Dr Alka Kapoor on Marks, Skills, AI and the Future of Education
“Academic marks are important, but they do not define the long-term success of students,” says Dr. Alka Kapoor, principal of Modern Public School. Kapoor has 30 plus years of experience in the field of education and believes that skill-based education is of utmost necessity, along with human values and creativity.
These ideas focus on many problems that plague education, including stress that students experience due to academics and rigorous studying, mental health, innovations, artificial intelligence, etc. and the future skills that students will need.
Dr. Alka Kapoor on Marks vs Skills in Education
For Dr. Alka, marks or grades are not the be-all and end-all of education. Grades can help students enter the work sphere for the first time. Character, competence, strong communication, creativity, and adaptability will determine how far one progresses in their professional life.
Dr.Kapoor also says that skills are of utmost necessity due to the changing nature of work. Past generations' knowledge, skills, and practices may become irrelevant in the future. In this regard, schools should not aim for students scoring the highest grades. Students also need to be equipped with the ability to think critically and positively contribute to society.
Parents Should Not Just Focus On Exam Results
Like other experts, Dr Alka Kapoor feels that parents need to develop a broader perspective on how they assess their children’s achievements. Activities outside the classroom such as sports, arts, music, or entrepreneurship help develop a child’s confidence and leadership skills.
Rather than being result-oriented and asking “How many marks did you score?”, parents should assess the kind of person their child has become. Dr.Alka Kapoor also discouraged the practice of comparing children with their peers. Competitiveness often builds academic pressure, and instead of comparing children with their peers, parents should provide them with the much-needed academic and emotional support.
Most Important – The Emotional Support Of Parents
The emotional support of parents is essential in the field of student mental health. Student mental health is neglected, and academic pressures as well as the presence of an endless digital world, aggravate the situation.
Dr. Alka feels that parents should take an active interest in their children, and spend quality time with them before offering advice. Fear of being judged should be removed in order to enable children to share their thoughts. A non-critical parent develops a child’s resilience and also encourages the child to learn from failure. When parents, teachers and students all work together in harmony, their children develop greater emotional strength and resilience.
Change The Carriage, Not The Horse: Applying AI In Education
AI is predicted to change the education system, as well as the workplace. Because of this, students will no longer just be able to rely on technical knowledge. The Four Cs: Critical Thinking, Creativity, Communication and Collaboration are some skills students will need. Emotional Intelligence, Digital Literacy, Flexibility and Ethical Decision Making, are some additional skills students will need to possess.
While Dr. Kapoor believes AI can either provide knowledge or help do tasks, it will never be able to replace the wisdom, empathy, and ethics that are so intrinsically human. So students learn the balance between technology and wisdom. Dr. Kapoor believes students will have to learn how to learn, unlearn and relearn as technology evolves.
Innovation in Schools Should Begin With Curiosity
According to Dr. Alka Kapoor, innovation begins with curiosity. Schools should allow students to ask questions and deal with multiple answers, as opposed to simply asking and answering the expected questions.
Dr. Kapoor suggests classrooms be spaces in which students verify the existence of actual problems and try to provide workable solutions. Students will benefit from using AI to engage in Environmental sustainability, entrepreneurship, science, social innovations and robotics; you should never lose sight of practical learning and experiments.
How Community Service Teaches Responsible Social Behaviour
According to Dr. Kapoor, part of formal education should be teaching social responsibility. She argues community service must begin in the early years of primary school. At this stage of their development, students’ participation in community activities would also give them empathy and compassion, humility and direction in life.
It should not take a person’s occupation or social status for us to have respect for them. Some small but impactful changes in a child’s upbringing could be expressing gratitude to people and treating everyone with dignity. This would help in the overall development of the child’s personality and especially in developing the child as a leader.
Purpose-Based Education - Dr Alka Kapoor
Should she have the opportunity to redefine education, Kapoor would place purpose over exam-centric education but strike a balance between academics and practical education. Dr. Kapoor envisions her education system grappling with both academics and practical education. It also envisions a system that aligns social purposes with a person’s education. She believes students should be evaluated on what they have made and how they have changed things to benefit society, and on whether they have an innovative and ethical approach, collaborative spirit, and entrepreneurial and environmental concern.
Message for Students and Parents
For students, Dr Alka Kapoor encourages everyone to avoid comparisons, know their strengths, be curious, and embrace challenges. For parents, she said that children value faith over expectations. Parents should back their child's dreams, not their own. Parents build the expectation of their children becoming something they were not able to.
The essence of her philosophy on education lies in the fact that schools should aim to help students develop the skills to prepare them for life beyond the four walls of the classroom which will include voters, citizens, family members and friends.
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