Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan: A Learner's Paradise
I was reading “Many lives, Many Masters” by Dr. Brian Weiss. The psychiatrist-turned-author had chronicled his experiences with one of his patients, whom he treated by the process of regression. In-between the 80-odd births through which he is transported by the patient, he has the opportunity to converse with higher evolved souls called master spirits. He asked one of the master spirits whether he was in the right direction in his treatment of the patient. To his surprise he was told that the treatment was for him and not the patient!
On a similar note, when I entered Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan as PGT Mathematics at the age of 28, I thought I was going to teach the students. But at the end of my journey after 32 years of association with the institution when I asked my master spirit whether I have taught well, he replied that the journey was for my learning and that I was more the learner than the teacher!
While reminiscing on the path traversed, to be honest with myself and the institution, I have to admit that some of these learning experiences carried pleasant memories, and others, a few unpleasant memories. Nevertheless each of these experiences had always ended in good learning outcomes, that equipped me with golden life-skills. Don’t we know, after all, that “sweet are the uses of adversity”?
Golden Age: The Teacher
11th August 1980, my first day in a school after a break of two and a half years in which period my marriage dislocated me from the southern extremity to the northern most parts of the country. My yearning to pickup the broken threads of teaching in the Jawahar Higher Secondary School in Neyveli Lignite Corporation, fuelled by the sight of a Kendriya Vidyalaya (KV) in Jammu close to our house at Gandhi Nagar, Jammu, at last fructified on that day when I was standing - a nondescript person, a mere speck, a drop in the ocean;, in the morning assembly of one of the biggest schools in Delhi, the KV No 1, Delhi Cantonment. A six-section school up to class X, with sanctioned posts of two vice Principals and two PGTs for each subject, you can imagine the size of the school! The thrill and excitement, however, were dulled by a tight knot in my stomach as I was bewildered by alien sounds of an unknown tongue that dominated the general conversations around me.
The musings mingled with the divine music were disrupted by the sudden mention of my name and brought me out of my reverie. I realized that I was being invited to address the assembly! Caught unawares, I had no time to collect my thoughts. With trepidation I crossed over to the mike. Holding the mike is one thing and holding the audience is another. I simply said “Education is the manifestation of perfection already within man, says Swami Vivekananda. Hence it is in a noble task that we all have come together. I am sure with your cooperation and good will I shall deliver my best.”
When I walked back I was not sure about the impression that I had made. But then the sweet words of the Principal fell on my ears dispelling all apprehensions and doubts. I remember them till date and I quote:
“The Assistant Commissioner told me that she was sending a very good mathematics teacher. After hearing Mrs. Gurumurthy I believe it is true”. Unquote.
Straight from Tamil Nadu, Hindi was as alien as Greek or Latin and I felt a fish out of water, surrounded by conversations in the unknown tongue. My eloquence was marred. There were moments when the students ragged me. Once during roll call I called out Kirandeep Kaur searching for the student from among the boys since somehow Kirandeep sounded a boy’s name. Everyone laughed at me and then I learnt that Kaur indicated a girl, always. Every time I suffered an identity crisis, the good words of the Principal resounded and revived my spirits. I was determined to win over my students with my strength, mathematics.
The educational journey since then was one of a constructivist progression. The principal observed two of my lessons, 'Quadratic inequations' in class XI and ‘Maxima and Minima' in class XII. At the end of each of these he addressed the students thus: “I am a person of English yet I understood what your teacher taught very clearly. Make good use of her.” This encouraged me to leave no stones unturned, to give my best.
Many a time as a student I had accepted what the teacher spoke, blindly with an unquestioning faith . But as a teacher I constantly questioned the how and why of things. The NCERT (National Council of Educational Research and Training) textbooks also promoted a questioning mind. I combined its inputs with my acquired knowledge. I remembered my good teachers not only in Mathematics but also in other subjects especially in languages. I infused the critical appreciation in language with the logic of mathematics. I always endeavoured to concretize the abstract and told the children how language takes over where the physical reality stops. I drew the attention of the children to details, however minute they may be. It paid some rich dividends. Students invited me for extra classes. On one such occasion it happened to be the English period and I reminded them that learning English was equally important to which they retorted that they learnt more English in my math class than in their English class. The children appreciated the nuances of the language to such an extent that a student asked a question in Statistics which helped me gain new insights in the concept and till date no other student has repeated the question.
