There is a growing apprehension that with the increasing attention on improving academic achievement, schools may be falling behind in fostering the basic skills required in a collaborative 21st century environment - Wilfred Noronha
Established in 1904, St Peter’s School, Panchgani, Maharashtra has been training young boys for life as well as academics at its boarding school for over a century. Today it adds the might of technology to arm its wards to stay winners in a global world, as Principal Wilfred Noronha explains
Tucked in the tranquil environment of the serene hill station of Panchgani in Western Maharashtra, St Peter’s School is amongst the oldest elite boys’ boarding school that nurtures young boys to face the challenges of life, besides training them for the ICSE curriculum. This Steve Job quote, “As for the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who actually do,” proudly adorns the school’s website, reflecting the opportunities given to the child to rise from mere rote learning to following a passion.
Established in 1904 during the dying decades of the British Rule, St Peter’s School has successfully blended the best of both cultures to provide a nurturing and enlightening environment for young minds. Formerly known as European Boys School, it was situated in the Boys Section of Kimmins Girls School, Panchgani, until the main school building was erected. The construction was completed in 1904, after which it came to be known as St Peter’s School. Initially constructed for Anglo-Indian students, St Peter’s has grown to accept students from diverse backgrounds, sects and nationalities.
St Peter’s School, has an impressive lineup of alumni who have carved a niche for themselves in different parts of the world. Some of them include Lord Meghnad Desai, UK economist and Labour Party member; Sir J K (Ande) Chande, prominent political leader in Tanzania knighted by the British Queen and awarded a distinguished honour by India’s President Abdul Kalam; Victory Rana, Royal Nepalese Ambassador to Myanmar; Faram Irani, leading gynaecologist in Mumbai Mayur Vora, owner of Mapro; Chandrashekhar Mundlay, Vice President, Operations, PepsiCo; Hiten Zavari, prominent scientist in the USA; Dubash Rustom, Radiation Scientist; Sultan Dharrani an Olympian Athlete, amongst many others. Late Freddie Mercury, internationally acclaimed British singer is also an alumnus.
Corporate Citizen spoke to Principal Wilfred Noronha, a veteran educationist who is at the helm of St Peter’s School and has adopted newer methods in teaching and administration in order to keep up with the age of technology and the global world.
The foundation of the school was laid in 1904 and it started off as European Boys School after which it came to be known as St Peter’s School. The actual progress of the school began, post-independence, after O D Bason became the Principal in 1954 and was at the helm for 27 years thereafter. Under his guidance, a lot of dormitories were built and the dining hall too was constructed. Earlier, students used to have their meals in the dormitories itself. But with him coming in, a lot of development took place and then there was no looking back - the school continued from strength to strength. The campus rests on 58 acres and has seven big playgrounds, so students have ample space to play. In the 2017 academic year, horse riding would be included, which would be a novelty
Traditionally, we had parents not only coming from Maharashtra but from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and even from Kolkata. A lot of these people had faith in missionary schools. Many students also come from backgrounds where they don’t have good schooling in the localities they reside. Therefore, parents send them out for schooling so that they can turn into better citizens and get better career prospects. Since we have a history and good reputation of a 100 years, we also have a lot of alumni who have done well in life-so that also adds to the profile. Parents are drawn to us through word of mouth. So we have students coming from all the states of India.
“At home, the child is well-protected and he gets what he wants. Here the child learns to be independent; he grows in confidence. He is able to interact with people, express his problems, and share them with friends and teachers’’
There is a growing apprehension that with the increasing attention on improving academic achievement, schools may be falling behind in fostering the basic skills required in a collaborative 21st century environment. To create a just and fair world, the onus lies on us educators, to create societies on a miniature level that value reason, develop the young minds and their innate critical capacities, give a push to their potential, to think within alternative view points and learn to go beyond narrow confines of standardised patterns. This becomes possible more so in a residential school than a day school. St Peter’s provides that all round education which makes students responsible citizens, character formation being top on the list.
We have 202 boarders and 83 day scholars who come from close by villages and towns.
