Stories from Education Today Society Tomorrow (ETST) International
On the world stage, 1991 was the year that the Soviet Union collapsed and the Gulf war began. Closer home in India, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated and a financial crunch led to sweeping economic reforms that transformed India into a free-market economy. While most Indians got busy chasing the money, a couple of them stumbled upon the idea of reforming the Indian education system.
At a casual tea time conversation among executive members of the Pune chapter of the National Human Resource Development Network (NHRDN) that included Kiran Gandhi and Arun Wakhlu, the thought of taking HRD practices into the school classroom was born. What motivated them further was the unhappiness seen in their children’s eyes at the mention of school as though it was a place for hard labour and punishment. This made them question the very purpose of education and the values that were being transmitted by schools. A concept paper, ‘Human Resource Development (HRD) in the classroom’, focussed on building trust and collaboration among the stakeholders in education, attracted the attention of school principals and HRD professionals. The next step was the design of an experimental programme, ‘ TEAMS:Teamwork for Education and Administration Management in Schools’. Inspired by this programme, twenty principals set in motion a wave of reforms in their schools, leading to happier schools where students were creatively engaged in constructing their own knowledge and skills as well as building their character.
Kiran and Arun were both convinced that his programme must reach educators all over the country. Having met IofC as a student, Kiran saw the potential of the application of the IofC ideas in such a programme; that’s how Asia Plateau, the residential training centre in India, offered the first workshop, ‘Education Today Society Tomorrow’ (ETST) in September 1992. As the title ETST suggests, the kind of education that we provide today will engender the society of tomorrow:
The seeds of integrity and compassion sown today will flower in responsible citizenship tomorrow. ETST aims to inspire educators to be living role models of integrity and compassion for their students, because values cannot be taught, they are caught.
Soon educators, influenced by this thought process, formed a core team to take this idea forward. The idea continues evolving as more and more educators add their input for refinement and relevance to the world today. Today ETST programmes encompass the five fundamentals of self-awareness, ethical governance, compassionate leadership, respect for diversity and ethical service to society. Programmes catering exclusively to parents and students have also been developed.
At present, two residential ETST programmes take place annually at Asia Plateau besides other workshops held in different parts of the country. Thousands of educators have been impacted across ten to fifteen states of India. Not only in India, but educators in Lebanon, Indonesia and South Africa have been inspired to adapt this programme to the needs of their country.
Zarin Virji (India)
ETST International