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Abandoned
sugarcane lab to progressive school
Rohit
Sood headed the team that incubated the Pushp Niketan
Project from September 2005 to December 2006.
What
was it like in the beginning?
 When
I joined, the sugarcane laboratory had just been
transformed into a school. I took over from the rather
overwhelming
figure of iDiscoveri’s Ronnie Gulati. Which was not
easy because everyone thought I was this rank baccha.
Age and image was an issue, but once I started spending
time with the parents, having conversations with them
about what we had in mind, they began to trust me more.
It was an exciting time.
What
sort of a school did you have in mind?
After
completing my schooling in Mirambika (Delhi), I have
undergone their 3-year diploma in progressive education,
then helped set up Fateh Public School in Ranthambore.
We wanted to bring the best progressive teaching
practices to Pushp Niketan.
It’s
hard enough getting parents in cities to think beyond
coneventional schools. How does one manage in a place
like Dhampur?
We
met the same apprehensions – are the kids learning
‘enough’ when you teach them like this? What sort
homework is it when all the kids do, for example, is
collect leaves? Why aren’t you completing the portion
in textbooks? We start off with a disadvantage here as
opposed to at a Mirambika, because parents are not
converts to the ideology already.
So
how do you strike a balance between the curricula
followed by schools in the rest of country, and what is
being followed here at Pushp Niketan?
We
have NCERT and CBSE textbooks in our library, and we use
them as reference material in planning our lessons.
Subjects like Math are taught step-by-step, based on a
set of learning outcomes.
You
moved here with a few handpicked teachers. A small group
of teacher trainers from iDiscoveri centre for education
and enterprise shuttled between Delhi and Dhampur. What
was the goal in the time that iDiscoveri was fostering
the project?
We
wanted to make sure that the core team of teachers would
reach a level of self-sufficiency where they could set
up a classroom, plan their teaching effectively, handle
parents…and most importantly, keep the momentum going.
They needed to be prepared enough to take new people
into their fold. The other important thing was being
able to find the right people to step in as school
principal and curriculum co ordinator at the end of our
time here. Which we have managed to do. Quite
successfully, I think. Rajesh and Nisha (the new
principal and curriculum coordinator) are extremely
enthusiastic.
You
handed over charge to them in December 2006. What do you
see as the greatest challenges they will face?
The
school is growing, and there is going to be a continuous
need for quality teachers. As of now, only three or four
teachers out of the team of nine are locals. It isn’t
practical to bring teachers in from other cities
indefinitely. The school will need to train local talent
as teachers. They also need about hundred more
admissions to make the school financially viable.
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