In a boarding school, the formation is complete as they are under one roof all the time, so monitoring each of their activity becomes easy for us. They do miss out on family life and so initially, small boys tend to feel homesick. For the first few weeks they request us to allow them to talk to their parents. We encourage it until the time they are able to overcome that anxiety of being away from home. The other advantage of boarding school is that our day is scheduled in a manner where every part of the day, there is some activity happening.
Wake up call is at 5.30 am-they wake up and do the morning chores. At 6 am, they jog for 20 minutes. Those who have problems, walk to get their morning freshness. By 6:30 am, they are back and get into their uniforms at 7 am and come for prep. Prep is study time, where we have two staff members on campusone is called Master on Duty and the other is called Teacher on Duty-supervising. The Master on Duty supervises the senior section and the Teacher on Duty looks after the junior section. The children go to a classroom to do their studies and finish their homework. Prep time is from 7am to 8am.
At 8 am, they go for breakfast at the dining hall which accommodates all boys. They sit dormitory-wise. Wardens and matrons attend to them at their table. At 8:30 am, we go to the Assembly Hall. Classes are held between 8.30 am and 3pm. They get two breaks-one lunch break and one short break. At 3 pm they get some free time after having tea and snacks. At 4:15 pm, they assemble in the quadrangle outside the dining hall for their games. Games period is compulsory for all from 4:15 pm to 5:45 pm after which at 6 pm, they come back and assemble in the quadrangle-ready to go back to the dormitory. Thereafter, they get one hour to wash up and do other chores. They are taught how to fold their bed sheets and clothes. In their homes, their parents do it for them. Here they learn to do those things themselves. When they get back to their homes, parents say, ‘arre sir aapne to sikha diya inko sab’.
From 7 pm to 8 pm, it is time for the evening prep when they complete their homework or study for their tests and then 8 pm to 8:30 pm is dinner time. After dinner, bigger boys have an additional prep time as additional studies are required to be done for the 8th, 9th and 10th classes. This is called night prep. Meanwhile, the other students go to the dormitory. Here, we have provided them with books and indoor games like carom, chess, monopoly and scrabble. The older students come back to the dormitory by 9:30 pm. Lights are off at 9:30 pm. So the whole day is structured in order that their minds don’t deviate. At home, mobile, WhatsApp or TV are distractions-that does not happen here, so the child is quite focused.
“The percentage of children leaving the boarding is very minimum, because many children come from homes where education can’t be catered to as it is being provided here. Most of them come from broken homes...each one has his or her own kind of family problems at home’’
Remember, at home, the child is well-protected and he gets what he wants. Here the child learns to be independent; he grows in confidence. He is able to interact with people, express his problems, and share them with friends and teachers. It is an all-round grooming where the child becomes self-reliant rather than dependant on somebody. What happens in classrooms is just academics, but for preparing for life, you need to live independently and learn from experience.
We have curricular, co-curricular and extracurricular activities for the boys throughout the three terms. Some of the curricular activities are the ones conducted inside the classroom, in the laboratory, in the workshop (prescribed courses), teaching of subjects, classroom experiments, scientific observations, library, SUPW. These activities help satiate the curiosity, helps them in gaining new knowledge and develops them intellectually.
Co-curricular activities comprise games, mass drill, story-telling, elocution, dramatics, debates, morning assemblies, cleanliness of campus and neighbourhood. Independence Day, Republic Day, Constitution Day, Children’s Day and Teachers Day are activities that help develop leadership qualities and learn team-work, social and emotional development.
Extra-curricular activities such as the various clubs, viz. robotics club, cookery club, gardening club, soft toys making club, photography club, spell bee, Olympiads and so on, help students to hone their talent.
Out of 200 boys, only two to three boys want to go back home. Some others want to meet their parents or want to make a phone call. The percentage of children leaving the boarding is very minimum, because many children come from homes where education can’t be catered to, as it is being provided here. Most of them come from broken homes, where the father does not live with them. Each one has his or her own kind of family problems at home, so parents also prefer sending kids to boarding school.
