From Good to Great

Happy Independence Day, everyone!

Today, we are 70 years old as a free, collective, vibrant nation. It is a wonder really that we not only survived a history of slavery that left us depleted – economically, politically, socially - but now we are finally claiming our spot under the sun and charting our future.  Alive, Throbbing, Dynamic, the world acknowledges us now not only for our history and culture but also the achievements and strides our nation continues to make. The most remarkable is of course the breed of students and youngsters that are increasingly spreading their wings globally and shining in their endeavours.

As an educationist, there couldn’t be any other fact that pleases me of course – to see our students and children achieving so much. But, it isn’t a secret that we have much more to achieve. Giant leaps that need to be taken in fields of education, healthcare, sports, sanitation, environment, socio-economic policies that prevent the majority of our children, our youth, our countrymen and women from living an empowered life. Imagine the leaps we could make if all of us could throb at the same level. If we are all to collectively grow, we all need to beat at a uniform frequency. This is where we need to brace ourselves for change, to grow as a better nation.

And how do we go about that? We need to look at three important things as a nation to be better at - health, hygiene and environment - apart from education, of course. These three aspects are something that each citizen needs to get involved with. And this should begin young since changes in these spheres requires an attitudinal shift which require to get instilled at a very young age. We have observed that right from preschool, children can be sensitised to the importance of their environment.

A few weeks back, students from Billabong High International School, Santacruz made us proud by taking our school to the first position in the West Zone in the NDTV Behtar India Campaign. The first stage of the campaign was Behtar Swasthya or health, the second stage was Behtar Swacchta and the third stage pertained to Behtar Vatavaran. Among the eighty students that participated, our students through their active participation and innovative solutions of using technology to tackle plastic waste and speaking up for the environment etc., led us up the points table. They were rewarded with a video shoot in the school organised by NDTV. While four BHIS students went to Delhi to participate in the stage 1 conclusion program, one student also shared the stage with the brand ambassador, Sushant Singh.   Incidentally in the past few weeks, we were also ranked fourth in the entire state of Maharashtra under the category of ‘Top 20 International Schools’ by the Education Today survey.

When asked what constitutes great education, I often say that it is educating not just the child’s mind but freeing up his/her spirit, building the character, developing a healthy self-esteem. No man is an island. We are interconnected to each other and the wellness of one affects the wellness of society. We need to keep improving. To grow from Good to Great.