It was the topic on step deviation method to calculate mean of grouped data. While deriving the equivalence of two methods I concluded that the effect of division by class size in the step deviation method is to cancel. Master Dhananjay Sharma (I can never forget his name as he was my teacher at that moment) quipped, “Then why divide by class size and why not by any number?” My reputation was at stake that day when my brain processed the logic commencing with a basic question of “why look for an alternative to one formula at all ?” and came up with a response in a minute that not only satisfied my students but also served as an important value-addition to my pedagogy.
Thus unfolded a value-based integrated approach to pedagogy and I found myself evolving by the day. It improved my skills to express myself precisely that enabled optimizing the information processed against time.
I would like to share that experience that the Sangathan offered me, to prove the point that in a single academic session a teacher can complete the vast syllabus in mathematics of class XII twice.
November 1982, the year of Asiads when India was the host country and New Delhi was getting decked up for the occasion. I was transferred on request from Delhi Cantt to KV Sector II R.K. Puram. Despite my assurance that for all the three sections of class XII, I had completed 90% of the course, the Principal at Delhi Cantt was reluctant to relieve me. When I reached the new school it was wrapped up in preparations for its annual day and children were not found in their classes. Teachers were busy in training the children for the different items. Class XII students preferred to be at home rather than at school. The school then closed for a month in lieu of winter break as against the routine ten days on account of the Asiad games. When the school reopened on December 6th, Class XII (Commerce) wanted to leave by the end of V period whereas the timetable allotment was for VII and VIII periods every day. I was shocked to find that they have not had any syllabus covered since the transfer of my predecessor on the nine year policy. Also, I found them wanting in the basics for calculus, something they ought to have learnt in class XI.
I used my authority as their Class Teacher to discipline them and made them attend my usual periods in the afternoon. I also assured them that I will complete their course only if they cooperated. I taught them the technique of grasping the concepts by oral comprehension. Minimizing the written work on the blackboard, I talked mathematics with them beginning from the XI class portions and trained them to record the spoken words. The whole class solved problems orally during the allotted class hours. Additional problems from different sources were also solved in the class. The entire syllabus was covered by 31st ,January 1983 facilitating their preparations in February. That year most of them scored first division, distinctions and a record percentage were in the above-90 bracket. Nirmala Shankaran, the topper in school was All India fifth in the Board in commerce stream. Her parents attributed it mainly to the 99% she scored in Mathematics. The Delhi Cantt students also had shown excellent results.
I have not been wise enough to keep these achievements documented. It was all the more challenging because back then, students answered 35 questions in three hours; The rigours of CBSE examination had been maintained at much higher levels .
If I learnt refined techniques of teaching Mathematics in Delhi schools, it was not until I reached Kendriya Vidyalaya, Hasimara that my inhibition to speak Hindi was overcome. The school had, to its credit, inducted me into teaching my subject in Hindi. I found that in respect of the children of class IX, my passionate explanations with critical emphasis fell on deaf ears which were used to sporadic English while learning solutions to a few problems by rote. Determined as I was to win my students’ affection, I agreed to talk in Hindi. There were exercises in translation and I learnt that it was in reality a very effective way of learning a language. It also gave me confidence to teach my son Hindi and social science in Hindi medium. In fact Hasimara made a unique contribution of giving me students like Sunil Kulshreshtha, Saikat Neogi, Sanjay Rana, Udai Divyanshu , Ajay Vibhanshu, Kiran Bhat and many others who remembered me much later in their lives when they were citizens of high standing holding very high posts and making the Sangathan proud. I am beholden to their magnanimity in acknowledging my contribution in their progress, since they have not grown by any isolated efforts. Teachers are but facilitators. Just as the trees bear fruits to those who watered them, our students reward us with their unstinted love and tributes of having inspired them.
