michael high school

Quest interview with Jean Gomes. Principal of Michael High School, Kurla-West, Mumbai. The motto of the school is "Learn To be wise". It suits the student populace and the management completely keeping in mind the ever shifting curriculum pattern and global arena of opportunities.
The school atmosphere is innovative and exuberant. This is evident in the numerous activities and measures under-taken by it. The school founders were very well aware about the numerous hindrances that would plague them in the process of establishing the school in Kurla, where a predominant population is either of low-income or conservative group.
In a bid to make education accessible to girls, the school provides free-ships and scholarships.
It has segregated girls population and conducts separate classes in morning. This has increased the number of families coming forward to educate their girls. That's why it is very evident that "to empower India, the change has to be internal and with self determination to make a change and impact the society".
In a tete-a-tete with Quest, the principal speaks about refining the quality of
education and taking efforts of the catholic education society forward with innovative and invasive techniques that can mould students into responsible individuals.
Give us a brief overview about what sets your school apart and makes it different.
We are a very activity oriented school located at a prime location in Kurla. We provide equal opportunities to every child to explore and exhibit their talents so that core competencies are developed right from the beginning.
Our corridors and classrooms are always brimming with activities and there is never a dull moment. On the basis of class, age and talent we provide platform to showcase their talent in sports, singing or any other craft. We as an institution believe in "symbiotic existence" and thereby promote student interaction with nature. Our students conducted a vanamahotsav by planting 100 trees at Narayan Nagar on June 5, 2012.
They also pledged to plant saplings near their houses. For this initiative we were backed by an NGO, Oasis and our theme was "beautify nature". We even tied up with Tata Energy power club to save electricity and teach our students the importance of energy sustainability. To promote education for girls among masses we started special classes for girls, which were encouraged by parents. So, in a sense our speciality is the vision we hold to create responsible individuals for the future with a myriad addition of activities to hone their talents.
What is your take on new school bus norms and safety principles dictated by RTO in line with current accident scenario involving school kids.
Student safety is important and can never be infringed upon. We have a total of eight school buses to ferry students in different zones. The buses have also been coloured differently to make identification of the bus and the associated student easier for us.
We have received the RTO's guidelines and have been following all the rules and regulations. Each teacher from our school is assigned with a specific batch of students who are responsible towards the safety of their wards.
A separate register with details of both the students and attendants is always kept handy.
The most innovative measure implemented by the school is a "unique identification system or card" containing photographs of relatives, parents. So, when someone approaches to take kids, we check the card for that person's identity before handing over the child.
Details of the drivers and cleaners is also put up and a female attendant is always on board to create a sense of security and evade any sense of hostility. Having an attendant on board minimises all haphazard risks of safety and keeps the discipline and decorum.
Even in classrooms we have an intercom connecting all 60 classrooms with the manager's cabin and among themselves. This prevents any breach of security as matters can be reported immediately and security measures can be put up in a short time. We also have surveillance cameras in every class and are planning to get our buses manned with GPRS system. Discussions regarding the same are in progress.
The rule that you cannot fail any student till Class VIII has created quite a flurry. Is it difficult for your school to cope with it? What are the measures have been taken?
Although we understand the focus with which RTE Act introduced the "no fail policy" for kids till Class VIII. We still have our apprehensions and problems to handle. The whole problem is the implications of the Act. Students do not take efforts to study till Class VIII and when they reach Class IX, they are not able to cope with the pressure.
In order to ease the woes, we suggest weak students to take up easy maths, which has portion of VII grade and then concentrate on other subjects to cover up and score well.
It is a very disconcerted fact that Class IX curriculum is not easy and we conduct numerous remedial workshops. But students are unwilling and not participative, which further complicates the problems.
So, we have come up with techniques to monitor each child's progress. Our faculties work hard to maintain a profile of a student's strengths and weaknesses to assess them and provide necessary guidance.
We also consult psychiatrists and therapists to help weak students. We send them to Sion Hospital with their parents to keep a check on any form of dyslexia or other disorders.
Even if a student fails in any class till VIII, we make easier paper sets with more objective based questions. This keeps the competitiveness alive and students perform better than the earlier tests. If this is found useless, we ask the students to work on their creativity and submit their work to professors who would judge them. We have remedial tests that is compulsory and ensures that students know their basics well.
The basic principle for such activities is to keep the spirit of enquiry and competition alive. Because if students are not serious for years, the spark dies. It's better we put efforts and nurture the spark than letting it get dormant and non-existent.
In totality, we have faced problems with reference to RTE but we are positive in succeeding and imparting quality education.
What is your opinion about the fee hike. How do you justify it?
Our school is an unaided institute and we try to provide quality education with holistic development. We highly regret the fee hike as it adds burden on parents.
But, we need to run the institution and fees help us keep the staff, and premises running. So, we keep a basic structure regarding fees and increase it only when needed. Parents have not complained regarding the same but we keep them in the loop regarding any changes whatsoever. PTA meetings discuss the same and disseminate information among parents.
