The exemplary lives led by Gurus in ancient times have inspired many remarkable contributions to humanity. But in recent years, the teaching profession has lost its sheen. We believe it is time to restore pride in this noble profession.
We call our Faculty Enrichment program “Prerana”, which means inspiration, because it seeks to inspire our teachers to embark on a journey to become torch bearers of knowledge and wisdom (“Gurus”) from being just transmitters of information (teachers). We believe that Prerana will help inculcate in teachers a sense of pride and passion in their work and role, thereby encouraging them to innovate teaching methodologies to suit 21st century learners. This, we believe, will make teachers become more willing and proactive catalysts of change.
This program has even greater relevance in light of India’s -National Education Policy (NEP 2020), which explicitly states that teachers are at the “heart” of this policy. Educational institutions now have unprecedented levels of freedom in terms of courses they are allowed to offer. But such flexibility cannot fruitfully co-exist with outdated pedagogical and assessment approaches. The teaching community needs to understand the challenges posed by the new policy and technology-enabled learning possibilities. This also requires teachers to evolve new ways of adding value to students and assist in their holistic development. It is this critical set of capabilities that Prerana is designed to deliver to teachers.