects of the school to find ways of improving the school system. This also helps in identifying the issues and take corrective measures, designing long and short term goals leading to growth and betterment of the school.

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November 9, 2012Program Day Two

Plenary Session

Session PresentationsThe deliberations and discussions on the sub-themes of the conference that were held as parallel sessions on day One were thrown open to all the delegates for further discussion and debate to cull out the recommendations. Each group was represented by principals from different schools across the country.

Closing Session

Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITY, concluded the National Conference of School Principals, 2012 by sharing his insights and learning. He cherished the fact that 106 cities from 19 states of India were represented making the

conference truly national in stature and character. The international feel to the conference was given by the two overseas delegates who represented Saudi Arabia. He acknowledged and appreciated the experiences shared by the principals and motivated them to keep sharing their practices and proficiencies at the first ever principals’ web portal of PrincipalsFORUM- www.principals.in, launched during the conference which will be a one stop window for all the needs of the principals.

He said “I have a dream of making this web portal a voice of principals across the country”. He urged the principals to speak their minds, critically analyze the policies framed by the authorities and share their honest views regarding stakeholders, policies, society, school children and on any other matter confronting the education system.

From the phenomenal discussions at the parallel sessions, he derived that issues raised were divided into two domains- Policy and Practice. Practices are those issues which need to be addressed by the principals in the school systems and policies are the issues which need to be addressed by the government officials at MHRD & CBSE. Practice issues can be improved with the efforts and support from the management but the policy issues can only be improved by collectively by raising our concerns regarding their implementation rather than passively accepting them. Some of the policies formulated by the MHRD or the CBSE may not be school friendly; therefore, we as a community of principals need to appraise the government machinery about the difficulties

being faced in implementing those policies at the school level. So it is vital for the practitioners to scrutinize the policies in their school’s context before implementing it. He very accurately pointed out that there is a disconnect between policy and practice; between policy makers and practitioners that needs to be bridged.

Another issue acknowledged and highlighted during the discussions was about B.Ed. trainings being of very poor quality which is substantiated by the fact that only one percent of candidates qualified the TET examination. He drew attention to the fact that many B.Ed. colleges were just distributing the certificates rather than developing competencies. With a view to improve the standards of the pre-service teacher training, SelaQui Institute of Educational Research and Training (SIERT) will be starting the first ever NCTE approved two years innovative B.Ed. (honors) program that will produce teachers with great competencies, skills and attitudes acquired as a result of rigorous training. The Innovativeness of the program lies in its being school centric and school specific - as an intern is to a hospital so is a teacher graduand to a school

Another very important and impacting recommendation that clearly emerged from the discussions during the conference was to put in place a formal structure for training aspiring teachers before they enter principal-ship so as to develop competencies and skills required to run and manage the challenges of the 21st Century schools. The purpose of school education is changing and evolving, it is becoming more technology oriented. With this the curriculum is also changing and thus principals must be equipped and reskill themselves so as to respond to the challenges of the 21st Century. This will improve the students’ learning.

In the end, Chairman thanked all the delegates for making this conference a rich and lasting working experience and he hoped that the PrincipalsFORUM will be enriched from their valuable inputs.

Vote of Thanks

I, on behalf of the Team TeacherSITY, profusely thank Mr. Om Pathak, our Chairman for mentoring and encouraging the Team throughout the Conference proceedings, always with a smile. Our thanks to Ms. Jyoti Gupta , Principal DPS, Ghaziabad for being an excellent Master of Ceremonies of the Conference. Our thanks to the “Volunteers” who managed the reception, ushering and ceremonials of the delegates in an exemplary manner. Thanks also to staff from the Head Office, Delhi who worked hard behind the stage to ensure requisite administrative backup. Last but not the least, our heartfelt gratitude to all eminent guests and respected delegates who congregated from all parts of the country to be a part of the movement under the umbrella of PrincipalsFORUM to be heard and to be taken note of.

I also request Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITY to present the “Participation Memento” to Ms. Sandra Swaroop, the first registered delegate for the conference.

Thank you one and all.

by Mr. Om Pathak, Chairman, TeacherSITY by Col B S Braria, (Retd.) Director TeacherSITY & Conference Convener

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Conference Recommendations

The National Conference of School Principals - 2012 provided the desired and much needed platform, opportunity and ambience to participating principals, representing different regions, types and strata of schools across India, who had congregated to share, participate, debate and brainstorm issues, challenges they face, both at the policy and practice level. Their involvement and interest was evident from the depth and range of issues that emerged during the conference deliberations. Truly living up to its focus and vision, the Conference was by, of and for the Principals.

