{"id":350362,"date":"2024-10-01T01:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-01T06:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/?p=350362"},"modified":"2024-10-01T07:09:36","modified_gmt":"2024-10-01T12:39:36","slug":"beyond-books-an-educationists-take-on-nurturing-young-minds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/beyond-books-an-educationists-take-on-nurturing-young-minds\/","title":{"rendered":"Beyond books: An educationist’s take on nurturing young minds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Well-known educationist, Kuriakose J. Vari has written \u201cMy\u00a0 Romance with Education\u201d\u00a0 with passion and involvement. Not just dos and don\u2019ts to education and all those policies and patterns to it, but inter-webbed and interwoven are details from his day-to-day experiences dealing with students and their parents and also the school staff. A book review by Humra Quraishi<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Critics could get somewhat critical, pointing out that I should have written about this book last fortnight, around Teacher\u2019s Day. I do understand but I feel such books are significant every single day as they revolve around our children \u2026our future generation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today\u2019s children are living in rather tough times. Too many distractions and high technology gadgets and frightfully fierce competition. In the background lurks the communal climate and the corruption riddled atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This book authored by the well-known educationist, Kuriakose J. Vari, is definitely significant. He is the former principal of the Modern School, Vasant Vihar, New Delhi, and also a former member of the Expert Advisory Committee, HRD Ministry (GOI). Above all, he has helped set-up schools where the basic aim is to make the child feel confident and secure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He starts this volume by focusing on the school he himself went to in the initial years, the  Salesian School at  Sonada, close to Darjeeling. The formative years were of great significance for him, as he travelled there, to Darjeeling, all the way from Kerala. \u201cI am grateful to the Salesian school-cum-college for the wonderful education I received there through Don Bosco\u2019s educational paradigm – \u2018The preventive system.\u2019 He also mentions the names and details to the academics and teachers and his fellow classmates who made a lasting impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that take-off, he focuses on the bigger picture! After all, education goes beyond books and classrooms. To quote him, \u201cNo serious efforts have been made to impart \u2018education for life\u2019. Without life skills, you cannot navigate day-to-day life smoothly. Every activity, both academic and non-academic, must be deftly interwoven with life-skills education\u2026Even the greatest of  technological communication tools cannot  bypass the fundamental and  extremely complex  human element involved  in true education, which defies being caged in absolute constructs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vari  has written this volume with passion and involvement. Not just dos and don\u2019ts to education and all those policies and patterns to it, but inter-webbed and interwoven are details from his day-to-day experiences dealing with students and their parents and also the school staff. It  makes an interesting read, with  the varying  human characteristics or factors  which you and I  can well relate to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After  having  helped shape the  lives and careers of  hundreds of  his students, he  decided to  settle down in Bangalore, with  his wife Alice, to whom he  has  dedicated  this book. As he told me, \u201cI\u2019m in my mid-80s and decided it\u2019s time to retire \u2026but I\u2019m always there for whoever seeks my advice or suggestions on education.\u201d (This book carries his contact mail id –   kjvari@gmail.com<\/a> )<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After reading this volume, one basic aspect stood out, loud and clear. Vari\u2019s earnest and sincere efforts to help the child. The basic aim is to make each child\u2019s individuality taken into account and respected, and with that the child is made to feel confident and secure and comfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such a significant  book in today\u2019s  India, where  one  incident after another comes up  where  teachers are seen  humiliating and even  verbally hitting young Muslim students on the  basis of religion! Two recent such incidents captured in videos\/ shots, are from the schools of Uttar Pradesh. Shocked us yet didn\u2019t perhaps shock the right-wing political rulers of the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BOOK\u00a0 REVIEW<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Title of the  book \u2013  MY  Romance  WITH  EDUCATION –  An  Effective  Teacher  <\/em> has to be a  Jack of  All<\/em>  Subjects and Master of One<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Publisher \u2013 Milap Publications<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Author  \u2013  Kuriakose  J.  Vari<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Price –  Rs  699<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Pages –  178<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well-known educationist, Kuriakose J. Vari has written \u201cMy\u00a0 Romance with Education\u201d\u00a0 with passion and involvement. Not just dos and don\u2019ts to education and all those policies and patterns to it, but inter-webbed and interwoven are details from his day-to-day experiences dealing with students and their parents and also the school staff. A book review by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":350363,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2205],"tags":[17128,18663,17127,18664],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350362"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=350362"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":350364,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/posts\/350362\/revisions\/350364"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media\/350363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=350362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=350362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tehelka.com\/rest-api\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=350362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}