SAY NO to school?

Cdr. T.R.A. Narayanan did the unthinkable. He pulled his two sons out of school and enrolled them in ‘Open schooling’ instead. Reason: they were not getting the time to pursue their passions. No, we're not kidding about this! Shivaram, the younger one is an Origami genius while Shrinivas, is pursuing wildlife photography. Now that's what we call COOL parents. JAM brings you the exciting story of a family settled in Goa who dared to challenge the rigid school system.

Did your kids want to leave school?
No, my kids were at an age when they could not take a decision on this issue. They did not hate school, but felt that they could do more interesting activities and pursue their passions in the time that would be lost in an 8 hour school schedule. The school was not doing anything to actively encourage their talents, especially Shivaram's Origami abilities.
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What provoked you to take this decision?
Our decision to pull them out came when Shivaram returned from Mumbai after wrapping up an Origami programme where over 3000 children participated. He had missed his half yearly exams and wrote them on returning. Quite predictably he did not do well as he had no time to prepare. But, the school authorities said that we had our priorities all wrong and that his talents in this little known art would get him nowhere. Studies and marks was all that mattered to them.

So, we decided...

that we would not allow the system to drown our children's talents - whatever the field may be. We pulled them both out by the end of that year. We collected all the information on the Open School options through the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) and were not overly worried about their academic future.
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Was it an easy decision to make?
Once we were clear that the NIOS was a feasible option we had no hesitation on veering of the beaten track. NIOS is recognised by practically every University in the country including the top institutions like the IIT, BITS Pilani, and all Regional Engineering Colleges etc. Such a format works for us as I work from home and my wife, Janani helps them to utilise all their free time constructively. And we are competent enough to coach them in the required academics without getting into the tuition rut.
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In a nation like India you don't see many people taking up careers of the kind your sons want to. How did they get the courage and the confidence to choose such a path?
What we have done is simply encourage them to pursue their strengths. The basic tenet is - "You can excel only if you love what you are doing", whatever your field may be. In fact the happiest person is the one whose hobby is his profession. You never feel you are working!

The children of today are lucky that the world has...

opened up with so many non-traditional career options. Many of them don't even need any formal qualifications. What does a job in a call centre need? Good communication and patience? All these fields are score big money opportunities today. And these are the very qualities that are not part of the general school curriculum that is crammed with stuff that has at times no relevance to today's world.
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Parents pressurise their children when it comes to making career choices - your view?
Parents should stop to think what they are doing with their kids. All the management gurus talk of SWOT analysis for organisations and individuals. You strengthen your strengths and manage your weaknesses. Why not the same principle for kids? There is ample opportunity today to pursue your strengths in even offbeat fields, then why the hesitation? That is because maybe they do not want to go off the beaten track. Or maybe because of the status of certain professions?

Cdr Narayanan says, "Open schooling system and education in general is becoming more flexible in keeping with the changing world. The NIOS has no age limits - both upper or lower. The Chennai University gives you the opportunity to enroll for a graduate degree course without a XII pass certificate. All you need to be is 18 years.”

You don't want your child to be a tailor. But remember, yesterdays tailor is today's Fashion Designer. It is only a question of nomenclature. A good Furniture Designer (Carpenter?) can earn much more...

than a bad doctor. Getting a job as a designer in a reputed furniture company like IKEA will be a lot tougher than becoming a doctor in some clinic. Yes, but you must strive to reach for the pinnacle of your chosen field. And that comes through effort, persistence and the will to last the course.
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Home schooling or an open school system, why would you recommend it?
Open / home schooling system may not suit many households mainly because both the parents are not at home but at work the whole day or the parent at home cannot help in the open school academic requirements. But if your child has a particular talent in some field, then you as a parent need to feed that strength if it has to blossom.

If school schedule is interfering with that path and home / open schooling is not possible because of practical constraints, then some via media needs to be found. That solution will be different in each case. But any recognised prodigious talent not tapped at the early stage will fade away by the time the child is out of school. And you can't turn the clock back.