R.J. Bhuvanesh — CEO, KRM Schools, Chennai

An alumnus of Coimbatore Institute of Technology and Alagappa University, R.J. Bhuvanesh is CEO of the Kaligi Ranganathan Montford (KRM) Group comprising five K-12 schools in Chennai with an aggregate enrolment of 9,500 students and 550 teachers.

NEP 2020 overview. This is the first education policy to give prime importance to the foundational pillars of access, equity, quality, affordability and accountability in education. It aims to transform India into a global knowledge superpower by making school and higher education more holistic, flexible and multidisciplinary. I am especially happy about setting up of the National Mission on Foundational Literacy and Numeracy to ensure all class III children acquire basic literacy and numeracy skills by 2025.

Transition of K-12 schools to online/blended learning during the current Covid-19 crisis. I believe today’s VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) environment will perforce reshape education systems and processes. In the current Covid-19 crisis and shutdown of all schools countrywide, the switch to online learning was necessary to ensure children’s education is not interrupted. However, the success of online teaching-learning is heavily dependent on well-trained teachers who will provide high-quality education to fulfil lofty parental expectations.

Government interference in fees and online education delivery of private schools. Unwarranted government interference has hit private schools hard. Most schools are unable to pay teachers’ salaries because of fees collection delays. Moreover, government restrictions on online learning hours will result in learning loss to children and increase parental anxiety about their future.

KRM Schools major initiatives. We have successfully conducted continuous online professional development programmes for our teachers, collaborated and engaged with all stakeholders — schools, teachers, students and parents — to make the switch to online teaching-learning smooth and effective, and provided online counseling for anxious students, parents and teachers.

Re-inventing India’s K-12 education system proposals. We need to use our own VUCA (vision, understanding, courage and adaptability) 2.0 strategy to train teachers to develop into tech-savvy, kind, thoughtful and caring professionals. There’s also urgent need to develop joyous curriculums that focus on all-round development — academics, values, sports, life skills — of children.

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