Offering students perfect blend of modern education, Vedic wisdom

Education involves a right balance of academic and co-curricular activities. How is your institution providing this balance to students?

Aryakulam, Nilokheri (Karnal), conducts various activities in order to help the students to maintain a fine balance of everything, including academics and co-curricular areas. Our educators adopt different techniques to clarify the concept among students where several activities such as speech competitions, poem recitation, debate, math quiz, drama, music events, etc, along with regular ‘havan’ and ‘sandhya’ are organised from time to time. Moreover, we do not just stick to classroom teaching but provide the learners hands on experience whenever required outside the classrooms also. We believe in the philosophy of our founder Acharya Dev Vrat (Governor, Gujarat), Shiksha (Education), Swasthya (Health) and Sanskar (Values) which reflects our approach to holistic development of the learners.

What are the assessment practices used in your school?

Aryakulam follows the assessment practices which are recommended by the CBSE to evaluate a student’s learning and overall development holistically. We conduct UTs, summative assessments and full theory annual exams during the course of a complete year. Apart from this, we track the record of various skills and learnings of the child in different activities such as class tests (oral and written), quizzes, creative assessments, etc. At Aryakulam we believe the world is our classroom so the school promotes assessment in areas like health and physical education, art education, discipline assessment, assessment through various clubs, etc. Latest tools of digitalisation also help us to involve parents to get timely reports of their ward.

Sports and co-curricular activities for students.

Those days have long gone when co-curricular activities were considered a waste of time. At Aryakulam, we have an array of sports, children can select from yoga, mallakhamb, gymnastics, basketball, football, handball, volleyball, badminton, kho-kho, athletics, etc. The school has full-time professional coaches who make children ready for the various competitions. We also organise sports meets of the school and a large number of students participate to test their physical mettle. We also have a band of bagpipers (only band in Karnal district) and they get trained under a special coach and already have represented the school at various platforms. To boost a spirit of competition, the school is divided into four houses where each house has a captain and a vice-captain. Every house has a team of volunteers and they help to manage students at school, hostel and mess. Winners, both of sports and co-curricular activities, are duly awarded.

NEP-2020 has laid special emphasis on vocational skills and entrepreneurships. How is your school providing these two through the curriculum?

Aryakulam is leaving no stone unturned to upgrade the school, faculty, students and policies according to NEP-2020. We arrange every year a variety of workshops for teachers and students to follow the skill-based and experiential learning which ultimately lead to vocational skills and entrepreneurship. The school has a significant number of clubs, ie Maths Club, English Club, Eco Club, etc, which are organising workshops throughout the year for learners to give them exposure. This year the school also collaborated with local artisans to expose students to real workplace scenarios.

What is the motto of your school and how are students being trained to follow it?

Aryakulam is a residential school for boys where children from 16 states are staying together and getting education which is a perfect example of unity in diversity. ‘Modernity with Traditions’ is our motto. Aryakulam offers the students a perfect blend of modern education along with age-old Vedic wisdom that helps in developing their SQ (Social Quotient). Our initiative ‘Sanskarshala’ a series of value-based workshops has also received a lot of admiration from parents.

What measures has the school taken to help students cope with stress and to develop their EQ?

At Aryakulam, we offer a well-planned daily routine along with a wholesome diet. All students wake up at 5:30 am and are involved in different physical and meditational practices. The school has a full-time professional counsellor who helps the students in building resilience, self-awareness and to regulate emotions. We also have a full-time trained nurse who takes care of their physical and mental wellbeing. We also run a ‘Buddy Programme’ where students assist new students to familiarise and explore 23 acres of vast beautiful school campus.

As the head of this institution, what is your vision and how are you making it a reality?

Quills to pens education has travelled a long odyssey and set up various milestones for humankind. As the Principal of Aryakulam, I feel privileged to be a part of this transformative age as NEP-2020 and NCF has given us a new vision, direction and an opportunity to redefine education where we have started thinking beyond rote learning and good grades. I am committed to provide a centre stage for children where we provide them numerous chances to be more creative, to be critical thinkers, to hone up their skills, to be more expressive, to explore and be exposed to different skill sets by providing an environment which make them stand in all the challenges of life and help them be a good global citizen. Additionally, I believe in ‘No child should be left behind’ and for that I try to connect to every parent personally and keep the communication channels open. Along with that I bridge the gaps between management, staff, parents and learners.