Aarati Savur is the CEO of Parisar Asha, a Mumbai-based not-for-profit organisation committed to serve the society through a unique learning approach ‘ESAL’ – ‘The Environmental Studies Approach to Learning’.
“The sight of the happy faces of children and happy families motivated me to join Parisar Asha,” says Aarati Savur, the CEO of Parisar Asha – Centre for Educational Research and Training.
She left her flourishing corporate career and joined Parisar Asha as a CEO in 2013 to fulfil the wishes of the founder-director Ms Gloria de Souza, to support schools to provide a joyful 21st-century learning system through environment and art.
“Education should provide children with the joy of learning. Parisar Asha has been focusing on that for the past 40 years. We have been working on changing the present education system, which is driven completely by the motivation to get good marks and grades. The present Indian education system installed by the British is just making children mug up facts and figures. It is creating a bunch of slaves, not skilled humans. We are not focused on skill development or building attitude and values. Education should be for life, not only for getting good grades.”
Aarati Savur has a master’s degree in Botany and an MA in Drawing and Painting. And has a rich experience of 26 years in the field of education and the corporate world. She has brought about numerous positive changes in the organisation and the society at large through various innovative projects, such as Eco-tech World School Program, Free parenting helpline, and workshops for students, teachers, and parents for a sustainable tomorrow.
Children are there in school for less time, so it is at home that they learn more things. So, the parenting helpline conducts parenting workshops irrespective of economic background, providing them with experiential learning.
“Parents are forcing their children to participate in all activities. They want children to excel in everything. Too much expectation from parents can lead to stress and mental issues in children. Children should be free from expectations. Not every school is competent enough to meet the parents’ demands. So we will face similar problems until we completely change the present system.”
Ms Savur dons many hats in her illustrious career. She has been honoured with many national and international awards. She was also a member of the Experts resource for the Board of NCERT Art and Aesthetics department. She was involved in creating and rolling our teacher’s training package on Arts integration for NCERT.
She believes that the present-day teachers are only completing the syllabus since they have additional duties, but they forget the fact that many questions in life are out of the syllabus. They should prepare our children for the challenges in future.
“Educators and parents should work like one team. All things start from the family. Families should strengthen their bonds with children and should be understanding. Families are the reflection of society. For a good society, we need to have strong families where we accept and celebrate differences. Inclusiveness should begin at home.”
In the last eight years, the programs headed by her benefited 2 lakh students, 2 lakh families, and 10,000 teachers.
Many questions in life are out of the syllabus. They should prepare our children for the challenges in future.