No, it is not a big number. Then there are parents who are career oriented and don’t have time to attend to their kids. So they feel it is better to send them to boarding school. They know that children who come here will get a good environment for their education. We ensure that they are not sent here by their parents by force. The first question that I ask the child in front of his parents is. ‘Are you coming of your free will, or have your parents sent you here?’ If he says ‘My parents are forcing me,’ then I say, ‘I am sorry, this is not the place for you.’ Then you have another category where parents want their kids to be self-reliant. They want them to grow in confidence, which the child gets in boarding schools like ours.
Every year, we have quite a few parents from the agricultural background, seeking admission for their wards. In particular, most parents coming from interior Maharashtra have no good schools in their regions. If you send your kids to village schools, they may not be able to complete their education and move up in life. Then there are first generation learners, who say, ‘we are not educated, but since we have sent him here, he will learn something.’ We have quite a few children coming from that kind of background.
CC is Comprehensive Evaluation that we do on a regular basis after completion of a certain unit in class. The problem with unit tests is that they happen every 15-20 days and the child is stressed with the exams. Stress levels keep building up. I have changed the entire system to three terms. The first exam is in August, the second one in December and the third one in March. Then again, I have ensured no exams will be held till Std IV. So the child won’t be stressed at all. The teacher will assess him on the knowledge he has gained in reading, dictation and mathematics. But the child is not put through any pressure to score 100%. Class tests make up for 10 marks each. From Std V to Std VII, I have 50 marks for internal assessment and 50 marks for examination papers. The 50 marks for internal assessment happens by way of class tests. So after a chapter is taught, a 10 mark assessment is done.
I tell teachers that the test is not of the students, it is for them. If the student has not done well in the test, it indicates that the teacher has not been able to explain well. If in a class there are many boys getting less marks, what is the reason? If a particular concept is not understood then teachers are asked to re-assess them. That is the CC evaluation process.
However, from Std VIII to Std X, we can’t change anything because we have to follow the board pattern.
“The first question I ask the child in front of his parents is. ‘Are you coming of your free will or have your parents sent you here?’ If he says ‘My parents are forcing me,’ then I say, ‘sorry, this is not the place for you”
We have half day school on Saturdays, after which we have club activities which constitutes the extra-curricular activities. We have seven to eight clubs so every student goes for the activity of his choice. That’s where creativity comes in. There are various projects like the language project, history project, geography project, and so on. We have two computer labs – one for the junior section and another for the senior section. They do their own research, find information and ask the teacher for printouts. Sometimes you may find students in the classroom cutting paper. And another part of learning is when they inadvertently drop paper on the floor and we make them clean it. Keeping the environment clean also happens in the process. A lot of such things come into the creative arena.
Recently, we had a musical and the entire school was on stage. Such a concert was held for the first time in Panchgani. I had 283 boys put up on stage for this musical. For the teachers it was the first time and a big project. We took the basic concept of the movie, Sound of Music. We invited most of our alumnus and Dharani, our star alumni, as our guests. They studied here and they have excelled in their careers.
Basically the child looks at the teacher as a parent.
Most of them are residential. We have teachers’ quarters on campus. Every dormitory has 4-5 teachers’ accommodation alongside. So teachers are there with them 24x7. Anything happens or anybody is unwell, there is somebody attending to the child. So the relationship is like that of a parent and a child.
So yes, what we basically do is we don’t believe in academics limited to book knowledge. Book knowledge can be got, anyway. The kind of exposure we give to the kids is we prepare them for life. So no matter what the situation or crisis-you need the conviction to come up with solution in a crisis. That is the kind of training we try to give our children. There are some cases where a child falls and has an injury; in day schools parents come and take them away. We have a full-fledged hospital on campus-there are children, teachers and doctors attending to them. He learns to cope up with that kind of mechanism and understands that when something happens, somebody is there to take care. Even now when the alumni come they come in groups of 50-60. They are connected even after they have left school. This is bonding for life. This is what we want our children to grow up with. If any Peter-ite meets an ex-student who is not doing well in life, he is looked after and given that kind of training or exposure to become better. They also help them to get into better careers.
