P&G Shiksha, the flagship CSR programme of P&G India, has launched a new campaign called #StandUpForLearningGaps to raise awareness about learning gaps. A panel discussion in Mumbai focused on the same and featured actress and director Konkona Sensharma. Konkona took some questions from t2 on the sidelines.
How much do you resonate with the cause of P&G Shiksha?
I am so proud and pleased to be associated with P&G Shiksha, I can't tell you. I have seen how it's changed. I have done a previous association with Shiksha as well, in 2008, and I am coming back to them today. So, I am pleased to be able to be involved with an issue which is so close to my heart. It's not just about children's education because children's education is societal development.
Learning gaps are very much a reality, right? Do you think it's addressed adequately?
I don't think there is so much awareness about learning gaps. So, for a lot of parents — and not all parents are equally privileged — chalo bachcha school mein toh hain, and then it's done. What I have seen from Shiksha's reports, your child may be in Class V, but the level of education has been seen to be around Class II or III. So, this is the learning gap which is sometimes able to be bridged by certain privileged sectors of society, if they have some kind of awareness.
And, not all children are the same. Some need a little more hand-holding and some children thrive more in competitive environments. Some children are perhaps facing issues at home and they may not be able to take in or absorb as much as others.
And, it is not something to be made fun of. What happens is, it affects the psyche of the child. This early childhood humiliation, it becomes the way you view yourself. Sometimes you can bring them out of it and sometimes, you may not be able to. If this learning gap is not addressed early enough, this becomes a cumulative problem. Therefore if we want people in our society who are strong and can ask questions, who don't doubt themselves, then this is something we need to address.
Ideally, early detection is the best because that is when one can rectify it. I come from a privileged background and my parents are well-educated and tuned in emotionally, but I remember being that child in school. Especially when I was younger, I was never such a good student. Till the age of 13, I was a terrible student and used to just somehow get by. I used to always do well in essays or creative writing or English. The report cards used to say 'You are a bright child, but can do better'.
It was only when I changed to an international school, which didn't concentrate on rote learning, that I actually blossomed. I came into my own because I had that certain confidence in myself. I started doing better academically and that provided a certain self-esteem and I went on to become a better student and then eventually, I topped my class in college. I found it so funny myself. That's never how I saw myself. See, in my case, it really helped because I didn't know that I would get into the public sphere. I learnt never to rely on external validation because I saw how flimsy and futile it is.
I remember as a kid when the teacher would ask questions, that dread... my throat would become dry or my heart would start beating fast and my ears would become hot, avoiding eye contact, trying to look away and not answer the question. Why should the children suffer like this?
What makes a great educator?
Speaking from my own experience, there were a few teachers whom I remember so well and invariably because they saw you as people. They see the child and they can understand if someone needs a little more encouragement. It's difficult for teachers also to do that, which is why it is a collaborative unit of the school, teachers, parents... how to bridge that gap and that's where P&G Shiksha really comes in, raising awareness and also helping in creating that bridge.
Given how well-read your mother Aparna Sen is, did it have any impact in shaping your young mind?
Absolutely. My mother was not just interested in grades. She never used to scold me or give me punishments. She was all about positive reinforcement, even back in the day. She was very interested in the development of my mind. When she found I was only reading Enid Blyton, she would say now you have to stop reading Enid Blyton and move on to the classics or she would stop me when I was younger from watching the mainstream Hindi or Bengali films of the '80s and '90s, which weren't so great. We would watch a lot of world cinema. I was young and liberalisation had just happened and TV channels had come and everybody used to watch The Bold and the Beautiful and Santa Barbara back in the day. I was not allowed. Even Ramayana and The Mahabharata I was not allowed to watch. She asked me to read the epics, the abridged versions and once I had imagined it for myself, only then I could watch. She was very interested in my exposure.
What are you still eager to learn and what kind of advice would you give to your son Haroon?
I actually find learning relaxing today. It takes my mind off other things. There was a time in my life, say early teenage years, when I found learning to be associated with anxiety. It was always like: 'Oh, I am expected to give an answer or everyone is watching me to see if I have learnt'. Today learning is not like that for me and I have learnt far more outside school than I actually learnt in school.
For my son, I would say I am much more interested in the development of his mind and personality and then it's everything else.