My deliberations in this article have come about from the myriad conversations and discussions I have been having with some of the stakeholders in education, namely parents, educators, students and persons from the management cadre, about understanding the National Education Policy (NEP), difficulties in its implementations, the repercussions and the whole 9 yards. The narrative has also been shaped by my identity as an SSC school teacher in an aided minority institution, where I am passionate about her vocation.

Mahatma Gandhi envisioned education as a process of instruction that prepares young learners to become morally sound, individually independent, socially constructive, economically productive, and responsible citizens of the future. He considered these instructions as 'Education for life, Education through life, and Education throughout life.'

According to Gandhi, Education was "the all-round drawing out of the best, in a child's or man's body, mind and spirit. Literacy is neither the beginning nor the end of education. It is simply a means by which one can be educated." Gandhi was very vocal about the importance of education in developing human values in children. The development of personality was more important to him than mere knowledge of different subjects, because then a person can look beyond the obvious and make informed choices.

An ex-student who is a personality development trainer for corporates advises, "Please invest 20 minutes in yourself daily on growth vs. 20 minutes on Netflix." This simple truth applies to parents and educators as much as it does to students, in fact, to anyone who wishes to live a happy, fulfilling life. It helps us identify our strengths/weaknesses, as well as our talents and skills, which we can then match with the numerous opportunities available today to be productive and earn a living.

In dynamic societies, education must equip individuals with the skills and attitudes necessary for them to adapt to changing conditions and participate constructively in the task of societal change. This will certainly prove helpful in solving the problems of frustration, depression, and anxiety, thus reducing the burden on emotional support helplines.

Gandhi's basic education scheme was job-centred, value-based, and mass-oriented, which are the primary requisites today, I'm sure all would agree. Time for some serious thinking and change for the powers that be, lest they deform and obfuscate even further the true aim of education, which is to provide direction to the process of education, for it is only education that will ensure the peaceful existence of society. Gen Alpha is seeking change, and they are a highly opinionated lot.

The notion of the teacher as an expert is rapidly losing ground to Google, Wikipedia, and other similar sources of information, which are generally available to students. Let's not forget that schools have a special place in our lives. They are the place we come to get better, to grow, to have the difficult conversations we need to improve ourselves, and to build virtues.

The school system does not teach that it's good to fail, but all successful people fail, and one does not need to be afraid of failure. This is one of the key attitudes a student develops while in school. This places schools in a unique position when it comes to helping us consider how best to anticipate the unintended consequences of technology and how to manage them effectively.

How are we to build character, how are we to engender the right kinds of curiosity and self-reflection required to solve complex problems of life through technology? Our Institutions, which are solid and reliable entities ensuring the rest of our lives work well, are designed to be conservative. It is understandable if they feel daunted by the task of keeping up with the fast-paced changes taking place. Hence, as educators, the onus is on us to make sure our schools do not become a liability, but rather continue to remain a source of security and fairness.

For some students, virtual learning and self-study work. However, for many in India, particularly in government and aided schools, this isn't the right learning paradigm for use on a full-time, all-the-time basis. A fact hard to hide is that in our schools today, a substantial number of children come from dysfunctional homes, where broken and abusive families and a hand-to-mouth existence are the norm. In my 26 years of service, I have come to the conclusion that the school is an oasis where children tend to forget their problems while bonding with their peers.

The school, according to St. Magdalene, foundress of the Canossian Institute, ought to be the haven where children experience from their teachers and the management love - manifested in acts of care and concern, financial and material sustenance, even correction meted out in tenderness, keeping the dignity of the child intact all the time.

The school I come from has a multitude of first-generation learners, and I am proud that these children can share everything with the children of engineers, doctors or businessmen, from a desk and lessons to laughter & food, while availing the same opportunities without distinction. The demographics of our classrooms have changed radically, and today we have a plethora of students availing themselves of an education hitherto unheard of. For many, the school and all its resources, human and otherwise, are a chance to make something of themselves, to prove that they can, should, and will make a difference in their lives and in the world at large.

With AI becoming the new normal, the prevailing sentiment is that technology will soon dominate the field of education, and this will be a positive development. I have my reservations. "The best brains of the nation may be found on the last benches of the classroom," opined the wise Dr. APJ Kalam. To find those creative geniuses, you need the kinesis of a teacher, whether in a physical or virtual classroom.

If we do not want to be held responsible for producing 21st-century brilliant adults who cannot blend the twin qualities of head and heart, then as educators, we are obligated to reflect on and adapt our pedagogy by inculcating value-based education from the time children enrol in formal education as impressionable 4-year-olds. In modelling the course, the staff and management must remember that values are caught, not taught.

Value-based education fosters a learning environment where a school's ethos is grounded in strong core values. It supports the development of the whole child as a reflective learner within calm, caring, happy, and purposeful environments. VBE is transformational, as it impacts not just the students but the entire school community by having a direct influence on the entire curriculum, and more specifically on spiritual, moral, social, cultural, and health education.

Enacting these values in shared behaviour and language across the school will enable children to develop their cognitive understanding and inner selves. Keeping their personal dynamics in mind, every school must plan and execute a range of values so that at the end of a good 12 years, pupils can exit the portals of the school having learnt about healthy lifestyles, building relationships, respecting differences between people, developing confidence and responsibility to make the most of their talents and skills and play an active role as an informed citizenry.

This, I believe, would be learning in the true sense of the word. We may end up with persons having a little less IQ, but hey, they would certainly exhibit a higher EQ and SQ! For this to flourish, technology notwithstanding, the single most crucial factor in any classroom will continue to be: the teacher, and I am most certainly proud to be one.