The pursuit of academic excellence

Purba Ghose

Sprawling over 67 acres of lush greenery, The Sarala Birla Academy is committed to providing wholesome quality education. Situated at Bannerghata, Bangalore, about 25 kms from the Bangalore airport, this boarding school for boys has been instituted by Mr Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, The Aditya Birla Group, a US $ 6 billion corporation and his wife, Neerja Birla. The family has an excellent track record and have been running schools all over India.

The Sarala Birla Academy begins from June 2004. It is affiliated to the ISCE (The Council for The Indian School Certificate Examination, New Delhi), as well as IGCSE (The International General Certificate of Secondary Education) boards, and intends getting affiliated to the International Baccalaureate. Purba Ghosh of India Abroad spoke with the Birlas in Mumbai about this distinctive school.

"At The Sarala Birla Academy, along with the pursuit of academic excellence, our thrust will be on a values-based education. One that puts a premium on values such as compassion, humility, respect, integrity and discipline and helps children evolve into fine human beings. Our endeavours are to foster the best of Indian values and cultivate a global outlook", say Mr. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman and Mrs. Neerja Birla, the Vice Chairman of the Governing Board of the Academy.

What is the philosophy of The Sarala Birla Academy? And what quality control mechanisms will be instituted to ensure that the requisite (desired) standard is maintained?

Our school's philosophy rests on the premise that education is about learning that is fun-filled, enjoyable and applicable to today's world, while unleashing the creative potential of the child. Learning at our school is child-centred and growth oriented. We aim to provide a world-class education with state-of-the-art facilities for the holistic development of the child.Our teaching methods are innovative and experimental, which in all humility, makes the learning process an enlightening one, sparking as it does the child's intellectual curiosity.

The Sarala Birla Academy will be open to students from 'internationally minded-families', please explain what this means. Internationally minded families entails families who are open to cultural diversity, who look upon the world as their universe, are not limited by geographic mindsets and who embrace globalisation in the true sense of the term. They would like their children to shine in every environment regardless of the country. In sum, internationally minded families are not insular.

Schooling these days is all about overloaded bags and overscheduled kids. How, and with what risks, if any, do you intend to depart from this pattern?

We couldn't agree more. In most Indian schools, students are overburdened with rote learning. Listening and being lectured to is the norm. Many of the schools are not open to questioning, to discourse, to the spirit of discovery and enquiry. There is so much of pressure that in the process, the joy of childhood is lost. That we believe is the greatest risk.

In our view, the entire experience of going to school, of education, of learning must be one that children eagerly look forward to and are excited about. To do so, at The Sarala Birla Academy, we encourage experimentation and creativity. We have evolved wholesome development approach. So academics, as well as spiritual, moral, intellectuaI, physical, social and cultural aspects converge seamlessly in the nurturing of the boys. Our school aims at personality development, leadership skills and the emotional growth of the individual, to help each student grow to his maximum potential.

How is the faculty s;elected? Do teachers take on the role of mentors, friends and guides or will the student-teacher relationship be more formal though no less instructional for that? We have invested enormous time and energy in the s;election of our faculty. Our teachers are drawn from the best public schools.For instance, Dr. Shyam Ganguli is from the Doon school, Dehra Dun, where he was the Housemaster and where he taught for 24 years. He has authored 30 textbooks in chemistry and history and has taught at Westminister School, Harrow and Cobhan hall in the UK.

Dr. Bruce Robinson, the Principal, has been the Principal of schools in Australia and before joining us he was the Principal of the Kodaikanal International School, India.

Mr. Vinay Pande, our Headmaster, was the Housemaster of the Doon School in Dehra Dun and at the Lawrence School in Sanawar. He has also taught the Millfeild School, UK. Mrs. Shobhana Nair, our Head of Humanities, is the erstwhile Principal of the Bangalore International School. Besides academics, our teachers will also be involved in the co-curricular activities. Naturally a warm and caring relationship between the two will develop. Additionally, every child is under the direct care of the Housemaster. We have four houses, 'Aditya', 'Bhaskar', 'Martand' and 'Vivasvan'. The housemaster is like an adult companion to the student. He is always there to provide the pastoral care, ready to listen to the student, share in his joy, understand his concerns and help him in every possible way. So there is a wonderful mix of a formal and family relationship at school.

The classroom will hold a maximum of 25 boys. The teacher-student ratio will thus be 1:10 and this also will contribute to bringing about a closeness between the two.

Importantly our Principal and his team of staff will work towards creating an awareness of respect for tradition and culture of the host country and allow the synthesis of the best practices of other cultures for global bonding. A sense of building a society where the individual is not only valued but also develops a sense of great self worth.

What is a typical day in the life of a student at SBA?
The student wakes up to an exciting time, day in and day out. The morning begins with yoga and meditation. Classes commence from 8.15 am and continue till 1.30 pm with two 20 minute breaks. After the lunch break, the students have a rest hour, followed by the pursuit of hobbies. These encompass a wide range of activities, from music to art, to painting, to clay-modelling, to metal work and carpentry, dramatics and so on. Every student has the option of choosing his area of interest.

Additionally, we have very large playing fields. Our school offers virtually every sport and games facilities such as, cricket, soccer, athletics, tennis, badminton, table-tennis and squash. And horse-riding as well. A modern gymnasium and a swimming pool provide for the additional physical stretch.

Despite the fact the SBA is a boarding school, it seeks to enlist the involvement of parents - how will this be done? How will the SBA provide a home-away-from-home feel?
Our entire teaching faculty is housed in the same campus as the students. While the housemaster provides the paternal care, a resident matron will play the role of the mother figure.

Within each of the four houses, every student is assigned to a tutorial group. The housemaster, the tutor and all the teachers collectively provide the pastoral care. In fact, the child's admission in our school, marks his entry into a far larger family. Very simply put, once can say that he is moving into a joint family. Bonding between students, between students and teachers happens all the time.

We also put a great deal of thrust on the involvement of the parents on an on-going basis. Our approach is two-pronged. Firstly, our Principal, Headmaster, bursor, housemasters and teachers are accessible. Parents can have direct access to them on their e-mails or telephonically. Our school has internet connectivity, so we encourage parents to keep in touch with the child regularly. We are in the process of establishing video and teleconferencing capability from our campus to any point in the world. The child in our environs is as secure and as well looked after as he would be in a family.

Having said that, parents will be kept fully posted periodically on how the student has fared on the academic, extra-curricular and values front.

Secondly, within the parameters of the boarding school environment, we are developing a special programme to build and nurture a parent partnership. Our endeavour is to see that the school, the child and the parent work collectively to attain the common goal of success for the student.

Dr Sarala Birla is a name to reckon with in the field of education. Can you share with us some of her more notable achievements?
Dr. Sarala Birla, our grandmother is an eminent educationist who has made an immense contribution to the field of education in the last three decades in a very quiet low profile way. Under her stewardship, the family runs some of the best day schools in the country.

Finally, what makes the Aditya Birla Group believe the investing in education will inevitably reap high dividends?
We have always been involved in education. It might interest you to know that we already have over 26 schools in 10 states across India, largely within the precincts of our group companies.

Currently, 35,000 children receive quality education at these schools, meant primarily for the children of our employees and the communities in proximity to our plants.

Having said that, let us add that, as a nation, we are making rapid strides towards becoming a global superpower.

We believe, there is an overwhelming need to incubate and nurture leaders who can make India a cutting-edge country in every dimension.

Be it social, economic or political. In our investments in education, in putting our emotional and intellectual equity into it, we believe we are helping spawn such leaders. Many of them may become global leaders too. So the returns are measurable.