JMA Pilani Webinar by Counselling Expert Mrs Radha Mishra Director College Counselling Hun School Princeton USA

Smt. Jamuna Mishra Academy JMA established in the year 2004 is presently one of the most sought after schools at Pilani considered as Oasis in the desert state of Rajasthan. It is a matter of great pride that alumni of JMA are presently pursuing higher education in various institutions which include NAAC A++ and UGC Category-I, Banasthali Vidyapith which in Times Higher Education 'THE' is Second Best Women's University in global rankings as well as Institution of Eminence BITS Pilani.

JMA Pilani has not only established a rich tradition of observing various days and festivals of international as well as national importance but also invites experts from top ranking institutions both from India and abroad for conducting Faculty Development Programmes and counseling sessions. Very recently well known alumnus of BITS Pilani Prof BR Natarajan who is presently teaching at Banasthali Vidyapith Rajasthan had conducted for JMA a session on Mantras for Success and Karma Yoga for becoming a successful teacher.

The Hun School of Princeton at New Jersey USA established a century back empowers each student to thrive in a diverse and ever-changing world, by nurturing resilient character, providing individual mentorship, and inspiring vigorous and joyful learning. COVID 19 has thrown immense challenges to schools all over the world. Mrs.Radha Mishra who is the Director of college counseling at the Hun School offered to give a talk on 13 July 2021 focusing on issues pertaining to post-pandemic re-entry of students and teachers.

In her talk, Mrs. Radha Mishra discussed about the learning and developmental gap amongst the students who are away from the school for almost for one and a half years. The pandemic, lockdown and the closure of the schools have undoubtedly caused lots of trauma in the lives of students and teachers. The focus of the talk was on how to help students to overcome this trauma and how to bridge the gap when the students return back to school.

Suggested student centered approaches by the teachers included: Listen to students from the heart, Listen to what they talk or don't want to talk by reaching out to each student, Interact with students and do mind reading, Focus on developmental learning rather than going into subject contents, Observe the physical change in students - the trauma may have caused weight gain in some and weight loss in other, and Focus must be on skill development like reading, writing and understanding.

It emerged that teachers who are the front-line workers to check mental health of the students must have a passion and joy in teaching and must show a parental approach to win the minds of the students and conduct counseling for better mental health. Due to remote learning, the morale in children have deteriorated as for more than a year they have not met their friends, classmates and teachers. To get back the students from this stage to normalcy, teachers have to work very hard by conducting meditation sessions, prayers, group songs, telling moral value based stories etc.

To handle students who could not attend scheduled online classes due to single hand set at home, it was suggested that such students must be given extra time after school hours to make up the loss. In subjects like History , at the time of re-entry , the teacher should not worry to fill the gap of subject content, but must focus on developmental skills as improved skills will lead to gap filling in due course of time.

Other recommendations included involvement of Alumni, community service, parental involvement. and a student magazine in which students can express themselves through scripts , drawings and emojis. Principal Mrs Booma Natarajan thanked the expert Mrs Radha Mishra for the thought provoking thought session and also Dr Suman Mishra Chairperson of JMA for coordinating with the international counseling expert.

Each and every teacher of JMA who attended the webinar had beaming faces and pride that they were indeed part of an institution which is a shining jewel in the crown among the schools at Pilani. It goes without saying that tough times never last long but tough institutions last longer and when going gets tough, the tough indeed get going.

For more details about JMA Pilani see http://www.jmapilani.org/Default.aspx

Mrs Booma Natarajan, M.Sc., M.A., B.Ed.
Principal, Jamuna Mishra Academy – JMA
Near Old Pilani Post Office
Pilani Rajasthan 333031 India
Phone 91-1596-242314
Email booma_pilani at yahoo.co.in
Website: http://www.jmapilani.org/Default.aspx
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/JMAPilaniRajasthanRank1/

About JMA Pilani: Jamuna Mishra Academy - JMA Pilani is a Co-educational English Medium School with Experienced Teachers, Spacious Classrooms and Modern Amenities designed to impart Quality Education combined with All Round Personality Development and lay the Best Foundation for the Child’s Future. While the school admits both boys and girls, the girl student enrollment has been steadily rising every year and is presently nearly 50% of the total strength. Right from its inception, JMA Pilani has embarked on a rich tradition of celebrating various days of national and international significance and festivals which makes it a cut above the rest schools in Pilani. The school has for boys and girls Scout and NCC, girls’ band which has been winning laurels every year. NCC cadets of JMA Pilani have also been selected for participation in Republic Day Camp RDC and Shivaji Trail Trek. Yoga, Karate, Painting and Music are not just part of school routine but a way of life for the students. It is a matter of great pride that JMA Pilani is referred popularly as the School with 100% Results on account of outstanding results year after year in Board of Secondary Education Rajasthan RBSE Class X and Class 12.

This release was published on openPR.