VOLUME VI – CHAPTER XXI
WHAT TYPE OF PRINCIPAL DO YOU WANT TO BE – ORDINARY OR EXTRAORDINARY?
The need of today is that “you should not spend your time in revisiting the glorious days of the past, put seize the opportunities that today presents” as the young entrepreneur Reena Khatau puts forth emphatically.
The difference lies in execution. The author has come across several Principals who made this difference visible in the way they organized various aspects of running the School.
Nalini Amma organized the Annual Days in such a way that every programme highlighted our national culture or had a value education component.
One Principal in Punjab got the students of the local School involved in the sports day by organizing a tug of war item and silently instructed his School team to put up a tough fight at the beginning and then finally yielding to that School there by giving them a sense of joy and pride.
The Principal of a School with the help of Secretary organised every year a big “dhristy homam” to which the parents happily contributed in kind in the form of ghee, rice, Banyan sticks, firewood, clothes, fruits, coconut, flowers etc., This homam was performed to ward of all evil aspects and to safeguard the students and staffs.
One Principal organized Teachers day by inviting all the National awardees of various Schools present in the city and honoured them.
One Principal brought the photos of 36 Indian Scientists – Physicist, Chemist, Biologist, and Mathematician and arranged their display in the respective laboratories.
One Principal asked his students to find out retired teachers living in their neighbourhood who could not afford medical expenses arrange free consultation with the doctors belonging to the Rotary and Lions Club and their hospital and medical bills were paid by these two clubs.
One Principal made the local service organisations like Rotary, Lions, Jaycee, Roundtable, Bharatiya Vidhya Bhavan, Sri Sathya Sai Samithi, Sri.Naryana Mission, Shri. Chinmaya mission to celebrate Teachers Day joining hands with this School.
One Principal celebrated Republic Day by giving a class IV staff – Aaya – The honour of hoisting the National flag.
One Principal invited a freedom fighter couple to hoist the National flag on the Independence day and address the children.
On the Rakshbandan day every year, one Principal asked all the girls in the School to tie a Rakie to a boy. Through this beautiful act she ensured the absence of any problem between the boys and the girls.
One Principal persuaded the Management to give special award, cash and memento to the teachers of class X & XII, in whose subjects there were students getting 1150/1200, 450/500.
One Principal made the Parents Day program full of items depicting the Hindu Muslim unity.
The author has seen Principal of Schools situated in the border between two states arranging programs in both the languages so that any local friction and emotional disturbance can be avoided.
K.V.Sambalpur Principal had a lot items in Oriya.
The Principal at Belgaum had programs in Marathi and Kanada.
The Principal at Viziayanagaram (AP) had programs in Telugu and Oriya.
One School has 6500 students and 220 teachers (all ladies!)
The Principal at Bastar gave prominence to programs highlighting tribal cultural aspects.
The Principal of K.V at Jawaharlal Nehuru University campus organized a reception desk daily with two students a boy and a girl to guide the visitors
In 1984 the author went to Kohima in the North East region the Principal there wanted to make the pupil know about the culture of the whole country. So he got video tapes of dances of the various states and got his teachers who had a taste for arts see the tape a few times and train the students. The parents were very happy to know this and cooperated by getting ready the necessary dresses for their children. After intensive training for two months the Principal had the Annual Day in which he put on stage different dance forms like Mohini attam, Bamboo dance, Sambalpuri, Garba, Bhangha, Fisher women dance, Kashmiri dance, Bharatha Natiyam, Kathakali, Yaksha ganam, Burrakatha, Rabindra Sangeeth, Bastar tribal dance etc., This was a great learning for the students and parents and resulted in cultural integration.
This aspect of cultural integration has become a necessary in view of the diverse nature of the staff. This could be best achieved by providing the staff a platform where they can shed their existing beliefs, work different patterns and experience a new change. This will help them to get rid of their inhibitions and cultural limitations, give opportunity to the staff to mingle together through informal sessions, to articulate their thoughts freely and maximise their potential in an atmosphere of fun, joy, knowledge enrichment and personality development by providing a flat hierarchy.
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Happiness and peace do not follow when man is fed well, clothed well, housed well and educated up to a good standard and employed under comfortable conditions with no injury to health or security. There are many who have all these in plenty but who are still worried or in pain or discontented. They depend on the inner equipment of man, not on his outer skill or riches. – Sri Sathya Sai Baba
