GUWAHATI: In a bid to create a vibrant academic environment and impart a holistic educational experience to talents of a quaint town nestled between Charaideo and Dibrugarh districts, down town Gurukul School in Moranhat has been making all the right noises, for breaking away from convention.
“Every school has a philosophy and ours is to teach the students ‘how to study’ rather than ‘what to study’. We are trying to establish a new style of teaching where in the students don’t just memorise books but absorb what have been taught; in short, experiential education,” says principal of the school, Dr. Ivan J.F. Vas.
Stressing that today’s world, where knowledge is on everybody’s finger-tip, how to absorb that knowledge is of paramount importance. “Our philosophy is to break away from the mundane educational practices in schools,” adds Dr Vas.
Started in 2019, with a modest enrolment of four to five students, the school today accommodates 666 students spanning Nursery to Class VII.
Reflecting on that growth, Mamta Kapoor, administrative officer of the school, says, “We began in 2019, but soon after Covid started and all things went online. Last year, after the pandemic subsided, we saw a wave of parents wanting to enrol their children in our school. And today, when teaching is back in classrooms, our classrooms are bustling.”
Following a CBSE medium of education, Principal Dr Vas informs that the school has implemented the NEP 2020 into the curriculum and keeping in line with it, certain positive changes have been brought into certain programmes.
“There is a mention of ‘bagless days’ for school students in the NEP 2020 and we have tried to implement that. For instance, during bagless days, we teach the students carpentry, gardening and to some extent, the basic of how to do electric fitting. The idea is to make them self-sufficient,” says Dr Vas.
Kapoor went to add that extra-curricular activities have been given special focus in the school with dedicated clubs for chess, arts and crafts, music, cooking, and more. “A special one-hour coaching session for sports enthusiasts in basketball and badminton takes place from 3 pm to 4 pm,” she informs.
Looking ahead, the school envisions expanding its academic horizons by introducing higher secondary classes. “We are opening Class VIII to XII in the coming year after the completion of our higher secondary building,” says Kapoor.
Operated by the down town Charity Trust, the same trust that owns Down Town Hospitals Ltd., the school stands as a beacon in the area with limited educational institutes.
In essence, down town Gurukul School champions pioneering teaching practices aligned with the demands of the contemporary world. And summarising it all, Dr Vas quotes an age-old adage, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”
