-By ArdorComm News Network
November 7, 2022
“The foundational years is in place so the value of foundational years is something that the government has understood now,” says Chirag Agarwal, Founder Director, EarlyVentions – Chain of Preschools, Bengaluru in an interview with Pratik Ghosh, ArdorComm Media Group at the ‘ArdorComm New Normal – Education Leadership Summit & Awards 2022’ #ELSAGujarat #ELSAAhmedabad
How are you feeling to witness this physical event of Education Leadership Summit and Awards?
It’s really feeling very nice we’ve seen two whole years of shutdown we’ve seen things not happening, it’s been a big roller coaster ride for the entire education industry and today when we are here physically gathering, we are communicating, we are connecting with more and more people, networking with so many people so it feels really great, wonderful to be here.
What role has NEP 2020 played on the preschools particularly?
Well talking about the NEP, it’s been years and years and finally we get to see that kind of a recognition for the early childhood education segment so that’s been the biggest thing that has taken place lately. We are of course waiting for the industry to accept it, we are waiting for the government to actually give us more and more guidelines on how this is going to be implemented in practice so that’s something which we are waiting for but yes of course on a positive note the early childhood education segment which was not at all recognized until date has at least got the recognition. The government has identified it, the foundational years is in place so the value of foundational years is something that the government has understood now. So, looking forward to some major drastic changes in the segment.
As you know for the last two and a half years there was a complete shutdown and particularly in the preschool where a crucial role plays of the teacher and student interaction, so how did your chain of preschools ensure to provide education to the students?
Right so of course two years of covid was a big learning experience for all of us, there were a lot of challenges initially, the transition basically was a big challenge but yes as educators we should really give ourselves a big pat on our shoulders that yes, we accepted it we went forward, we implemented whatever best was possible at that point in time. Of course, without the support of teachers, parents and all the pillars, so basically what I say is that there are multiple pillars, there’s a pillar of parents, there’s a management, school management, that there are teachers and then these three pillars together raise this child into a beautiful structure in the future. So, what I say is that yes definitely it’s not been an easy journey but it’s been a journey which we had never thought of. I mean who imagined a two-year-old or a three-year-old sitting in front of a laptop screen and learning took place so the schools were physically closed but learning didn’t stop so that’s a big achievement for the entire education industry I should say taking it on a positive side of course yes it had its own challenges we saw that a lot of schools a lot of brands did shut down operations as well the teachers were not able to work as they used to. It was very difficult but yes so far so good we’ve been able to achieve it and we’ve come out victorious so that’s the good thing right.
These kind of events and symposiums where we have the industry and the academia together how does it impact or how does it help to the society at large?
See there is definitely a lot of impact that is created by such gathering such kind of symposiums being conducted across the nation where we get to meet a lot of people, share ideas, share knowledge, share our experiences. More than that I mean I might be having an experience which you might not be having and you might be having one which I might not be having so sharing this kind of a knowledge is really wonderful and that’s according to me is the best part of any such gathering or conference.
I’m happy to inform you that recently ArdorComm Media completed one year of its existence so what message would you like to give to ArdorComm Media?
Firstly, I would like to congratulate the whole team of ArdorComm Media for completing this journey, I mean definitely it would have not been an easy one for you as well because considering the entire situation the lockdowns and the pandemic which was spread across the world, it was a worldwide problem but my best wishes with you guys, keep doing such wonderful events so that we as educators also get to connect, we get to interact and enlighten each other with our knowledge.