The principle goal of education in the schools should be
creating men and women who are capable of doing new
things, not simply repeating what other generations have
done; men and women who are creative, inventive and
discoverers, who can be critical and verify, and not accept,
everything they are offered.
- Jean Piaget
Observer Research Foundation Mumbai held a roundtable
on 21st March, 2014 to discuss how Maharashtra can infuse
innovation and creativity in its Education system.
The Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, Shri J S Saharia released
ORF Mumbais report, Thinking Out of the Box in Education:
What India can Learn from Israel, by Aparna Sivakumar.
The Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Education) of Mumbai
Municipal Corporation, Shri Sunil Dhamne, the State Project
Coordinator, RMSA, Dr Suvarna Kharat, the Deputy Consul
General of Israel in Mumbai Mr. Matan Zamir, and the
Chairman of ORF Mumbai, Shri Sudheendra Kulkarni along
with senior officials from the Government of Maharashtra
and close to 90 educationists, educators and experts
working in the field of education were present.
About the Round table
Inside This Issue
1. About the Roundtable
2. The Roundtable discussion
Teaching innovations in the
rural context
Can we have a special scheme
to nurture gifted children,
especially from
underprivileged families?
Science and Learning by Doing
Teachers & Teacher education
Child-centric education
Educational best practices in
the state and BMC schools
3. Address by Shri J S Saharia and
guests of honour
4. The road ahead
5. Roundtable Attendees
Newsletter
21 March 2014
Roundtable on
How Maharashtra can infuse innovation and creativity in its
Education system
Observer Research Foundation Mumbai Ideas and Action for a Better India
PAGE 2
The roundtables atmosphere was nothing short of electric, with everyone sharing their ideas and
experiences. Though the time was short to do due justice to every discussion segment, several interesting
thoughts were shared, which I will summarise here without much ado.
The Roundtable
Teaching Innovations in the rural context
Talking about education innovations in the rural context, Mr Ashok
Kalbag outlined the tenets of rural education from Vigyan Ashrams
experience as:
1. Learning by doing there are several low-cost activities that can
be done with commonly available artefacts, designed around
relevant problems to enrich learning.
2. Economy an opportunity to earn while children learn (especially
senior students); learning from low-cost artefacts.
Education through development
and
development through
education
Vigyan Ashrams byline
Mr Pralhad Kathole, a self-motivated and passionate Zilla Parishad teacher from Wada district emphasised the
importance of being a lifelong learner. He opined that the B.Ed/ D.Ed training that lacks practical work does
not sufficiently equip the teacher with knowhow and skills to face a real-life classroom or school scenario.
Pralhad also explained how the NGO, QUEST (http://www.quest.org.in/) has immensely helped teachers like
him with:
Teacher study circle: breaking silos, sharing best practices, solving problems together A platform that
brings teachers together along with experts to discuss and solve various problems that teachers face in their
day-to-day classroom, understand pedagogies and share best practices. This has been extended to an
online Marathi forum, which currently has over 250 members (http://forum.quest.org.in/).
Digital literacy Working knowledge of the INSCRIPT keyboard helps build confidence in teachers to use the
computer, especially in Marathi, breaking language-based entry barriers.
Teaching resources Videos and other online resources that provide guidance on teaching methods
(http://elearning.quest.org.in/)
3. As in real life, there should be no water-tight compartments for every subject just as in real life, there are
no boundaries, children should be able to explore and learn from every aspect of rural life, from low-cost
construction, agriculture, animal husbandry to fabrication, food preservation.
4. Community interface is critical take projects and problems from the community, and work towards
solving them.
5. Since children dont think within the box (intrinsically), its easier to introduce ideas. They are good at
copying so seniors (teachers, parents and guardians) should be good, to lead the way by example.
PAGE 3
Education in the rural
context
Teacher education and
preparation for rural-
environment and ongoing
professional development.
Learning resources.
Language of instruction.
Pedagogies learning by
doing, real-life learning, and
local inputs.
Community interface.
Modality of education
delivery.
Economics for solutions as
well as student incentives.
Several viewpoints were presented on the language of instruction
and learning resources.
1. For children living in rural and tribal belts, more resources should be
created in their tribal dialects, with contextual flavor.