The recommendations have been summarized under two heads; ‘Policy’ and ‘Practice’.

PolicySchool Leadership – The Defining Factor

It clearly emerged that with the rising expectations of stakeholders, stringent legal provisions, poor teacher preparation programs, high teacher attrition, the role of the principal has become far more complex and demanding yet pivotal to the success of students.

The conference thus resolved

“Principal’s effectiveness is vital and central to improving learning outcomes of its students. The Principal defines the very character, ethos and standing of the school. Principal must possess a very fine blend of transactional and transformational leadership attributes to be able to effectively lead schools in 21st Century. They must be equipped with skills, attitudes and values to meet challenges of 21st Century learners and schools. The delegates opined that the only way to improve school education in the country was to empower principals.”

RecommendationsAspiring Principals must obtain essential qualifications, in addition to their professional degrees in education before they are considered for the position of principal.

Ideally, a two years post graduate qualification in Educational Management and Leadership (EML) be considered essential for teachers aspiring to become principals in secondary and senior secondary schools.

The program must focus on four major areas of school management and leadership, viz. Personal Effectiveness, Instructional Leadership, Institutional Management and Strategic Leadership.

A scaled down program for Head Teachers in elementary schools with 10 or less teachers, be considered as essential qualification for aspiring teachers.

For In-service principals, short certificate program awarded by only recognized universities be considered sufficient. Such principals may acquire the skills and qualification within 5 years from now.

In addition, to upgrade and update with the policy shifts and best practices in school management and leadership perspectives, a professional development program, of at least 10 days duration every year, be made mandatory for in-service principals.

Suitable provisions in the affiliation policy and the Right to Education be considered to ensure compliance.

Teacher Training Programs

Pre Service

The conference observed:

“The existing B.Ed. curriculum is outdated and does not address challenges of 21st century learners and schools. The poor quality of training and inappropriate curriculum in the B.Ed. colleges is reflected in dismal TET results.”

Reexamine the B.Ed. Curriculum and methodology. The curriculum must be in sync with the real classroom challenges that teachers confront. Developmental psychology, disruptive behavior, differentiated instruction, multigrade teaching, assessments, use of ICT are amongst some essential skills that the new program must foster.

B.Ed. program must only be school based and school integrated, such that teacher candidates familiarize with the environments they would eventually work in and factor those challenges in their project work.

Existing one year B.Ed. program be replaced with a two years school based and school integrated B.Ed. Program.

In Service

For in-service teachers, the delegates recommended that each teacher must attend Professional Development Program (PDP) at least, for 11 days in a year, in addition to their workshops and seminars in the schools.

While the in-service teachers need to improve their knowledge and understanding of the subject they teach, they must also focus on improving the general and subject pedagogy.

TET be made mandatory for in-service teachers irrespective of the classes they teach and the ownership

of schools they serve.

TET must assess their subject mastery and pedagogical competencies including proficiency in the language of instruction. The TET may be oriented more towards the practice nuances rather than educational theories.

In-service teachers must qualify in the TET within 5 years.

High performing private, aided or government schools should be encouraged and invited to participate in improving and enriching the quality of in-service programs being conducted by SCERTs and DIETs, BRCs or CRCs.

Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE)

There was lot of discussion, debate and brain storming amongst delegates on understanding, interpretation, introduction and implementation on various issues concerning CCE.

The delegates were of the view that while the concept of CCE was laudable, there were grave doubts and misgivings about the very concept of CCE and its implementation. Therefore there was disconnect between the policy and its implementation.

The very concept and its components need to be clearly defined. The CBSE manual is not in sync with the global understanding of CCE or School Based Assessments, nor are the teachers or principals properly trained. The conference was concerned at the lack of seriousness at all levels and recommends as follows;

Rewrite with the help of global experts the entire manual of CCE. The IBO (International Baccalaureate Organisation) literature on the subject be considered as

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model for total conceptual clarity, documentation and training, as a case in point.

Training for principals as well as for rigorous training for teachers needs to be organized to put CCE into its right perspective.

