An economics and education postgraduate of Pune and Annamalai universities and the Principals Center for International School Leadership, Miami, USA, Sarojini Rao is principal of the Indus International School (IIS), Bangalore, ranked India’s #1 international day-cum-boarding school for six consecutive years in the annual EW India School Rankings. 

Are you satisfied with the Union budget 2018-19 allocation of Rs.85,010 crore for education? 

The public education sector needs far greater investment to adequately prepare our children for the future. An estimated 60 percent of existing jobs will disappear in the next ten years. We are transiting through the cusp of the fourth industrial revolution. Now, more than ever, there is need to invest in preparing the next generation for an uncertain future in the age of robotics and artificial intelligence. 

The national average pass percentage in the Teacher Eligibility Test is between 4-7 percent. What’s your comment? 

Teaching hasn’t got its due in our country. It is more of a job and less of a profession. Teaching does not attract talent; the best minds of the country seldom consider entering this profession. 

What is your solution to reforming the country’s failing teacher education system and crisis of lack of qualified teachers? 

The purpose of education is preparation for life, and the role of the teacher is to unlock the potential of students. Our teacher education programmes need to be fully revamped to prepare teachers for education delivery in the fourth industrial revolution. We need to move beyond Bloom’s taxonomy and John Dewey to enable our teachers to develop 21st century competencies such as critical thinking, collaboration, application of knowledge and innovation in children. 

What are your Top 3 suggestions for reforming K -12 education? 

• The purpose of education is to prepare students for a life that will surely be volatile and uncertain. Curriculums should focus on this. 

• Self-development of teachers is a pre-requisite of professional development. Capacity-building of teachers should also focus on their self-development. 

• Servant leadership in which the leaders exist to serve the people instead of people working to serve the leader; training for students to humanise them in a technology-obsessed world.