Teachers are at the fulcrum, a child must flower to the fullest – be it spiritual, emotional, mental, psychological and intellectual: Mrs Sushma Paul Berlia

Recently, Mrs Sushma Paul Berlia, Chairman, Apeejay Stya & Svran Group, Chancellor, Apeejay Stya University, and Chairman, Apeejay Education, addressed the entire faculty and teachers through a webinar. The aim was to wish them a happy Teachers’ Day. Education Advisor Dr VS Garg highlighting the focus of the webinar said that we are honoured to have Mrs Sushma Paul Berlia to address the entire teacher fraternity of Apeejay Education institutions.

“It’s always a delight for all of us to hear madam’s words of wisdom. We are also privileged to have with us Mr Nishant Berlia, Co-Promoter Apeejay Stya and Svran Group and Pro-Chancellor, Apeejay Stya University; Mr Aditya Berlia, Co-Promoter of Apeejay Stya and Svran Group and Pro-Chancellor of Apeejay Stya University; Dr Neha Berlia, Co-Promoter of Apeejay Stya & Svran Group and Pro-Chancellor of Apeejay Stya University to share their invaluable thoughts,” Dr Garg shared and requested President ma’am to bless and address everyone.

“Thank you, Dr Garg, Mrs Sushma Paul Berlia, said. “First, let me extend my heartiest greetings to the entire Apeejay Stya family. We are delighted, as part of Apeejay Education, to celebrate and talk about Teachers’ Day. I know it is belated, but it’s no less heartfelt,” she shared and said that she could have addressed everyone on Teacher’s Day itself except that the time zone in which she was in was unfriendly and did not have the wish to drag everyone at night to have to listen to her.

“It’s particularly lovely to meet again with many of you who have been there for a very long time with us. You may remember we used to meet fairly often during those terrible COVID-19 times; we had a sense of togetherness and family and connection that we were able to build with each other at that time even if it was virtual. I have felt for a while that it’s important that we start (meeting again) regularly through not only webinars and Zoom meets but also physically. I would be visiting the schools and make sure that I can meet with each one of you,” Mrs Berlia, said.

She also sent a heartfelt welcome to the many new colleagues. “One of the important things that we have always been talking about since COVID-19 times is that – we are with each other and we are for each other. I would encourage you to always remember that. Remember, there is no problem, whether small or big, which can’t be resolved with mutual dialogue,” she shared.

“If we look at the role of a teacher during COVID-19, more than at any other time, it was brought home to everybody very quickly, and mind you, Apeejay was at the forefront of it the very next day to get into virtual teaching. Kudos to all of you. It was an amazing job that you all did with all the constraints and challenges that you may have had personally and professionally,” Mrs Berlia said.

She added that she is still in deep appreciation and certainly as a society and as schools we suffered (during COVID-19) in so many other ways whether financially or in other terms. But we made sure that we were all taken care of, that nobody was laid off, that people were financially taken care of month after month no matter what happened with fees, no matter what happened otherwise. She assured everyone that in times to come ‘we will be carrying forward the same spirit’.

“Over time we have been able to come out of those difficult situations. We are going to be able to take our schools and institutions forward with an investment, not only in terms of infrastructure but also in terms of educational advancements, which we have all been at the forefront of in the past. The most important thing we realised during COVID-19 was how important a teacher is. Whether it is physical building or whether it is curriculum, all of it could be managed virtually. But digital cannot replace a teacher. This is why the teacher being the fulcrum carries great responsibility. Today, while their role in conveying or becoming a source of information has reduced considerably, their other roles which are far more critical have become much more important, these include the transmission of values, culture and character, facilitation of the development of mind – mind as a tool for learning because ultimately education is the training of the mind and will, sharpening it, focusing it, concentrating it and the channeling and opening of the heart and shaping the tomorrow not only of our nation really, but of our mankind – of humanity at large,” Mrs Berlia said.

Today, she said, if we look, at education, if we see the development of an all-round dimension of a child, that is the vision with which our Chairman had first set out the first Apeejay School – be it spiritual, emotional, mental, psychological, and intellectual – in all dimensions.