While an initial training of around 15 to 20 days be imparted to all teachers, they could also be considered for refresher training once every two years.

CBSE appoints a competent and trained teacher to be CCE coordinator in every school, who would be responsible for proper training of subject teachers and authentic implementation of CCE.

In a Cascade model, while the CCE coordinators are trained by carefully chosen agencies, the CCE Coordinators be then tasked with training of teachers in schools under the supervision and control of expert agencies.

Optimizing Public Private Partnership (PPP)

The delegates recommended that since the number of teachers and principals who needed to be trained for pre-service and in-service stages are huge, expertise of private organizations (both national and international) of repute and intellectual standing must be fully exploited to empower maximum number of participants.

Right to Education (RTE)

No Fail Criterion till class VIII in the RTE Act needs to be reexamined as a policy since it was diluting the importance of assessment in learning besides creating disciplinary issues and low standards of learning

Weightage to Vocational Courses

Introduce a policy to ensure that vocational courses are integrated with the class curriculum and be assessed together with other subjects. Accordingly, due consideration be given at the time of university admissions.

Introduction of New Initiatives and Policy Formulations

The delegates concurred with the need to introduce new initiatives and formulate policies to conform to changing goals and purposes of education to keep pace with 21st century challenges for schools and learners.

Principals’ main concern was that, being major stake holders in the school education system, they must be involved in the entire process of policy formulation and initiatives concerning school education system.

They further recommended that the initiatives must be piloted for effectiveness and feedback before implementing the same in the country.

PracticeLeadership Challenges:

Principals should:

• possess effective communication skills to articulate and voice their views and concerns in dealing with various situations.

• be able to build effective teams through trust, faith and collaboration to ensure smooth functioning of the school.

• be mentor and guide to the teaching faculty by providing opportunities for their growth and development. In house professional development

program should be organized to further enhance the faculty’s skills and self esteem.

• be lifelong learners. The personal growth and development is imperative for providing strategic leadership to the institution.

The Curriculum

The school curriculum should clearly demonstrate through its activities that it is a process for learning and a process for developing occupational skills – preparing for life. Learning to know, do and feel should be so arranged in the curriculum as to accommodate opportunity for them to become more proficient and self-reliant. This comprehensive learning would address finding solutions to real life situations hence making learning more meaningful.

The learning process should not only address diversity but respect it by making transaction learner friendly, experiential, interdisciplinary and contextual. This offers opportunities to develop and strengthen a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society laying the foundation for learning to live together.

Planning content and identifying transactional and assessment strategies should always cater to learner’s individual needs and learning strengths. Teaching is all about the way learners learn and not about how teachers want to teach. (DI and DA).

Schools should device a child-based curriculum to allow open-ended questioning by the students to make the process of teaching learning more participatory and interactive.

Value education and vocational education should be made mandatory as they a vital parts of the curriculum.

Schools should ensure that students undertake value based projects in the form of community activities and services to inculcate and develop right values. Role modeling the correct behavior by the members of the school staff is essential to imbibe the right values among the learners.

Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation

There is a dire need to devise a scientific and proper method for the implementation of CCE in schools across the country. Principals shared their concern that schools were implementing CCE differently, as per their own understanding and convenience. More uniformity in its implementation is desirable.

In the report cards, FA’s are not really reflective of student learning for they do not clearly indicate the personal and individual progress made by the child. The report cards should be a mechanism to convey the child’s own progress on the developmental continuum, clearly defining the milestones in the learning graph.

For more information on Developmental continuum please visit: http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/childcare/oelf/continuum/

Lack of adequate training in CCE, for both teachers and principals, has complicated the process of evaluation resulting in poor understanding of an ingenious reform. The delegate principals conveyed that this concern be communicated to the board for them to make note of it and to address it holistically.

Parental Interface

The principal delegates felt that managing parental expectations is a great challenge and can be addressed

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only by making them party to and active stakeholders in the school system by raising their awareness & involvement levels.

All communication channels with parents should be kept open to avoid any miscommunication and misunderstanding. Inversely, it discourages children from taking advantage of any gap there of and reinforces the parent-teacher relationship.

Since children today are unduly pressurized by their parents with unrealistic expectations and the desire to excel, schools must organize sustained counseling and guidance sessions for the parents by adopting best practices like Calling Tree, Parent Directory and Parental Handbook.

