Rajiv Solanki — Chairman, Venkateswar Group of Schools, Delhi

A business management alum of London University, Rajiv Solanki is the Delhi-based chairman and director of the Venkateshwar Group of four K-12 schools (estb.2007) — two in Delhi, Raipur and Pune. The group’s Sri Venkateshwar International School, Sector 18, Dwarka is ranked among the national capital’s Top 10 co-ed day schools in EWISR 2019-20.

NEP 2020 overview. The National Education Policy 2020 is a welcome document prescribing meaningful school and higher education reforms. The policy is futuristic as it promises online content in English, Hindi and regional languages. Encouraging collaboration between Central and state governments to increase public investment in education is another welcome feature. Clearly, the NEP committee has outlined a far-reaching vision to create learning environments that are multidisciplinary and provide well-rounded education. Proper implementation of the reforms envisioned in NEP 2020 will fundamentally transform India in terms of better learning outcomes and employment.

Switch of K-12 schools to online/blended learning during the current Covid-19 crisis. The Covid-19 crisis has transformed Indian education. With millions of children out of school, teaching-learning during the past several months has been delivered remotely through digital platforms. I believe traditional classroom and online learning can be blended perfectly. This emerging hybrid model of education will confer significant benefits to K-12 education.

Fallout of increasing government interference in fees and online education delivery of private schools. Self-financed private schools have transitioned to online learning and are investing in training/upskilling teachers and also organising counselling for parents and students. Without regular fees income inflow, we are under immense financial strain and finding it difficult to function.

Venkateshwar Schools initiatives. In March, our schools kickstarted online classes for all students by leveraging Microsoft Teams. Five months on, our teachers have adapted a range of digital applications such as Microsoft Forms, Class Notebooks, Assignments, Sway etc, to maximise the effectiveness of online learning as also online art, yoga, aerobics, music and dance classes.

Top 4 proposals for re-inventing India’s K-12 education system.

• Do away with rote learning • Redesign the evaluation system to include peer learning.
• Revamp teacher education
• Focus on personalised education.

Read the full story here on 25 leaders reinventing K-12 education