“A child must flower to the fullest. Today, when we are looking at Artificial Intelligence (AI), more and more questions comes to the fore, are we only trying to create intellectual giants or are we trying to create human beings, and foster human beings, what does it truly mean to be a human being? How does that distinguish itself from tomorrow’s Artificial Intelligence robot? Who it is being predicted may ultimately be even more intelligent than we are in the material sense. It’s food for thought, and this is where the role of a teacher gets sharpened and defined,” Mrs Berlia shared and added that the education landscape today, as we know it, has always been changing, but now it’s changing at a faster pace.

“Today, there is a whole talk about New Education Policy (2020). Of course, it is not new to Apeejay (Education). We were at the forefront and leading. Many of the ideas were in fact, taken from Apeejay in bringing about the whole character of having collaborative learning, integrated learning, and having a kind of educational pathway which is opening up the pathway for all dimensions of a child’s development. But the New Education Policy allows us to bring to the forefront a curriculum which is now sanctioned and right up to class XII. Of course, it’s still a process in development, both at the government level and at our level. Be it digital, collaborative learning, and now Artificial Intelligence.

“There are a whole lot of new horizons, where we, ourselves, as teachers need to be learning. We somehow need to be the facilitators of this learning – for our colleagues, for our students, for everybody. We would like Apeejay always to be at the forefront of it. I’m sure that you have the necessary support and the ability to self-learn and take it to the next level. We’ve also been working on the inner journey curriculum and speaking campuses. The idea is that we are not only creating a learning environment about the world outside but the inner world which is as big as if not larger in dimension than the outer world and which is fundamentally important as we understood during COVID-19. It was brought home to everybody that there is self-knowledge which is as important as the external world knowledge that we have to sustain. All of us want to be happy at the end of the day. Whatever we do, in whatever manner we do, the goal is to be happy,” Mrs Berlia said.

“The peer learning between students, students and teachers, teachers and teachers, inner growth, self-learning, we are happy to support. We are building a learning and development programme that would enable all of us to be able to take this forward. As an organisation itself, there are very many initiatives which would help us to adapt better to the changing times and the changing needs both of education as well as an organisation which intends to grow faster but more importantly towards excelling in all fields,” she said and shared three key messages through this webinar.

First, teachers are the fulcrum of learning; you are at the heart of it. “You carry great responsibility, we all carry, we are all teachers in our way. Our Chairman, Dr Stya Paul, perhaps was the biggest teacher of all. Our Chairman used to always fondly remember some of the teachers who made a huge difference in his life. I still remember their names – there was Master Jagan Nath, a Math teacher in school. Because of him, my father became a Gold medalist in combined Punjab in his masters.

“Later, he (Master Jagan Nath) was even at Apeejay Education. There was a Dr Kar, an English professor. Can you imagine he would remember that decades later? And I am remembering it today decades later. So the role that a teacher plays, you can just begin to imagine the kind of responsibility we all carry. But the teachers who are in the classroom, that is where the highest responsibility lies. It also comes with great accountability. I would like to appreciate all that our teachers are doing. My heartiest congratulations to you. We are proud of you. We are so delighted and overjoyed, and that’s one of the reasons we wanted to connect. But I also want to remind ourselves, and most of us are doing this, the kind of accountability and responsibility that we have towards our teachers,” Mrs Berlia said.

Second, is self-development and growth at all levels – students, teachers, principals, coordinators, and vice-principals – we want each one of you to grow. “Please take self-initiative, we are there to support you in doing it but we want our people to take responsibility from within the organisation.” she said.

Third, lead the future. “We don’t just want to be followers, we want to lead. Therefore, in all the new dimensions and of course, wherever we have the strength, we need to keep ourselves abreast of the latest changes that are taking place and take the ownership and responsibility to keep ourselves learning and be able to translate and transmute that learning within the classroom,” she said.

“And last of all, which is not the three key messages, I want to tell you that we love you. I love you. We really do. And we are here with each other, for each other, always. Happiness, as I said earlier, is what all of us want. Happiness and fulfillment. Think about how we can bring about this happiness to ourselves and those around us. Because we cannot be happy if we don’t have other people around us happy, if we are not happy we cannot make other people happy. It works both ways so please have awareness have compassion have support give support in whatever you do, in whatever you think, and then in how we conduct ourselves. I know most of us are already doing that, and that’s why we are proud of you. But this is the only thing that makes a difference. This is what makes us human. We are always striving for excellence. So thank you so much, and I look forward in the coming times to connecting again, as well as to be able to start meeting up with each one of you in person,” Mrs Berlia said and concluded with an Urdu couplet.

