Meena Kak, the recipient of the ‘National Award for Teachers 2010’ awarded by our Hon’ble President of India and CBSE National Award from Ministry of Human Resource, New Delhi in 2006 for contribution in the field of education, has been the Principal of Kolkata-based Lakshmipat Singhania Academy since 2007.
The Career Curve
Meena Kak talks about her vocation, “I am a Masters in organic chemistry from Kanpur University and passed out in the year 1978. I worked as a chemistry teacher in Gomia’s Pitts Model school for seventeen years and as a city coordinator for CBSE for seven long years; for conducting CBSE examinations and looking into evaluation work.
My first Kolkata School after Gomia was a state board school, with little or modest means. From there I worked in a well-known CBSE affiliated school in Kolkata, Ashok Hall. I joined Lakshmipat Singhania Academy as the principal in 2007. I was ready for a bigger challenge.”
About the School – Lakshmipat Singhania Academy
Lakshmipat Singhania Academy opened the portals to high-quality education on 3rd June 1996. Classes range from Montessori to XII. The co-educational day school is affiliated to Central Board of Secondary Education. The school offers Science, Commerce and Humani-ties streams to students at the Senior Secondary Level.
Children have the freedom to express their creativity and imagination in the form of vari ous activities that stimulate their thought process. The school focus on the development of the 21st-century skills such as logical and critical thinking, communication skills among our students thereby making them globally competitive.
Instilling Social Responsibility in Students
Social responsibility is an intrinsic life skill as it develops much-required empathy in the children of today. “We organize visits to orphanages and old age homes; children have storytelling sessions with children of the jail inmates and we encourage students to help group D employees and workers of our school.”
To name a few ongoing projects, Project Sahayta, Project Kaushal, Celebrating Bonds, Help Age India, Joy of Giving, Shram Daan, warm clothes distribution by OSALSA, Blood Donation Camps for parents, Traffic Awareness Campaigns, Craft Mela etc.
Challenges Faced by Indian Education System
Meena Kak feels that the Indian quality of education needs to improve. “We have lack of experienced teachers and a strange tuition culture is overtaking school teaching. I would recommend vocational training to be a part of school curriculum and also the gap between school and college education needs to be bridged. Activity-based learning/ conceptual knowledge is missing too.”
Career awareness should be drilled into our kids, encouraging them to convert their passion into their profession. There is a strong need for future careers /professions to be assessed and the curriculum to be changed accordingly.”
Highlights of Lakshmipat Singhania Academy
Meena Kak talks about the special features of Lakshmipat Singhania Academy –”It is a school that looks beyond and is a home away from home, we establish a strong bond between students and teachers. We believe in exploring, innovating and thinking out of the box. Students are prepared to face the challenges that life offers, with grit and determination.
Enough freedom is given to the teachers to experiment with teaching pedagogies so as to shape the personality of a child. It is the perseverance and dedication of our teachers, their love for the academy, our collective commitment towards children and education that gives our school an edge over other educational institutions.
We incorporate a right blend of curricular and co-curricular activities; give our students national and international experience through educational trips and exchange programmes.”
For more details, please visit: http://www.lsakolkata.com/
Lakshmipat Singhania Academy
12-B Alipore Road,
Kolkata 700 027
Contact no. 2479 0159.
Email: lsa_kol@rediffmail.com