On the occasion of International Women’s Day, Brainfeed took the opportunity to recognize the efforts of twenty exceptional women leaders in the field of education. We featured them in our cover story “Women Edupreneurs” of March 2023 edition of the Brainfeed Magazine. These women leaders focused and strived for creating a positive ecosystem at their workplace that helped other women in contributing to their fullest and ushering in the much needed change. Each one of these women educational entrepreneurs shared what it took them to successfully complete their entrepreneurial journey during which they have explored and found new identities for themselves and other women working with them.
My journey as an edupreneur started 20 years back with Shri Vidyanjali School. I was working with my father back then.At a young age, I was invested in all the tasks of the school and tried my best to learn and administer the institute. I read a lot of books that helped me understand the field better. While working I understood that there was a lack of proper teacher training programmes. We had forty plus teachers in our academy who needed better assistance. It was during this time that Andhra Vidya Sabha (Dept of Early Childhood Education) introduced Pre-Primary Teacher Training Programme. I enrolled myself in the course and finally when my own institute came into being, I made sure to train every teacher.
On gender equality
We can foster gender equality in schools through an impartial behaviour. Home is the prime sphere where a child learns about gender and the stereotypes associated with it. Until and unless we break the construct or the stereotype, we will never be free from gender inequality. Learning has to start from our very homes. We have tried to bring awareness among parents through orientation, counselling sessions and other endeavours .Also our faculty has been sensible enough to create a space for students that is all-inclusive and free from any gender inequality.
On teacher training programmes
In one particular institute of ours we had to train teachers to counsel parents on the importance of educating the girl child. The school was operational in a rural setup where mostly children came from underprivileged backgrounds. After the sessions, thankfully, there was a significant improvement in the attendance of girl students. So as I said before, gender equality first begins at home. There are a lot of things we learn, but we have to unlearn those to learn something new. Counselling should be an essential part of teacher training programmes. Only by training our teachers can we start making changes from the top to the bottom.
Child is the prime focus of any institution and it should be so for every educator or person working in the education field. If you are passionate about being an educator or an administrator and would want to make it a bit better for students out there, you are very much welcome to be a part of the industry! Know what you want to do and give your work your full dedication. That is all you need to excel in this field.
Counselling should be an essential part of teacher training programmes. Only by training our teachers can we start making changes from the top to the bottom