This will help develop parenting skills to make them more accountable and participative in their child’s all round development rather than connecting only for complaints or placing demands.

Use of Technology

In today’s era of high technology and free flow of information, the highly tech savvy learners are much ahead of teachers and parents. Hence the delegates recommended that the principals should empower themselves and their faculty to keep pace with the ever changing scene.

The delegates came to a consensus that teachers must creatively use technology friendly pedagogy to facilitate effective learning through optimal use of technology.

The Principals must monitor the safe and ethical use of technology by sensitizing themselves with the systems and procedures on the use and protection of data and cyber laws.

List of Delegates

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Abdul Khader Vellampuravan Al Muna International School, Dammam

Ajay Kumar Pattnaik Chhatrapati Shivaji Public School Dhule

Akash Sharma (Dr.) Educomp Raffles Higher Educa-tion Ltd. New Delhi

Aman Kumar Aadesh International School, Lakhinder (Miani) Hoshiarpur

Ambalal Maganpatil Shri Mahavir English Medium School, Shahada

Amita Sathe Bambawale EQFI, New Delhi

Amit Kumar Sharma GDR Convent School Phagwara, Punjab

Anita Vats Govt. School, New Delhi

Anita Wadhera DLDAV, Pitampura, New Delhi

Anupma Singh Queen Mary’s School, Northend, New Delhi

Anurag Yadav RPVV Vasant Kunj New Delhi

Archana Vishwadeep Rajkiya Pratibha Vikas Vidayalaya, New Delhi

Arti Srivastava (Dr.) R.V. Institute, New Delhi

Asha Byju Mes English Medium Senior Secondary School, Pattambi

Ashpreet Sethi Educomp Foundation New Delhi

Ashwani Khosa Educomp Raffles Higher Education Ltd., New Delhi

Astha Parashar Queen Mary’s School, Northend, New Delhi

Balveer Singh Maharishi Vidya Mandir NOIDA

Bhavna Bisht Salwan Public School, Mayur Vihar - III, NOIDA

Bhawna Puri Salwan Public School Ghaziabad

Bindu Rana (Dr.) Educomp Foundation NOIDA

Bindu Sharma Rayat International School Ropar

Biswarup Mandal St. Stephen’s, New Delhi

Brijesh Bahadur Singh RPVV, New Delhi

Chakrapani Estarla Silver Bells Public School Bhavnagar

Chand Jidhar Sunflag School, Bhandara

Chandra Deo Sharma Mahirishi Shiksha Sansthan NOIDA

Chitra Gupta SKV No. 2- Lal Kuan Gurgaon

Debika Chatterji JBCN International School Mumbai

Deepa Maheshwari Mother Athena School Budaun

Devrajan Tirupur

Devarajulu T, (Dr.) Malco Vidyalaya Salem (dist.)

Devender Kumar KV, NOIDA

Dharmendra Goyal Macro Vision Academy Burhanpur

Dheeraj Kumar Arya R. K. Public School Badaun

Dimple Anil Billabong High International School, NOIDA

Dinesh Kumar Gupta New Delhi

Feroz Em The Oxford School Trivandrum

Fr Bennichan John Maramparampil (Dr.) Central Kerala Sahodaya Complex, Kochi

Garib Dass RPVV Gandhinagar New Delhi

Geeta Parashar (Dr.) Modern Convent School New Delhi

Geeta Rathi Metis Public School Jind

Gurmeet Kaur Sidhu Sunbeam English School Varanasi

Harjot Kaur Paragon Sr. Sec. School Mohali

Hema Ahmed Gurgaon

Hema Devarajan Little Kingdom Senior Secondary School, Tiruppur

Hannah Ahmed New Delhi


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Iffat Ibrahim Chirec Public School, Hyderabad

Isabel Swamy St. Mary Champion H. S. School, Indore

Jasmeet Kaur Guru Harkrishan Public School, New Delhi

Jasmeet Kaur Paragon Sr. Sec. School, Sector-71, Mohali

Jawli Ramasamy Ramprasath Vidya Mandir School Ariyalur

Jaydeb Kar Calorx Public School Mundra

Jharna De Educomp Foundation New Delhi

Jitendra Kumar Sinha (Dr.)Indian School of Learning Jharia

John Andrew Bagul South City International School Kolkata

J.P. Singh GBSS - Pandara Road New Delhi

Kamiya Kumar LLF, New Delhi

Karan Singh Saini St. Kabir’s School, Hisar

Kavita Dhar Bal Bharati Public School New Delhi

Kayhan Sanyal Learning Links Foundation New Delhi

Khaleelullah Zakkir The Oxford School Trivandrum

Khomdram Basanta Meetei Mother’s Pride Academy Bishnupur District

Kinshuk Sharma Educomp Solutions New Delhi

Kishor Pillai (Dr.) Rims International School & Junior College, Mumbai

K.S.B.A. Thangal Mes English Medium Senior Secondary School Pattambi

K.S. Yadav (Dr.) Deputy Director, Edu. Dept.

