The traditional Indian education system though has been effective in shaping the future of our country, it is mostly exam oriented and is more into textbookbased learning. On the other hand, the International Baccalaureate curriculum is more into inquiry-based learning that encourages students to learn out of curiosity, enhances their critical thinking / problem-solving skills, and is widely recognized across the world as one of the most effective curriculums to enhance students' learning ability. Being a part of the IB Curriculum for the last 16 years and as the Principal of Mount Litera School International, Priya Anand has been focused on the overall growth of her students while following an IBbased Curriculum. A visionary educator, Priya has a vast overall experience of 25 years in the education sector. Under her diligent efforts and able leadership, Mount Litera School International has been creating an effective atmosphere for its students to excel in both curricular as well as extra-curricular activities.

In an exclusive interview with Women Entrepreneur, Priya shares her overall experience, her opinion towards the current state of the education system in our country, and much more:

Shed some light on your early educational journey and the prior industry experience that you bring to the table. What motivated you to venture into the field of education?

I've been in the field of education for 25 years now. Starting my career as a grade one teacher, I later moved on into different roles while getting a lot of professional development in my career. I moved to the International Baccalaureate program (IB) and have been with IB for the last 16 years. The philosophy of the IB is very different from the Indian curriculum, which has made my journey more exciting. I have been working as the Head of School or Principal for almost ten years now. Students and children motivate me a lot, and I like to ignite my students with innovative ideas.

Children have a lot of potentials, and I feel we should get our students to think out of the box, which is something the need of the hour. They shouldn’t be just restricted to textbook reading and should think beyond their capacity. Enhancing their critical thinking skills is something that I believe in, and also encourage my teachers to do that while delivering their lessons. Critical thinking and problem-solving skills are essential for our 21st-century learners and that's what we need to do as educators to enhance these skills. We have to provide the challenges to our students to make their school years a rewarding experience.

Tell us about the various roles and responsibilities that you shoulder as the Principal of Mount Litera International School. What are the primary focus areas in your current role?

As the head of the School /Principal, my primary roles include supporting my team in the academic areas as well as looking after the whole school to provide both curricular and extra-curricular opportunities to my students. As a pedagogical leader, I ensure that we have certain goals for the school along with my core team to keep the flag of Mount Litera School International high. We look at various learning opportunities that we can provide to our students and focus on different programs each year. For example, we've started a new program, named International Benchmark Testing, for our students to see how they stand against the students in the world. In a nutshell, we are grooming our students for the demands of the real world to help them become productive citizens and future leaders.

"We are grooming our students for the demands of the world to help them become productive citizens and future leaders"

What are some of the most pressing challenges that you encounter as an educator? How do you successfully mitigate these challenges?

The primary challenges that we face are in terms of the curriculum. A curriculum like IB is pretty vast and rigorous. The IB students in the Primary Years Programme don’t have textbooks and teachers create their own content. At times parents are apprehensive and enquire about their children’s learning. Convincing the parents about the curriculum has always been a challenge. However, after their children go back and share the knowledge they have learned, the parents are quite convinced.

There's a whole pedagogical shift in the way children are learning now. While the traditional curriculum was rote memory-based, IB is inquiry-based learning, where our students learn through inquiry. When they learn through inquiry, the concepts are retained, and they do not forget. We are not restricted to textbooks and teach them much beyond textbooks. So when they see the difference between an Indian curriculum and the IB curriculum, they are convinced by the knowledge that their child has gained.

In your opinion, what is the current state of early education in India? What steps can be taken to ensure better learning outcomes for students? What would your advice be to young women and girls who also aspire to become business leaders and entrepreneurs in the future?

I feel the early education system in the Indian board is still very conventional and is not a curriculum that can be embraced by everyone. The first step in any curriculum is to identify each learner's unique style. While we have something similar to that in the IB curriculum called differentiated learning, the early Indian board education system doesn’t have anything like that. Once we identify the learning styles, it's easier to help students become critical thinkers and problem solvers. Our early Indian education system does not promote inquiry or encourage students to think, which, I think, should change. Once you encourage students to think automatically, they will become inquisitive learners, readers, diligent researchers, and prolific writers. So that's where we are lacking in our early education system in India and we need to ignite the thinking and inquiry skills in the little ones.

The advice I would like to give to young women is to be passionate about their job. You should love what you're doing. I always tell young women and girls that learning should never stop. You should have the quest to learn more and stay in touch with the regular happenings in the world. The day you say that you know everything, you're doomed. We need to embrace technology to stay abreast with the changes in the world to stay updated with our skills.

Priya Anand, Principal, Mount Litera School International

Priya Anand is a seasoned educator with more than 25 years of extensive experience in the education sector and is presently working as the Principal at Mount Litera School International. A veteran IB Programme leader with more than 15 years of experience in IB –related functionalities and workshops, she believes in enhancing the critical-thinking ability of the students through inquiry-based learning.