2. Colloquial language can be used to explain concepts to children,
however, the tutor should encourage and ensure that the child
learns the accepted language, be it Marathi, Hindi or English.
3. When one looks at learning by doing as a pedagogy, the
language impediment blurs though students may struggle to
communicate for the first few months, its not a concern in the long
run, since children easily adapt quickly and learn.
Learning resources and medium of delivery are also very critical,
especially in rural areas:
1. Videos that help teachers by providing them insights into the real
classroom experience, inputs on pedagogies and ways to teach
different concepts;
2. Online modules that help children understand specific concepts
better (not limited to a paragraph or a small chapter in a textbook)
with explanatory videos, supporting experiments that children can
do, as well as follow-up project work and field trips;
3. Contextual learning resources that can be made available on
tablets and mobiles as well. Children learn very quickly and also
adapt to new technologies, as seen in Maharashtra Government-IIT
Bombay experiment in Pandharpur.
Professor Sudhakar Agarkar raised a critical point for rural teachers he emphasised the importance of
preparing teachers for teaching in the rural environment; current teacher training programmes do not
equip them with sufficient skills to face the real-scenario in a rural school.
Reflecting from her experience in Israel, Dr Radhik Khanna underscored the importance of capacity
building of teachers a good training programme that infuses a spirit of enthusiasm and confidence in
teachers.
Dr Madhuri Sawant outlined the success story of the Governments tablet pilot in Pandharpur and current
work on the development of mathematics and science labs. We also discussed about Governments
efforts towards formalising vocational education in secondary schools from this academic year. Both these
efforts have the potential to bring about a large transformation of the education system.
PAGE 4
Understanding Gifted Education
Mrs Usha Pandit, Founder CEO, Mindsprings shared her expert inputs on gifted
education. By definition, gifted children are children who exhibit a level of
creativity as well as motivation (persistence and determination) above the
median level. 5% of all populations are gifted giftedness spans multiple
domains, cultures, economic strata and gender. Giftedness itself can be
graded into mildly, moderately and exceptionally gifted. Though giftedness
implies talent, privilege and often the glamour of genius, it also has rough
edges there is often social and emotional immaturity, over-sensitivity, loss of
perspectives and a tendency to cause self and social harm. Teachers
typically teach to the average of the bell curve and there is neglect of the
narrow special ends of the curve gifted children need more exposure,
avenues for discovery, time, resources, appreciation and mentoring. A few
things characterise gifted children:
Thinking they think differently, they are fluent, deep and unconventional
thinkers, enjoying the unexpected and the intense.
Learning they are better at handling abstract and complex ideas. They
make excellent connections and links, draw intuitive inferences and see
cause and effect easily. They often teach themselves skills, are early readers
and their curiosity is boundless.
Educational equity does not mean educational
sameness. Equity respects
individual differences in
readiness to learn and
recognizes the value of
each student.
- A Nation Deceived
Imagination They enjoy fantasy, daydreaming, intellectual playfulness and
have a highly developed and often sophisticated sense of humour.
Leadership They may be spirited in expressing their opinions and show great
leadership abilities. They ask interesting, difficult or unexpected questions and
are persistent in seeking answers.
Originality;
Discovery;
Plurality;
Creating resilience in
children;
Creating character;
Promoting autonomous
learning;
Providing more
opportunities for self-
actualisation, so that
giftedness can bloom;
Teach children to be risk-
takers, to be
entrepreneurs;
Creating more productive
and fulfilled human
beings.
Gifted education is about:
Ethics and Aesthetics Some have a high sense of justice and fair play or a heightened sensitivity to beauty or
pain.
Gifted education is about simulation and creative opportunities allowing the mind to think, to be creative
and be challenged. The gifted education teacher should be a mentor who understands, intervenes without
domination, explores with the child and shares his/her excitement.
We, as parents and teachers should be alert to recognise giftedness (be it cognitive, intellectual, musical,
inter or intrapersonal, bodily kinaesthetic, visual or spatial or naturalistic, and provide an environment that
respects as well as nurtures the child (and his/her gifts).
Teacher training and learning environment design will be critical for a gifted education programme.