Kuldeep Singh Shri Gurunanak Sr. Sec. School Kashipur

Kuruma Sudhaprasad St. Thomas’ School, Dwarka New Delhi

Lata Tejpal The Milennium School Karnal

Latha Senthil Kumar K.S.Maniam Vidhya Bhawan Namakka

Lourdu Swamy St. Mary Champion H.S.School Indore

Mangala Vaid Silver Line School Ghaziabad

Manjula Varshney St. Xavier’s High School Allahabad

Manpal Singh Educomp Foundation New Delhi

Meenu Tiwari CRPF Public School, Dwarka New Delhi

Minnalkodi.V. Kannan Sri Seshaas International Public School, Salem

Mohammed Haneef Modern International School Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Mrinalini Kaura Venkateshwara International School, New Delhi

Mukesh Kumar Nagaich RPM Public School, Hathras

Mukul Jha Salwan Public School, New Delhi

Musarrat Perwin Rasheed New Delhi Public School, Durg

M.V. Srinivasa Reddy Nava Bharat Public School Paloncha

Nalini Andrew Queen Mary’s School, Rohni New Delhi

Namita Khurana Prabhaav Learnings New Delhi

Nanakchanda RPVV Yamuna Vihar, New Delhi

Navneet Kaur Amritsar

Neeta Dua Little Flowers Public Sr. Sec. School, New Delhi

Nellie Ahmed Tanweer Maria’s Public School Guwahati

Nikunj Keval Patel English Teaching School Nadiad

Nirmal Bhataiya City International School Pimpri Pune

Nishith Malhotra Educomp Foundation New Delhi

Papiya Mukherjee Dav Model School Durgapur

Pooja Ramchandani Sadhu Vaswani Internaltional School, Hyderabad

Prafull Suryakant Chapate Vimaltai Tidke Convent & Junior College, Beltarodi, Nagpur

Prafull Suryakant Chapate Vimaltai Tidke Convent & Junior College, Beltarodi, Nagpur