Hasimara had also made two more major contributions that added new dimensions to my profile. For one, being in a small school allowed me to possess the necessary seniority to play an important role in educational administration. I gained the experience as a coordinator of co-curricular programs, in charge of examination and time table and what not. My Principal gave me great opportunities to learn the nitty-gritty of administration that stood me in good stead in the later years. For the other, I organized a mathematics exhibition which was a new experience to everyone and which laid the foundation for the concept of Mathematics Laboratory that found its immediate use in the next school at KV WAP Yelahanka, Bangalore where I joined in December, 1989.
Compared to my earlier schools this was a very small school under project sector and only up to class X. Naturally I had to teach classes from VI and upward. My newly acquired talent in Hindi was handy. Nevertheless I experienced the Piaget’s psychological inferences for that age group: "that they can appreciate only concrete experience". The concept of Mathematics Laboratory that took root at Hasimara was developed into a full-fledged classroom technique. The teaching aids were developed through the children’s class room assignments and projects, catalogued and propagated among the entire faculty for effective use in the class room teaching. I fully internalized the fact that the activities are nothing but learning experiences towards formation of concepts and that it held the potential for an innovative teacher. I also learnt to correlate the concrete with the abstract through the language association which turned algebra, a student’s phobia into a pleasurable learning. I also invented new typology of questions that were process-oriented, leading to new insights in evaluation during formative stages. A useful byproduct was to create appropriate strategies for dyscalculia and slow-learners in the subject. This opened my eyes to the use of comprehensive evaluation, addressing one’s weakness with their strengths and a gamut of such psychological approach to pedagogy. Also that I could extend and generalize these techniques to all subjects began to take shape in my mind. I became the pied piper of the school. Children showered their love on me, called me for extra classes during games period saying that Mathematics gave them more pleasure than the play field. My Principal lauded me for the pleasurable learning experience I could give in a much feared subject and called me “the salt of Sangathan”.
I passed the departmental examination for principals in the year 1991-92 for which I had learnt thoroughly, all the pages of our Education Code and the Accounts code. I was selected as a Principal in 1993 and posted to KV Air Force Bhuj. When I left the school my class IX children wept and said that I should take over as Principal in the same school on condition that I continued to teach them the subject.
The Administrator:
29th September 1993, a new beginning, new challenges! The school to be led by me was far from the ideal that was in my dreams. Housed in five different temporary buildings under different roofs, with 50% of sanctioned posts vacant, it was a hard station by every standard. There were only issues to be handled on a daily basis. The teachers had no houses, the students had no teachers; there were alcoholics among staff, shirkers of work and tuition mongers. The office was poorly equipped and offered little support. There were a few teachers fond of promoting groupism. There were authors of anonymous letters to higher authorities of Sangathan and the media contributing to unwarranted inquiries. I had to balance the delicate sensitivities between the expectations of the Chairman, VMC and station commander of the air force station, as the wife of an Air Force officer and my duty to my organization as the Principal of the school. A new school building construction was underway and it had its interesting controversies. Even the slightest events in school formed gossip columns for the immediate community that twisted the implications to prejudice the innocent minds of the students. The internal squabbles and the external prejudices sandwiched me. Every problem had a long past. Without the background, decisions were bound to be lopsided. The list was endless.
I spent indefinite hours in the school and took upon myself multiple portfolios including full fledged teaching. I read all files more than a decade old to understand the background of issues. I handled all accounting, including maintaining ledgers, cash books, reports and audit replies. In enforcing discipline and checking tuition mongers I gained a lot of enmity.