Are you facing any problems regarding the "RTE Act" that states reservation of seats for underprivileged students? How are you implementing it.
We have been providing free ships and free education to underprivileged since the inception of school.
So, RTE has not been an issue with us. Although we are a catholic minority school, we try our best to provide freeships to the needy and to those who deserve.
To apply for scholarships, students have to write a letter and submit it at school. If any of the sustainable parents are dead, then a copy of ther death certificate can be produced while applying for scholarships.
To students who score more than 90 per cent marks, we give 100 per cent scholarships. Anyone above 85 per cent marks gets 50 per cent off and the structure goes on.
We don't conduct interviews or prejudice against the back-drop of students. We try to be unbiased and admit everyone when we can. None of the students are ever turned away. We believe in, "first come, first serve" basis.
Our school provides uniforms, books and other stationary items as well to the under-privileged kids to help them in their pursuit to education.
We have certain trusts that come forward and help students. We send the parents and students with a letter to the trust and the bearings of the child's education falls on the trust along with us.
This ensures that education goes forward propelled by different organisations for the betterment of children.
What do you feel about the topper system. Do you think that the media hype surrounding the students score is justified. It is hard-work that always counts.
Challenges are important and help in improving the performance of a student. Hence, I feel that the one who performs well should definitely be credited with due respect. It is a continuous spectrum of hard-work and perseverance that reaps good performance.
Hence, media does a good job by highlighting it.
But the problem starts when coaching classes start usurping the credit for a school's hard-work. It is unjust and highlights the failure in educational system.
But, we must also make sure that other students don't feel neglected and side-lined. Everyone puts hard-work but only a few reach the mettle status.
This can work in other ways too, like the upcoming batch will start looking at the prime example set up and work harder to reach the goals and inspiration is always a good thing.
Even if we support a mediocre student, he will get inspired and become something substantial. It's just about timing and constant monitoring.
Hard work is always rewarded and media should continue with its efforts. After all it is just doing its job.
How are extra-curricular Activities Important For holistic Development of a Student?What activities does school conduct?
We as an institute try to provide holistic development and overall development.
Extra curricular activities are very essential and proper efforts must be imparted to give a good sound base to students with the help of extracurricular activities.
We have staff committees that focus on specific subjects. We keep "subject week" for every subject and have activities lined up to ensure student participation. We believe that such activities ensure and create interest among students regarding subjects and further specialise in subjects as well.
For example, we keep quiz competitions, essay, literature week, mental ability tests etc.
We focus on science exhibitions and research programmes and motivate our students to conduct researches and report them to professors. Our school has won a total of 44 prizes in zonal level in various activities.We have talent day when we felicitate our achievers well. Students exhibit art, dance and other myriad talents. It is a day of appreciation for teacher's as well as students for all their efforts are being paid off.
All these activities keep students on their toes and make them self-reliant.
Please elaborate on your future plans in field of education. What is your new avenue and what are its objectives.
We want to keep providing quality education to students and refine our techniques in the process.
We believe personal training and interaction can benefit a student more than anything. After all, you will forget how anyone looked but will never forget how anyone made you feel. This will be our USP. All our efforts are actually taking form. When I received a letter from the highest authority's office in India, I got my answer. I will be conferred with an award for excellence in education from our honorary President.
We have also received BMC's award and Mayor's awards on various occasions for our school. The idea, "I can, I will and I must do my best to achieve" should be a motto embarked in every child's senses and that is what we try to do.
Our SSC Board has to be more user friendly.There is too much of rote-learning and very less practical experience. If that can be taken care of, the board will become more comprehensive.
Details
Principal: Jean Gomes
The school was established by Jean Gomes and Moses Gomes in 1979-80
The institute has classes from KG to Junior college for boys and girls. It includes Franciscan Nursery, Michael School (primary-secondary) and Marceline Junior College.
The school focuses on women's education and empowerment and has tailored courses for girls.
Motto: Learn to be wise.
Infrastructure: Six storeyed building for school and junior college at Kurla west. One more building is under construction
Achievements: Nayani Zainab – Won Inspire award for science project.
Ansari Farin won a silver medal at national environment talent search examination, Goa
Similarly the gold was bagged by Siddhiqui Tahir Ahmed.
Deepika Pawar is a state karate champion and has been on various quests to Uttarakhand and Rajasthan
A tally of 20 medals.
Gomes has been invited to Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi by the President's office for Human Resource and Development National Award
School has "eco club" to promote ecological diversity.
There are 3 labs and a well furnished library for students to access and utilize.
The school has had 100 per cent success rate in the past three years regarding SSC and HSC.
School trains private SSC students as well and has 78 per cent success rate in the same. A record of sorts.
Student strength: 8000
Staff strength: 200
KSI trust and Al Brakka Finance House have been granting free-ships to students
The principal has received Mayor's award and Mahapore Puraskar from BMC.