Education Stalwarts 2022 | Mrs. Ruman Akbar., B.E, M.Ed., (Ph.D.), Director of Sofia Group of Institutions, Bengaluru, Founding Principal, Sofia Public School, Bengaluru | Leaders in Education

An engineer turned educator holding experience and qualification in the field of education, Mrs. Ruman provides vision & direction to the overall school development. She is a passionate and committed educator providing her students with the best learning environment which nurtures them and widens their horizons for learning.

She focuses on continuous professional development of teachers through workshops and trainings as well as the parents’ education through meetings and counselling to make them active partners in shaping the future of the students and the school.

When asked about her teaching philosophy, she says “Teaching for me is a way to create curiosity among young minds, make them think and ponder, make them interested in their surroundings and understand what is happening around them, why it is happening and be able to question when they grow up, to be able to solve real life problems, to believe and understand who they are and what they want to do in life; my ultimate goal of teaching is for my students to become confident and life-long learners.

They must be able to see the bigger picture and not get stuck in worldly pleasures or problems, but be a part of this beautiful world and contribute to make it a better place!

My other belief is to inculcate values in my students, for whoever they grow to become and choose whatever they want to do in their lives, they must be reasonable, compassionate and kind human beings.”

I started my journey as an educator in 2014, with just eight children. We worked as a team right from day one. When passion, qualification, experience and interest combine – there is no looking back! Teachers are the backbone of any educational institution. The team members are the pillars of the institution and it is the head of the school’s responsibility to hold the team together and make them feel that each of them is a leader in their own role.

As educators who are striving to make students lifelong learners, the least we can do for them is to constantly educate ourselves. To practice what we preach, we at Sofia Public School constantly go through trainings or pursue professional courses. This keeps us on our toes with the current developments and gives teachers a sense of responsibility to lead their own learning as well as their students’ learning. It inculcates a sense of leadership in them. We help and support each other, and together we look into how we can better ourselves. This way, none of us are followers; we’re all leaders in our own path. We collaborate to create a win-win scenario for each other and our students.

I believe collaboration is the key to success!

I take a lot of pride in being a woman and a mother. While I’m open to hiring male staff, I believe women are more nurturing and perform better as teachers. Many women resort to teaching as their last option, irrespective of their educational qualification. They view teaching as the only profession that suits their lifestyle post-marriage alongside family responsibilities. When they join our team, I make sure to tell them that this is the beginning of their career; whatever circumstances have led them to this point, they need to realize now that they have been led to this path because they were meant to become teachers. Akin to how a sports person or IT professional gets coaching and support throughout their journey, we make sure to give our teachers the same along with monetary benefit as per industry standards or more, and incorporate year-round coaching and support programs for them to ease in and take pride in everything they do.

Our teachers are given freedom and flexibility in the classroom. While most schools have pre-designed lesson plans, we think it curbs the creativity of teachers. Although we have an annual plan with regard to the academic curriculum design, the teachers get the freedom to explore their creativity based on the children’s needs and how the class goes.

During the pandemic, we were very resilient while shifting from the offline to online mode of teaching. We immediately equipped all our teachers with online training in a matter of just 2-3 days. We were one of the first schools to go offline as soon as the government permitted it and we’ve had the maximum number of offline working days this year in our vicinity. It was indeed challenging to transition from the online to offline mode, and then to the hybrid mode, keeping in mind the feasibility for the students.

When it comes to motivating teachers, having a shared vision is of paramount importance. We modify our vision at the beginning of each year based on the current needs. Inputs are taken from each teacher as they understand the students’ needs considering they spend maximum time with them. This approach enables us to collaborate very well as our end goal is the same.

We’ve had a lot of first generation learners in our school. They are the ones whose parents are either uneducated or educated in a different language. These parents want their children to be able to speak fluent English. Despite having English teachers, we weren’t able to see great improvement in the students. While trying to find a solution to this, I realized that a child only spends few hours in the school, while more time is spent at home with their mothers.

I thus devised a community outreach programme where we conducted Basic English workshops for the students’ mothers to help improve their English-speaking skills. This greatly empowered them as they became active participants in their child’s learning. The effort was highly appreciated by my team despite the initial reluctance of having to do extra work.

The ‘Never give up’ attitude has always been our mantra. What we are today is only because of our passion for education and children. We have faced a lot of challenges where every day has served as a new learning experience. As a secular school, we had to battle against the expectations of parents by standing up for the niche we have carved for ourselves.

Given the rapidly evolving times, one’s leadership style while running an institution cannot be authoritarian. Being a transformational and flexible leader is imperative. You must be open to new ideas and allow everyone to be a part of the decision-making process. When teachers are happy to come to school, so are the children. I would like to urge all the educated professionals in various fields to take up education as that is the need of the hour. I wish to see young entrepreneurs pursuing education at any level, field or form possible to bring in change and strive to improve our country.

Having completed a Diploma in Early Childhood Education from Sydney, a Master’s in Education from Bangalore University, I am pursuing a Certificate in School Leadership & Management from Harvard University and my goal for the next five years is to achieve a doctorate in education and make Sofia Public School, one of the best CBSE schools in Bangalore.

Sofia Public School is a part of U.K Memorial Educational Trust®. It is affiliated to CBSE, New Delhi and approved by Govt. of Karnataka. Sofia College of Nursing and Sofia College of Allied Health Sciences have successfully been running for 20 years with plans of getting into pharmacy, education, physiotherapy, dental, medical, and many other courses. This premier institution is located in North Bangalore, where dreams are big and opportunities are limitless.

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