Since the scope of the topic was large, ORF Mumbai will hold a separate roundtable on Gifted education to
understand the concept in detail, discuss international practices as well as practical proposals for
implementation in Maharashtra.
PAGE 5
Science & Learning by Doing
Learning science cannot be divorced from learning by doing ideally the
relationship is implicit, science education and science popularisation should
go hand-in-hand. However, the current bookish education system is killing
science.
Dr Chitra Natarajan explained the different types of Learning by Doing:
Gaining experience (learning) by doing;
Learning by exploration (doing);
The application of learning (theory, concepts) with the doing;
Activities designed around learning.
It is extremely important to not confuse the activity, or rather the product of
the activity with learning this appears to be happening with the so-called
project work assigned to children in schools (often done by their parents).
Several important points were discussed:
Its important to teach children design and collaborative learning;
Learning should go beyond the classroom at home, at the play area
(how see-saws in a park and even doors in the house can teach children
about levers, fulcrum, etc.);
Theres a lot of science in traditional things; science can be a way of life
we should open up possibilities for children to see this and learn from
them;
Science should be FUN-damental and not something that children fear.
There should be a structured vocational training programme for teachers
as well, so that they are well-equipped to teach science and technology
in classrooms.
Inverted classroom methodology can be experimented in schools, with
success.
We cant have history teachers teaching science to children it should
be someone who knows the basics of science.
Pratham
Science Programme
The young, enthusiastic team
from Pratham Science
Programme explained their
work in detail:
3 core activities:
o Science club
o Science fair
o Science workshop
Vigyan mitras local youth,
trained in science
experiments, visiting
schools and engaging
children in workshops and
the science club;
Children are taught
different concepts, with an
emphasis on experience
(and the process of
learning);
Camp Galileo a four-
night astronomy workshop;
Children are taught to
perform experiments,
analyse results and make
conclusions;
Confidence building is
critical;
Reading/ concept cards
on different topics are also
available.
Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.
Albert Einstein
Learn more about the Chai and Why? A public informal science interaction Programme by TIFR
http://www.tifr.res.in/~outreach/outreach/outreachchai.html
PAGE 6
Teachers and Teacher Education
The status of the teacher reflects the socio-cultural ethos of a society; it is said that no people
can rise above the level of its teachers. The Government and the community should endeavor to
create conditions which will help motivate and inspire teachers on constructive and creative
lines. Teachers should have the freedom to innovate, to devise appropriate methods of
communication and activities relevant to the needs and capabilities of and the concerns of the
community. Teacher Education is a continuous process, and its pre-service and in-service
components are inseparable
National Policy on Education, 1986
Everyone at the roundtable stressed on the importance of teacher development, empowerment and
education.
In fact, one of the tenets of teacher education is that teaching is not a one-time job. No matter what is done
in the B.Ed/ D.Ed/ M.Ed course, in terms of content, curriculum, etc., we need teacher professional
development programmes to be continuous.
Currently, there is not enough support / focus towards continuous teacher upgradation in the education
system.
Teachers should be lifelong learners. In-service and professional development programmes are critical.
Teachers should also be pointed to resources which can help them constantly upgrade themselves.
B.Ed and D.Ed does not sufficiently prepare teachers for real-life teaching; the problems only multiply in
rural settings. Practical-work exposure, internship and special contextual orientation are critical to skill
teachers.
Currently, teacher training does not cater to special education or catering to multiple intelligences of
children a few teacher training colleges have introduced programmes towards this, where special
educators guide and work with teacher trainees to help them develop a better understanding of lesson
planning and delivery for an unequal classroom.
We should have mechanisms to run through policy documents with teachers and explain its different
gamuts, scope to them with multiple interactions, if needed. Currently most teachers lack a nuanced
understanding of the National Curriculum Framework (NCF), Continuous Comprehensive Evaluation
(CCE), etc.
Teachers should be encouraged to identify obstacles and issues they are facing.
We should respect, empower and enable teachers to do their job and provide them the supporting
infrastructure.
School Leadership development is imperative for better planning, management and mentorship.
Teachers should have to focus on 'teaching' and not on other tasks like Census/ Election duties.
