Daijiworld Media Network

Mangaluru, Jul 25: Education is the powerful tool to empower people, to challenge their reasoning powerand intellectual capability. Sadly, the present education system hasn’t changed with time - Rote learning still plagues our system, students study only to score marks in exams. The colonial masters introduced education systems in India to create clerks and civil servants, and we have not deviated much from that pattern till today. We are in a country where people are spending their parent’s life savings and borrow money for education – and even then not getting standard education, and struggling to find employment of their choice.

Though the situations appear quite gloomy,it is refreshing to note that there are certain exceptions to the established norms. There are quite a few institutions which have deviated from the mundane by choosing the less trailed path of using innovative and creative methods and techniques to encourage critical thinking and learning among children, in the process making learning more real and fun-filled. Centre for Advanced Learning (CFAL) and Early Learning Centre (ELC) with its capacious and beautiful campus located at Bejai-Kapikad, Kottara Cross Road, Mangalore, has been creating ripples in the field of education for quite some time now with its students achievingoutstanding performancein some of the toughest competitiveentrance exams for medical, engineering and pure sciences. ELC is a kindergarten for our youngest citizens and CFAL is an after-school learningcenter for students from classes 1st to 12th.

CFAL whose main aim is to make Math and Science fun and interesting. This has been best exemplified as recently one of its students AdityaPrakashgot selected for the International Math Olympiad, the onlystudent fromKarnataka and one among the only 6students selected from India. This selection is equivalent to selection in an Olympics for sport and Karnataka has got a selection in Math Olympiad after 21 years! In the JEE advanced 2017 Adithya Upadhyaya of CFAL was the topper in Mangalore. Of course, many of its students have been regularly topping the examinations in JEE (both advanced and main), NEET, CET, KVPY, NTSE, Olympiads and other pure science entrance exams year after year. This year, ALL selections in Mangalore in NTSE were CFAL students.

Developing passion for learning

So, what is the secret formula adopted by CFAL to churn out students who excel in their chosen field? Think - Learn – Persist is the tagline of the institute that guides it in its journey of pursuing the uncommon and uncharted path towards excellence.

Vijay Moras the program coordinator says “at CFAL, along with Math & Science we focus on developing strong character strengths, like perseverance, Grit, Curiosity, Gratitude, Purpose, growth mindset, Optimism and Self Control”. “Be your best” is our motto and our focus is to help students develop passion for what they learn and excel in whatever they do.

Since their inception,ELC and CFAL haveadopted a holistic and open-ended approach to education. “We started in a small way in 2009 and from the beginning we focused on giving individual attention to eachstudent. Hence, we can only train a few students, and in these students, we try to inculcate the spirit of self-learning and peer learning, which works wonderfully in bringing out theirinherent talents” says the Principal Severine Rosario.

ELC was started to change the direction of early education in Mangalore. While everyone agrees that childhood should be associated with joy, love and learning, the reality stands in stark contrast. An artificial environment is created where the child is expected to sit on a desk, is rarely allowed to go outside a room and a fear is created to enforce 'discipline'. Children are subjected to tests, uniforms, textbooks, cursive writing and rote learning at a young age. The ability to write is considered as the most important marker of success and music, dance, art, stories, dramatics and play are side-lined. Science is ignored. Libraries for young children are non-existent. Classrooms are overcrowded and teachers are not adequately empowered. Independent thinking is side-lined and as early as Kindergarten, emphasis is placed on standardization, marks and entrance exams.

ELC aims to change this approach. With its child-centric approach ELC provides facilities which are intellectually stimulating and artistically alive, which in turn paves the way to a child’s all- round development. It has an extensive library to help the child develop reading habit. To encourage a child’s creative potential, ELC provides diverse avenues in the form of art, craft, dance, music, pottery, theatre activities and field trips and outdoor activities. ELC also provides training to teachers in order to enable them to understand children better.

While Montessori Method is regarded as one of the best methods of learning as it encourages self-learning through a self-directed and self-correcting approach, there is a shortage of teachers who are trained in the true Montessori Method. There are many schools in Mangalore who say they impart Montessori Method of schooling but there are no authorizedschoolswhich adheresto the Montessoriphilosophy in it’s true sense.

To overcome the lacuna of not having trained teachers, ELC kindergarten has entered into a partnership with Indian Montessori Centre (IMC) for providing training to teachers in Montessori Method of teachingso as to improve the quality of early education in Mangalore. This is a one year course with 600 hours of training with classes during week-ends. The course has begun and 14 teachers have already enrolled for the course at ELC. There are still a few seats available and there are 2 free seats for interested candidates from Government schools.

No Shortcut to Success

The founder of CFAL was Severine Rosario who realized that though our children are intelligent and hardworking they lack the right kind of guidance at the right time. It was a personal experience that made Severine give a deep thought to the entire concept of teaching. She realized thatwhen her sons could come out with flying colours in the IIT entrance exams with proper preparation and guidance, their equally capable friends and classmates couldn’t make it. At this juncture she feltthat a sturdy conceptual foundation, proactive teachers and proper guidance are needed to help children achieve greater heights. This thought process resulted in the creation of CFAL and since then CFAL has been consistently achieving amazing resultsand providing an appropriate platform for students toexcel by giving vent to their creativity.

Vijay Moras says there is no shortcut to success and CFAL and ELC’s emergence as an ‘institute with a difference’ is the cumulative effect of the uncompromising standards of learning. “Our main aim is to make learning enjoyable by creating an affable and positive environment where children can unleash their imagination, learn together as a community and showcase their creative dynamism. Most schools in the region focus only on board exams and marks but this does not enable the child’s creative potential. Many people are unaware that the topper in this year’s JEE exam is an NIOS student- a student who did not attend any school or college but was self-taught. Many parents believe that the pursuit of school marks is of utmost importance, but realize too late that these marks do not help the student get into the best institutions in the country or abroad. Our teachersand creative environment make learning an interesting activity. We focus on cooperation, peer learning and self-directed learning. When it comes to quality, we have never compromised. We try each day to live up to our motto of ‘Be your best!’“That in short sums up the tremendous success achieved by CFAL and ELC in a very short period.

Some of Key Results at CFAL since 2011

1. Aditya Prakash a Student of CFAL, has reached the international Math Olympiads. First Students after 21 years from Karnataka to attend international level.
2. 32 CFAL students have joined IIT’s since 2011
3. 95+, CFAL Students have joined NIT’s
4. 49 CFAL Students have qualified as KVPY scholars
a. 9 Students have claimed this scholarship (3 Students in IISc, 1 in ISI, 3 in IISERS, 2 in IIT’s)
5. 25 CFAL are National Talents Scholars until 2016; 2017 results are expected shortly
6. 60 Students are among the 1% in the Country in various Olympiads
a. Aditya Prakash, has reached the international Math Olympiads
b. Sumith was 1 among the 38, in Physics and Chemistry Olympiads
c. Sunil Simha is one among 38 in Astronomy Olympiads
7. There are several other students in BITS (Pilani, Hyderabad & Goa), IIIT’s (Hyderabad, Bangalore)
8. Daren Lobo has achieved AIR 6 in UCEED exam conducted by IIT.
9. Many students have joined Medical colleges under Government quota.
10. More than 45% of CFAL students have joined the 10 top colleges in the country. The rest of them have joined MIT or colleges coming under KCET.