All of this strife notwithstanding, there were a select few good staff who stood by me like a rock. Those who drifted away were evaluated objectively, their talent identified and fruitfully engaged with the children who were eager learners. To reduce negative gossiping by the immediate community I organized good programs in sports and games and cultural activities and showcased our work. The Annual Day and Sports Day celebrations became the talk of the town. The officers of the Regional office appreciated and recognized the hard work. They sponsored me for various training programs, conferences and seminars. I was a key resource person for primary strengthening and a master trainer in pension matters. I was assigned duties in inspection of schools, conducting cluster-level programs of the region, directing induction and in-service courses for teachers of the different schools of the region, conducting departmental proceedings and what not. Even these tasks were wrought with obstacles. Once during a sports meet of the region about 300 students were lodged in the school premises. The unknown enemy sabotaged the water supply. Wg. Cdr. Gurumurthy, officiating as CADMNO, stood personally on the school ground and supervised the water-bowser, filling all the syntax tanks not just because it concerned his wife but because it also concerned the children.
I touched new horizons in learning. There was a total revolution in my personality development. I maneuvered around tight corners by replacing my handicaps with my known strengths. I found immense use of my language skills in some of these situations. I read through the engineers’ estimate and found flaws in the operations of the construction agency. Extreme vigilance in monitoring the school building made it one of the very few structures that withstood the catastrophic Bhuj earthquake! I gained field experience from all angles of school administration that laid the foundation for building an institution within me. The five-year exposure gave me the confidence to face any situation with utmost courage and I came to be known as Rani JhansiBai.
My next school, KV Bolarum, had different problems typical of a metro city. Important hallmarks had been my contribution in effecting a facelift to the school infrastructure at the most optimal expenses and handling the disrupters of peace in an educational institution. The union threats of a strike during crucial Half Yearly examinations did not deter me. Undaunted and armed only with the powers vested in a Principal I prepared alternatives for smooth conduct of examinations and the sounds died before they were heard.
The culmination was my selection to the Kendriya Vidyalaya Kathmandu as its principal. Diplomacy formed the characteristic of working in a foreign country. Working under the aegis of the Indian embassy the school had to sail along the diplomatic stand adopted by the Embassy. But then the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan did not customize its policies to such requirements. A Principal can stretch only up to a yielding point beyond which the rule breaks. Upholding the Sangathan policies became a constant source of anxiety for the school. The reactions were punitive. The Indane gas supply to the school staff, with special emphasis on the Principal, was stopped. The shorter route to the school was closed. There were nocturnal intruders at my residence. A concerned husband advised me to sign a letter written by the sponsoring authority recommending admission of an ineligible student. When I read it out he let me use my judgement. Should I have obliged? Would it have been wiser and more diplomatic? Or was I correct in reporting the facts to the Sangathan? The teachers asked me to relent so that the harshness reduced. Should I have done it? But I said that the Nepal gas was available in the market. The longer route was a healthy morning walk. I learnt the art of living alone in an empty house, always staying alert.
The Assistant ( Deputy) Commissioner;
25th June 2002, exactly after 14 months of Kathmandu, I was selected as Assistant Commissioner and posted to Kolkata. The Sanskrit teacher in Kathmandu said that coastal region and north east will be a good beginning! He also said that 5 PM was very auspicious. Exactly at two minutes past five the phone on my desk rang and my husband’s voice from Chennai asked whether I had taken the chair. It was he who motivated me to apply. But he never saw me as an Assistant Commissioner. If I faced the challenges till then it was because of the strength that I drew from him. The catastrophe struck on 28th July 2002 when he departed from us never to return. An 18 year old son only in 2nd year of engineering in a state of depression was left with a lone parent who could not be with him. I learnt then that the death-of-spouse ground provision for transfer was not applicable to me and that the organizational interest was served better by keeping me away from Chennai. Till date, logic defies as to how serving KVS as assistant commissioner of Chennai region could have been detrimental to the organization.
Under such impossible circumstances I learnt to commute between my office and the home 2000 km apart. In six months I visited 50 schools of Kolkata including Port Blair and Car Nicobar. May be I am one of the very few who had seen the school before it perished in the now-famous 2004 Tsunami. I conducted induction courses for new recruits, addressed six in-service courses of all cadres and helped evolve the notion of vertical integration between classes and horizontal integration across the disciplines. Mathematics workshops were conducted in different venues at the behest of the VMCs. There were meaningful study materials prepared in all subjects. I developed the concept of questioning the answer in the subjects of Social Science and Science where a student was encouraged to make questions for the textual content. I conducted office automation workshops in all the schools of the region.