A Teacher 'Sahayak' can play a key role in supporting the teacher.
Divorce of 'professional degree' from the teacher's core subject puts the teacher at a disadvantage.
PAGE 7
Theres a pressing need to work on the following, as suggested by Dr Chitra Natarajan:
The child should be at the centre of education!
Let the child have 'fun' while learning.
Provide avenues for discovery and freedom.
Introduce a high rigour of thinking in children.
Respect and value 'all' intelligences and ensure that the teaching-
learning process caters to multiple intelligences.
Seek to build 'enquiry' in children.
Prepare children for life.
Teaching and learning through emotional well-being, EQ and not IQ,
Art, literature and sport should play an active part of the childs
education.
We should move towards 'autonomous' learning.
We should teach children design, collaborative learning they are born
with design abilities, just as they are born with linguistic abilities.
Give more options to children - not all are oriented towards 'science',
we cannot label them as unfit/ unsuccessful because they do not excel
in science or mathematics.
Engage in real-life issues in the classroom, even if 'controversial' since
Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness;
but direct them to it by
what amuses their minds, so
that you may be better
able to discover with
accuracy the peculiar bent
of the genius of each.
- Plato
Education is the manifestation of perfection already in man. Strength must come to
the nation through education. A nation is advanced in proportion as education and
intelligence spread among the masses.
Swami Vivekananda
PAGE 8
Innovations in Maharashtra Education system
Shri J S Sharia, Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra, Shri Sunil
Dhamne, Deputy Municipal Commissioner (Education), BMC, Dr Suvarna
Kharat, State Project Coordinator, RMSA outlined several innovations that
have been/ and are being implemented in the Maharashtra state.
Government of Maharashtra
Strengthening English language knowledge for teachers with the British
Council (60,000 primary teachers; 30,000 secondary teachers).
School Leadership Programme for heads of schools with the British
Council; headmasters should know how to manage a school, how to
motivate teachers, how to be self-vigilant to set their own benchmarks;
they must ensure that children learn, perform and are creative.
Mathematics education workshop for teachers, using online-live
classrooms, with IIT-Bombay. HBCSE and BARC are also involved.
Learning outcomes programme with Accenture.
Tablet-based education in Pandharpur and creation of math and
science labs.
Government of Maharashtra is also working towards formalising
vocationalisation in secondary education.
Shri J S Saharia on Accountability
and Quality of Education.
http://youtu.be/nFfMwhEK88c
Shri Sunil Dhamne on innovations in
BMC schools.
https://youtu.be/3cc9fsQ3-zw
Dr Suvarna Kharat on Maharashtra
Education system, teacher training,
Capacity building, vocationalisation
and empowerment of SMC.
http://youtu.be/9HO4FpPkgEQ
BMC
Semi-language pattern thats followed in BMC schools (science and
mathematics are taught in English, and other subjects in Marathi)
School Excellence Programme which aims at several improvements in
school education improving quality of education, increasing
attendance and reducing dropouts, with the involvement of experts,
well-established pedagogies, activity-based learning and increased
teacher participation.
And many more
Ashok Kalbag on Education
innovations in the rural context
http://youtu.be/zzL-wjgaezI
Dr Chitra Natarjan on Science
and Learning by Doing
http://youtu.be/llWt8qc-fO0
Aparna Sivakumars presentation on
Thinking out-of-the-box in Education
http://prezi.com/rugarzljb2b2/innovati
on-and-creativity/
PAGE 9
While access has significantly improved, it is extremely critical that we all work together, and act as watchdogs
of the system to help improve accountability and quality. He rued that though government spends 90% of the
cost for education (the annual teacher salary bill for the government is Rs. 30,000 crores a teacher, in fact
earns more than an engineering graduate in his first job), quality of education has not gotten where it should.
Shri J S Saharia spoke about three main issues plaguing education:
1. The private-public participation in school education has not completely yielded the desired results
though there are a few great institutions, a large number of them exist for commercial reasons and not
for imparting quality education this, despite the fact that the government pays for teacher salaries. Can
we introduce systems which make them more accountable?
2. One experiment by a person/ organisation in an isolated school is excellent, but how does one replicate it.
Replicability is very critical there are 100,000 schools, 750,000 teachers, and close to 20 million children in
Maharashtra itself!
