Einstein, Newton didn’t have access to fancy schools: CBSE secretary

Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) secretary Anurag Tripathi on Saturday said eminent scientists like Albert Einstein, Thomas Alva Edison and Isaac Newton did not have access to fancy schools but they excelled as they enjoyed unconditional support of their parents.

Tripathi made this observation at the three-day Ed Leadership Round Table Conference 2019 held at the World Unity Convention Centre at City Montessori School, LDA Campus. He also said the Year 2019 was dedicated to experiential learning by the CBSE.

He challenged principals to invest in teachers. The CBSE secretary proposed bonding between parents, teachers and students.

“To go to the top, you need communication skills, leadership, convincing power, vision, ‘logon se kaam lena’ (ability to get work done), attitude, passion, junior, bhookh (hunger for success), anticipate future problems, and solve them,” he said.

“Till six years of age, a child develops to his full and learns the right things in life. In school, parents and teachers can contribute to some extent,” he said. Sunita Gandhi, the convenor of the conference, said the theme of the conference was ‘Stress-Free Education- Singapore leads the way’.

Director, basic education, Sarvendra Vikram Bahadur Singh spoke about how government-run primary and upper primary schools were spreading knowledge in rural UP, where many parents still did not value the importance of elementary education.  

Anil Pradhan, founder, International Public School for Innovation, also addressed the gathering. Rahul and Riddhi Agarwal, founder of Swatantra Talim, talked about innovation in learning.

Mala Mehra, principal of the Hoernor College, Mahanagar, was among the prominent participants.

Dr Snehil Pandey, head mistress, English Medium Primary Model School, Soharamau, Nawabganj block in district Unnao who participated as special guest said the conference helped her to learn how to make classroom stress free and to make learning joyful.