In the middle of all these, I read the files, solved the problems of teachers, and managed a uncooperative set of high-level officers. I worked late hours on the files. Some of my decisions during that period were land mark decisions founded on sound logic and hence there were no court cases on these. The art of file reading enabled me to advise the students who found their comprehension of unknown passages in English difficult. I explained how one asked questions as one read a passage. Once again the concept of questioning the answer had its application.
Again I was chosen to serve organizational interest when I was transferred at the end of 1 year and five months from Kolkata to Delhi and in six months from Delhi to Chennai and in nine months from Chennai to Bangalore. I converted this adversity in to a gainful experience of visiting about 100 schools across three states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. During my tenure at Bangalore I had directed the training programs for Principals and vice-Principals in ZIET, Mysore. I prepared advance study materials for classes IX- XII and addressed the board class students of all the 45 schools of the Bangalore region in sessions of 3-6 hours duration explaining how to use the material. In this process I gave them valuable tips for mastering the subject. As per reports there was an impressive rise in the percentage of students clearing CET of Karnataka and gaining admissions in engineering colleges. I had also given a new framework of evaluation techniques for primary classes and encouraged the teachers to practice. All these efforts evolving out of the varied exposure indicated a wider role in the field of education and I availed the opportunity presented by fate and was selected as Director (Academics) in CBSE.
There were dreams of a new paradigm in curriculum presentation, new techniques of evaluation which have been tested and have proven effective during my field experience. I thought it would find immediate reception for policy decisions. But then I learnt that when an innovation takes place under the aegis of CBSE it has the effect of universalization of a concept and therefore suffered the risk of obsolescence. Hence many an initiative of CBSE under the banner of innovation had been in practice for decades, though the novelty was about the extent of its reach. Thus my initial enthusiasm suffered a setback. However there were other opportunities that came my way, providing new learning experiences. Personally I gained insights into the functioning of policy makers, ministries, political institutions, private sectors in education, state boards, and controlling time-bound activities to a vast clientele across a multitude of stakeholders. I also had a glimpse of the international players in education.
From a school organization into an examination board, the core areas had dimensions independent of each other in their functionalities. While many of my findings in the field matched with the philosophy propounded by eminent educationists, I realized that the translation of the philosophy into policies suffered the first stage distortion and the implementation suffered the second stage distortion. As a practicing teacher I used my own wisdom combined with the freedom that the KVS system offered to innovate and improvise the learning experiences. Even as an administrator in the limited domains I could express the nuances of application of policies with the real-time operators, although I had no absolute assurance of the micro-level implementation. Since policy changes involved much wider debates and political considerations, the individual opinions do not exercise influence with as much intensity as they are felt and expressed. Hence the vastness of the majority acceptance drowns the micro level intricacies. Especially the adaptation of CCE (Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation) has been disappointing in that my field inputs could not gain the much desired attention. But yet I have irrevocable conviction of what I have felt and remain content that my opinion would find expression at some point in time though the credit may not be mine. Still my inner conscience will know and would gratify me. CBSE enabled me to emerge as a more confident educationist since I have been, in my own way, able to corroborate and match my individual experience with the eminent proponents of education.
My last two years in KVS had been not without its struggles of establishing my legitimate place. Still the Lord’s “nishkamyakarma” had stood me in good stead. I was destined to be in the land of Lord Buddha and the great place of learning, the Nalanda. In an age when people showcase their achievements in terms of awards and public acclaims, I have endeavoured to analyze my achievements in terms of what I have learnt through the long journey. We may desire a soft bed of roses in our path. But roses do come with thorns which indeed educate and refine us. I read a book about the laws of the spirit world by Khorshed Bhavnagiri. I learnt that a soul chooses, of its own volition, its stage of performance in this world for its path of evolution. This helped me to view purported hardships as not a consequence of wrong karma but as only challenges I have set for myself for better learning. Such perspectives of life in this world would not have been possible without my Kendriya Vidyalaya experience and I owe much of my growth to this paradise of learners.
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