3. Things are more visible, manageable, and controllable in and around Mumbai, for instance. But we have
no visibility into what is happening in the rural areas are the best-intentioned teachers going there, are
children coming to the school? The governance and the systems that are in place currently have its own
implications and problems. Therefore we are not able to take the initiatives and concepts to the last leg
to all teachers and children. This is the gravest challenge, not just in Maharashtra, but all over the country,
and even the world. How does one introduce accountability into every teacher, every governing/
supervisory officer? How can we ensure that all stakeholders in school education perform as they are
expected to perform?
We need to quickly move into the next stage quality education. It has to be a localised experiment; it
should be a self-motivated, self-sustainable initiative, something that does not need supervision; it should be
self-propelling it should not be incentivised or disincentivised.
He highlighted the fact that we are not in the blame game. We have to create committed people in the field
of education. And they should come into the system and should advise the government also. We all have to
apply our minds and find workable, feasible and viable solutions.
We need to collectively drive reforms, drive change!
Shri J S Saharias address is available on YouTube http://youtu.be/nFfMwhEK88c
Shri JS Saharia: an appeal to work together to improve the Quality of Education
Shri J S Saharia, Chief Secretary, Government of Maharashtra congratulated ORF Mumbai for the report,
Thinking out-of-the-box in Education, the roundtable and the launch of the Change Agents in School
Education and Research (CASER) platform.
While admitting that it is not untrue that the school education is in shambles today, and that quality has been
the biggest casualty, he pointed out to the fact that we have come a long way in the past few decades
since independence Maharashtra is probably one of the only states in the country, where we have one
primary school within 1.5 kilometers of a child!
PAGE 10
Mr Jonathan Miller, Consul General of the State of Israel, Mumbai, in his
video address explained how education in Israel is seen as a key foundation
and the very basis of the state. Israel understood early on itself that without
an education system that encourages children to be creative, innovative
and ask questions, it would be very difficult for the country to develop.
He felt that India is also striding along the same lines, and took the
opportunity to extend Israels support to the Government of Maharashtra to
help the school systems in Maharashtra to implement some of the unique
systems that they have developed in Israel, that have helped children there
to be innovative and think out-of-the-box. He reiterated that Israel is ready to
partner for better education and will be happy to play a small role towards
contributing towards creating an innovative society.
Indo-Israel partnership to help infuse more innovative educational practices
Mr. Jonathan Millers welcome
address at the roundtable
http://youtu.be/tXgpiz_-UXA
Shri Sudheendra Kulkarni, Chairman, ORF Mumbai spoke about how
Learning by Doing is the foundation of Mahatma Gandhijis Nai Talim
learning must begin with hand, heart, then head the intellectual,
emotional, development, character development, spiritual development
and artistic development should go together in education: there should be
a harmonisation. We should rediscover the tradition of learning in India itself.
He appreciated Maharashtra Governments leading efforts towards
vocationalising secondary education. He spoke about how the current
system does not have drop-outs but creates push-outs children who
have talent, intelligence and desire to learn further are pushed out by the
system! Learning by doing will be critical not just for the push-outs but for
the others who are in the secondary education system.
We need RTQE, Right to Quality Education, not just RTE!
Shri Sudheendra Kulkarnis
address at the roundtable
http://youtu.be/uQ4rxY8Vltw
He lauded BMCs efforts towards blending education in Matrubhasha(Marathi) as well as English, and how
this can help bring up the enrollments that had dropped in municipal schools!
Shri Sudheendra Kulkarni pointed out that in the past few years there have been several landmark legislations
in the sphere of education, but as Dr Vivek Monteiro pointed out, we need the right to quality education, we
need universalisation. RTQE is what India needs. The Government must define outcomes government and
private institutions should work together and be held accountable against these outcome parameters.
Talking about gifted education, he stressed on the fact that it is not an inegalitarian concept it is to
recognise that some children, in some ways are gifted, who with special attention can really bloom, blossom
and be assets to the nation. He gave the example of what Israel has done by designing special measures to
PAGE 11
identify gifted children and providing an institutionalised system where these
children interact with best scholars, best scientists, and artists in Israel. Why cant we
do it in India?
