Understanding pre-school learning and its challenges was the main objective of more than 50 participants, including new parents, to-be parents and parents of special children, who took part in a seminar on ‘Yes or No to Early Education’ organised by Grassroots, a pre-primary inclusive school, at the Narada Gana Sabha on Saturday.
Eminent experts in the field of education and children addressed the crowd on the topic.
Dr Gita Arjun, director, E V Kalyani Medical Center, spoke about ‘The role of a mother in early education’, followed by Dr Prithika Chary, senior neurologist and neurosurgeon, Apollo Hospitals, who elaborated on ‘Brain development in children between birth and six years’.
Dr Sharanya Anil Bajaj, founder, Grassroots School, and cognitive developmental specialist, handled the topic, ‘Developmentally appropriate practices in preschools’ while Dr Sharada Srinivas, consultant pediatrician, Apollo Hospitals, addressed the issue, ‘The impact and benefits of early education’.
Every speaker iterated a similar perspective that stressed the need for early education for kids to develop better. The speakers and the audience discussed various issues during the interactive session at the end of the programme. Most queries raised were about how teachers sometimes disregarded children and what could be done about it.
To all the anxious parents and teachers in the crowd, Chary said, “Teachers should realise that as one person, they cannot change the world, but they can change the world of one person and need to act with more love and compassion. And not to forget parents are a child’s first teachers.”
Rohan George, a parent, said, “The seminar has given us an opportunity to introduce the need for early education to parents of young kids. This kind of awareness is needed in developing countries like ours.”
A children’s book exhibition-cum-sale was organised by Scholastic Publishers on the sidelines of the event.