To a certain extent some parents have the mentality that they are paying fees to the school so the school should be doing everything for the kid. Certainly the school will do everything, but when the kid comes home, parents should also tell children how to move in the society. We have parents also who do not accept decisions that we take on the campus. Parents need to empower us with certain freedom. If we are correcting a child then we are not doing it out of malice for your son; if we are doing it, it is because we want him corrected. Your son will be with us for eight to ten years. But he will be with you for life. How will you like if your son comes home uncivilised, un-socialised and un-groomed?
“One thing you should not do in your life is get into bad company, because that will destroy you. Find the good that you can because that will be your guardian”
A child must spend at least five years of his school life in a boarding school. Then parents will understand the difference between day school and boarding school. Because the majority of the student’s formation will happen in boarding school. Formative years are important. If the child is lost in those formative years, later trying to educate him becomes more difficult.
We have a team called Calorie Care from Mumbai. We have a structured breakfast, lunch and dinner planned for 15 days on the board. We ensure that repetition is minimised. The menu is planned keeping in mind the nutritional value. We have a Catering Committee, comprising the Principal, staff and students who meet occasionally and discuss the matters concerning the meals.
In today’s time, because of nuclear families they are more in demand. Parents are not able to find time for their kids. In our time grandparents used to take care of their grandchildren. That is not happening nowadays.
One psychological problem the child encounters is feeling left out. Inadvertently though he is coming of his own free will, he sometimes may feel that maybe mom and dad don’t want me home. That is always at the back of the child’s mind though he may not express it. Occasionally on Sundays, you have phone calls when the child break downs and says he wants to go home. Such problems keep cropping but the counsellor handles them well.
My education was in a co-ed school so I think a co-ed school is better than an all boys’ or all-girls’ school. They get to know the other gender as well. They get to know the psychology, looking at life, in a far more balanced way. When our boys go into girls’ schools, they don’t have the courage or conviction to say hi to a girl, they don’t really interact much. However, controlling children in co-ed schools in today’s times is difficult so exclusively boys or girls school is best to manage.
Yes, I think there should be one education system like the Gurukul System of the past where everyone had one curriculum and everything was structured and was planned and you moved to the next. There should be a graded education system which is all-inclusive.
Since we are minority institution, the RTI Act does not really apply to us. In any case, we are very transparent as far as our work is concerned. Anything and everything that happens on the campus is notified to the parents by the App we have. We have an app called School Stuff through which everything is reported to the parents, right from the day’s morning attendance of boarders and day scholars. Homework done is also posted through the App. If something is drawn on the board, a picture is clicked and sent to the parents. Technology is used in the classrooms. Teachers have what we call the Knowledge Centre, with about ten computers. During their free time they download information which will be needed for the PPT for their class. Students are not allowed to use mobile phones; teachers are encouraged to make minimum use of mobile phones. Since ours is a huge campus, mobiles are used so that communication is not hampered.
Teachers are respected but I feel teachers are not well paid. Teachers create leaders of the society and they hardly get anything. We are the builders of the nation; we should be able to sustain ourselves and not look to others for our survival. Many teachers have that kind of feeling and regret-that should not happen. The government should look into this and make sure that teachers are paid well. After that, the teachers will be able to give their best, as they are being taken care of and they would get the feeling that it is now my responsibility to look after the children who are entrusted in my care. In cities, teachers go to students’ homes to teach, which is pathetic and demeaning, actually.
Leave us in peace, because we do know what we need to give to the children; don’t force us to conduct irrelevant tests.
Live and let live. Be good, find all the good that you can, this is what my mom used to tell me. Though we are from a Catholic background, my mother and I are influenced by the Mahabharata character Karna; my mother used to tell me that he was one person in that entire epic story who was the most loyal and talented but he got into wrong company and it destroyed him. One thing you should not do in your life is to get into bad company, because that will destroy you. Find the good in people and make good friends for life as they will be your guardians in times of need.
By Vinita Deshmukh