ORF Mumbai is working on launching two initiatives in education Change Agents
in School Education and Research (CASER) and Change Agents in Higher
Education and Research (CAHER). He pointed that many of the change agents
are already amongst us at the roundtable and appealed to everyone to partner
with ORF Mumbai to take these two concepts to reality.
He also took this opportunity to applaud the efforts of Shri Firoz Ashraf-jis Uncles
Classes what he, his wife and daughter have achieved in the past ten years is
nothing but a social revolution in a nanoscale, making education possible for poor
Muslim girls (not just Muslim girls, also Hindi girls).
ORF Mumbais
Forthcoming Publication
on Excellence through
Autonomy
There are at least 50-60
engineering colleges in
the country today where
the quality of student
intake is comparable to
that at the IITs. If these
colleges could be given
autonomy and assisted
with improving the quality
of education delivery and
their research, then we
could produce sufficient
numbers of well-trained
engineers who can
engage in research and
produce products,
patents and services to
deal with the challenges
facing the country.
- Dr F C Kohli
Chairman,
Board of Governors,
College of Engineering,
Pune
Dr Suvarna Kharat on Maharashtra School Education
Dr Kharat, State Project Coordinator, RMSA, appreciated ORF Mumbais efforts
towards bringing together experts in education and the government in the same
platform, the comprehensive discussion at the roundtable and also conveyed the
best wishes of Smt Ashwini Bhide, who was unable to grace the event. She
explained that due to multiple responsibilities of the government, it is currently
difficult to provide the best of facilities in schools, but she strongly believes that this
will change. She specifically stressed on a few aspects:
Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE) is an extremely well
designed and powerful system which can help consolidate details of schools as
well as teachers (including their professional qualifications and development
programmes) and provide real-time data on schools and drive better school
and classroom planning, resource allocation and decision making. Schools
need to take this seriously.
Theres a need for capacity building of headmasters as well as teachers. We
start leadership development very late in life it is important to initiate this much
earlier on in life.
Its critical to ensure subject-wise qualification and competency of teachers.
She gave the example of Malaysias education system, where teachers are
required to qualify to teach subjects via specific tests that they should
successfully complete within a timeframe, failing which they should choose an
alternate route.
She underscored the need to empower the School Management Committee
their role should move beyond ensuring quality mid-day meals, and ensure even
quality of teachers, and education.
PAGE 12
The road ahead
Coming together is a beginning,
keeping together is progress,
working together is success.
- Henry Ford
The roundtable was just a beginning. There are several areas where
we all need to come together and work on towards ensuring quality
education for the millions of school children, for instance:
Teacher development and education;
Education innovations in the rural context;
Streamlining of educational governance and improving
accountability;
Science and math education;
Holistic and enriched education for children (respecting every
childs interest, passion and aptitude);
Learning resources;
Technology interventions;
Teaching-learning pedagogies;
Practitioner networks;
Effective implementation of government policies and
frameworks;
Vocational education
C ASE R
The list as well as our interests and expertise are varied and many! I would like to invite you all to be a part of
our broad-based platform called Change Agents in School Education and Research (CASER) and work
towards helping the government institutionalise scalable, replicable initiatives and ideas and improve the
quality of education.
ORF Mumbai will start the next series of focused discussions shortly, so that we can identify the core areas of
work and create working groups which can focus on delivering the much-needed outcomes.
Looking forward to a successful collaboration that produces tangible results towards improving the quality of
education.
Please feel free to contact me at [email protected]:
To play an active role in CASER
For a detailed transcript or audio-video of the roundtable discussion
For ideas and suggestions
To get a copy of ORF Mumbais report, Thinking out of the Box in Education: What India can learn from
Israel in English or Marathi.
