Since time immemorial, parents have been focusing on the grades that their kids get and the ranks that they secure in class. It might have been a decent tool to measure the kid’s progress in the past, but the relevance of this parameter does not hold strong ground now. After all, how does one decide if the so-called best schools are providing good education to your child? Remember, education and academics are not synonymous terms? Education and success involve a lot more than textbooks can teach.
Textbook learning is not sufficient to make your child reach full potential. It is because the modern world that we are living in requires more skills than ever. We need to be proficient in oral and written communication, show determination and perseverance, exhibit team spirit, and engage in problem solving and critical thinking. We actually need to be good at a number of other skills.
Therefore, no matter if you enroll your child in a self-proclaimed best primary school or best high school, if your child does not show visible signs of multiple intelligences in everyday life, their academics learning will be of little consequence.
You may really wonder how come there is a sudden demand for skills that go beyond textbooks. Why are they important?
Know that these expectations that 21st-century children face have not come out of the blue. As the recent lockdown resulted in the increasing popularity of social media, the skills related to social media also have gained prominence. Social media is primarily based on communication skills, so the top organizations look for candidates who can give presentations with great confidence, collaborate and mingle with clients and other employees with ease, persuade the customer base of the significance of one’s products and services, come up with creative ideas and initiatives which make the organization stand out. And yes, the list does not end here …
The lockdown and the rise of social media cannot be held solely responsible for the increasing need to go beyond academics. This need has been there for a long time ago. Maybe when computers and the internet started to change the face of the world, the need to be competent in various other skills also started to see a rise. While in the past, only the top executives were required to be such a kind of “all-rounder”, it now seems that even the individual working at lower levels of hierarchy cannot escape such expectations.
This is all to say that holistic education and development are the need of the hour.
Children still need to reach academic heights but you should also prepare them for the challenges of the real world. Choosing a top school franchise for your child will help you only if it cultivates in your child the skills we just discussed, i.e., only if it provides a holistic education in the real sense. Amidst all this, however, let’s not forget that holistic development ensures that your child is always happy and positive through thick and thin. It ensures the well-being of your child as much as it ensures their success.