“Tu Shaheen hai parwaz hai kaam tera, tere saamne aasman aur bhi hain.” (You are a falcon. Soaring high is your nature. There are skies yet for you to conquer). We always believe no matter how far we have come, there is so much more we can accomplish.

She then invited Mr Nishant Berlia to share a few words.

“Thank you, madam, for those very kind words and Dr Garg for the very kind introduction. “Dear faculty, first of all, I’d like to introduce myself as an Apeejay student, then an Apeejay alumni and now a very proud Apeejay parent. It’s very humbling to speak with you and to have a dialogue with you on this forum. So much of what I am today is due to the efforts of our faculty. And as the years go by, I also realise how privileged that experience has been, given how extraordinary our situation truly has become,” Mr Nishant Berlia shared.

Madam, he said, shared a lot of thoughts and words. “I only really have two to share to echo what she has had to say. “One is a sentiment, which I learnt from my grandfather; it’s not only about doing what we do the best every day but also the idea of building institutions. Institutions are built over decades by hundreds of colleagues laying thousands of bricks. They are not built in a day. Today Apeejay formally is in its 57th year and we have our eyes set on 75 and 100.

“Each one of us in every way has a role to play, both with the responsibility we have towards those who have laid those bricks in the past and the future. We must always have the thought of building institutions together. Second, I believe Apeejay has always been about grooming and developing talent. I can tell you as a student and as a parent, the ability with which we have built leaders is extraordinary. I’m always surprised how so many of our alumni are in leadership positions all over the world,” Mr Nishant Berlia shared.

“We have always had a belief in developing from within. I have spent a few years overseas. My children have also studied in some international schools. Our system is probably, if not the best, very much near the best. Our institutions have truly that ability to be at the world-class level. I’m very proud to see that we’re taking forward this legacy with all that energy and spirit,” Mr Nishant Berlia said.

Speaking at the webinar, Dr Neha Berlia, recalled her school days and how they used to dress up as teachers on Teacher’s Day. “The girls used to wear saris. It used to be such a beautiful day. All the students of class XII, used to look forward to this day – to be able to talk to the teachers and act like them. So, I want to start by wishing all of you. I know we are on September 20, but it is a special day and we should all celebrate this. A lot of what I wanted to say has already been covered. But one thing which I wanted to talk about is teamwork. When we work together, we have a very different level of achievement. We are looking at growing and learning from each other – giving your suggestions and ideas or where we can keep developing ourselves and building ourselves into a better future. My only desire, you know, coming in this forum right now is to sort of remind us of the fact that we all make a difference,” Dr Neha Berlia said.

Speaking at the webinar, Mr Aditya Berlia said it is an absolute delight and pleasure to be here. “I’m really happy to note that I’m actually on a 100-city world tour going out and teaching people across the world, almost for about 11 hours a day on AI. This is something that I feel deeply proud of because I think it’s the ethos and the environment that I was given thanks to all our wonderful Apeejay faculty. I cannot tell you how many of you inspired me both as a child and as I was going through the system that teaching is the noblest of professions. As a teacher, you see, over time of five, 10, 20 years, there are so many lives that you would impact, and through those lives they impact others. Understand the wonderful power and the responsibility we all have as faculty members. We started on a journey last year, trying to understand what AI is and the role it is going to play in the classroom.

“We are trying to figure out how our system, our curriculum, and our people can adopt AI. How should they react to it and how do they thrive in this new world? It is going to be a very difficult two to three years going ahead. Those who have participated in the workshops, there’s an extraordinary optimism, the ability to free up time for all of our faculty members to be more present in the classroom, the ability to take teaching and learning to another level,” Mr Aditya Berlia said and added that he was looking forward to all of us going through this journey together.

Mrs Sushma Paul Berlia said that the webinar aimed to connect to bring a sense of being together. “I think there’s an emotional connection, which I find can be achieved even through a webinar. Even when we may not be interacting, I, at least, can feel those vibrations of each one of you. Thank you so much for listening with so much patience. I just want to say again that we are with each other and we are for each other.

Thank you! Jai Hind!