PAGE 13
Change Agents at the Roundtable
Dr Suvarna Kharat, RMSA, Department of School Education and Sports, Government of Maharashtra
S J Shastri, Department of School Education and Sports, Government of Maharashtra
Preetam Kale (Accenture), Department of School Education and Sports, Government of Maharashtra
S M Dhamne, MCGM
Sneha Saigal, Akanksha Foundation
M Mehta, Alka Org
Harita R Puranik, All India Radio
Sunil Sharma, Aqua Capital
Mary Ellen Matsui, Atma
Lisa Rodricks, Atma
Krishna Ramkumar, Avanti Fellows
Simantini Dhuru, Avehi Abacus Project
Dr Richa Singh, CACR
Dr S G Wagle, CACR
Niharika Mannar, CHIP Mumbai
Manish C Kadam, DD News
R N Bhaskar, DNA
Jayendra Kulkarni, Droid Digital
Dr Jonathan Joshi, Eduvance
Mamta Sodani, Fun Zone
Prof Chitra Natarjan, HBCSE
Devashree P, HBCSE
Dr Pooja Birwatkar, HBCSE
Dr Minakshi Walke, I E S V N S
Dr Madhuri Sawant, IIT Bombay
Ninad Vengurlekar, IL & FS
Anushree Mittal Yadav, inOpen
Ashok Kalbag, IUCEE/ Vigyan Ashram
Surendra Dighe, Jidnyasa Trust Thane
Nachiket Nitsure, Jnana Prabodhini
Md Maksud Alam, Kaivalya Education Foundation
Sharik Chatterjee, Kaivalya Education Foundation
Prajakta Kasale, Loksatta
B Meneza, M W Co Ltd
A P Deshpande, Marathi Vidyan Parishad
Ramya Venkataraman, McKinsey & Company
Usha Pandit, Mindsprings
Vidushi Chaudhry, Mindsprings
Ali Muhammad Chisty, Minhaj-ul-Quran
Sapana Purandare, Muktangan Mumbai
Dr Nandumar Jadhav, Navnirmiti
Dr Vivek Monteiro, Navnirmiti
PAGE 14
Change Agents at the Roundtable
Geeta Mahashabde, Navnirmiti, Pune
Vipula Abhyankar, Navnirmiti, Pune
Girish Nair, Netcore
Diksha Singh, Praja
Milind Mhaske, Praja
Anagha Gangan, Pratham
Neha Thakur, Pratham
Shraddha Chorgi, Pratham
Jagdip Nikam, Pratham Science Program
Mery E Loke, Pratham Science Program
Sonal Naik, Pratham Science Program
Murtuza Merchant, PTI
Nitin Nimkar, QUEST
Kusha Sharma, Reliance Foundation
Shalini Garg, Reliance Foundation
Dr M K Krishnamoorthy, Reliance Industries
M P Girish Kumar, Reliance Industries
Rajendra Vadadkar, Reliance Industries
Vinayak V Dixit, S R Pusalkar & Co
Mithila Dalvi, Samvaad a dialogue
Vinayak Kale, Shishir Vihar, Dadar
Dr Jayashree Inbaraj, Smt Kapila Khandvala College of Education
Priya Khan, SPARK
Dr Radhik Khanna, SPJ Sadhana School
Anamika R, Sujaya Foundation
Neelambari Rao, Sujaya Foundation
Aditya Narayanan, Teach for India
Mekhala Vadadkar, Teach for India
Surendra Kulkarni, TIFR Mumbai
Firoz Ashraf, Uncles Tuition
Sneha Madiath, UNICEF
Ritika Bajaj, Vidya Mumbai
S C Agarkar, Vidya Prasarak Mandal
Pralhad Kathole, ZP School, Nihali
Dr Sharad Wagle, adCom plus
A V Shenoy
Bharat V Sha
Dr Ketan Kalaskar
Giriraj Kavi
Lyn Wulfsohn
Shivshankar Reddy
Vinayaka Patil
Vincent D'Souza
Inside This Issue21 March 2014
About the Round tableTeaching Innovations in the rural contextThe RoundtableUnderstanding Gifted EducationScience & Learning by DoingTeachers and Teacher EducationThe child should be at the centre of education!Innovations in Maharashtra Education systemShri JS Saharia: an appeal to work together to improve the Quality of EducationIndo-Israel partnership to help infuse more innovative educational practicesWe need RTQE, Right to Quality Education, not just RTE!Dr Suvarna Kharat on Maharashtra School EducationThe road aheadChange Agents at the RoundtableChange Agents at the Roundtable