Prakasam Jacob Meesarapu (Dr.) Lowry Educational Institutions Bangalore

Pramod RPVV, New Delhi

Preeti Sidhu M.R.S. Police Public School Phillaur

Priyanka Mehta DPS, New Delhi

Puneet Basur Guru Nanak Public School Kota

Pushpa Gupta Uma Devi Childrens Academy-Mohammadi Kheri

Pushpita Barik Purwanchal Vidyamandir Kolkata

Purnima Khanna DL Dav Model School Pitampura New Delhi

Pushpa Raman Kutty Menon VSSC Central School Trivandrum

Pushpa Rani Yadav KV Keshavpuram New Delhi

Radhakrishnan Chettour Dhruv Academy Ahmednagar

Radhey Shyam Pandey JPS Global Academy Hapur

Radhika Chebrol Learning Links Foundation New Delhi

Radhika Joshi KV Sec-3 Rohini New Delhi

Rajat Rajaratnam Sharma General Raj’s School New Delhi

Rajbir Singh Govt. Sr. Sec. School New Delhi

Rajendra Kumar Career Orbits ePortals Pvt. Ltd. New Delhi

Rajendra Singh KV Sec-5, Dwarka New Delhi

Rajendra Singh Parihar Veena Memorial Sr. Sec. School, Karauli, Rajasthan

Rajni Chandan (Dr.) Dikshant International School Panchkula

Rajni K. Uppal KV, New Delhi

Rajni Sharma Manav Sehyog School Jalandhar

Raj Pal Sehrawat RPVV, Rohini, New Delhi

Ram Asare RPVV Lajpat Nagar, New Delhi

Ranjana Rajput Ct Public School, Jalandhar

Raseel Arunkant Stones 2 Milestones Edu Services Pvt. Ltd., Gurgaon

Rashmi Mehta The Srijan School, Gurgaon

Reshma Purohit (Dr.) Mount Litera Zee School Mumbai

Ravindra Laxman Mali Macro Vision Academy School, Raver, Jalgaon

Ravinder Singh Educomp Raffles Higher Educa-tion Ltd., New Delhi

Renu Sabharwal RPVV Surajmal Vihar New Delhi

Rina Pathak Sanskriti Public School Gorakhpur

Rita Chatterjee Apeejay School, Kolkata

Rita Kaul The Milennium School, NOIDA

R.M. Lakhera Kendriya Vidayalaya, New Delhi

RPS Chaudhary GBSS, New Delhi

Ruma Ruma Campus Public School Samastipur

Samir Binkamal The Oxford School Trivandrum

Sandeep Yadav Krishna Sr. Sec.Public School, Kosli, Rewari

Sanjeev Marwah New Delhi

Sangeeta Millenium School, New Delhi

Sangeeta Deswal Govt Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya New Delhi

Sandra Swarup Arwachin International School New Delhi

Saroj Achra Salwan Public School, New Delhi

Sarvjit Brar (Dr.) Khalsa College Public School Amritsar

Saumil Gupta Educomp Foundation New Delhi

Saumya Jain J.L.J Concept School, Palwal

Scaria N O Mount Carmel School, Anand Vihar, New Delhi

S.D. Malik Lovely Public Sr. Sec. School New Delhi

S.D. Sharma RPVV, New Delhi

Seema Bhatnagar New Delhi Public School Burhanpur

Shalini Sahay Educomp Foundation Sahibabad

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Shailly Jain Rajkot

Sharat Kumar Singh Edify School Nagpur

Sheetal Mann Modern Convent School New Delhi

Shivam Mishra Educomp Foundation Gurgaon

Sister Sophy Fcc Vishwadeep Higher Secondary School, Durg

Sita Ramsingh (Dr.) Ramakrishna Vivekanand Vidyapeeth, Bijuri

S.K. Sharma KV, Sec-22 Dwarka

Smita Patterson Podar International School Pimpri, Pune

S Nanda SKV No. 1 - Shakti Nagar New Delhi

Sreelekha P Mes English Medium Senior Secondary School, Pattambi

Subodh Kumar Singh Little Scholars(10+2) Kashipur

Sudharsanan V Balsam Academy Ranipet

Suman Biswas St. Stephen’s, New Delhi

S.S. Raheja KV Sec-12, Dwarka Devnagar, New Delhi

Sultan Hardoo Sarvpalli Public School Ellenabad

Sumita Bahl RPVV Tyagraj Nagar New Delhi

Surekha Ramkothe Vimaltai Tidke Convent & Junior College, Nagpur

Surekha Singh Sanskar The Co-Educational School, Ghaziabad

Surendra Bohra Bohra Central School Parola

Suresh Ramdas Lakde Meghe Group of Schools Akola

Surinder Kumar Mayo College, Ajmer

Tapeshwar Jugran RPVV, NOIDA

Thamarai Murugan Akchara Bala Bhavan, Salem

T.P. Singh (Dr.) RPVV Dwarka, Delhi

Tripti Mawri New Delhi

Udita Ganguly New Delhi Public School Panipat City

Uma Balan Educomp Solutions New Delhi

Urvashi Gupta RPVV Civil Lines New Delhi

Usha Rani RPVV, New Delhi

Usha Ross Queen Mary’s School, Rohini New Delhi

Vaishali Arora Educomp Raffles Higher Education Ltd. New Delhi

Vandana Kapoor SLS Dav Public School, Mausam Vihar New Delhi

Vandan Patel Bohra Central School Parola

Veena Bahuguna Maharishi Vidya Mandir NOIDA

Veni Bhardwaj Ahlcon Public School New Delhi

Vijay Laxmi Singh G.D. Salwan Public School, New Delhi

Vishwas Khushal Patil Smita Patil Public School Shirpur

Vivek Kumar Mittal D.A.V.Multipurpose Public School, Sonepat

V.K. Sharma RSV No. 4, Roop Nagar, New Delhi

V P Yadav Sunglow International School-Rewari

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NCSP, 2012 Conference Report

Documents

Transcript of NCSP, 2012 Conference Report