"I believe in Investing in my Teachers, Manchu Vishnu"
An actor by passion, he proudly calls himself an educationist. He oversees the education institutions started by his father who is a visionary in terms of educating a lot of people. Manchu Vishnu, is the CEO of Sri Vidya Niketan & Trust which fosters about 14000 children, he also chairs the Spring board Education trust which has about 43 preschools, 7 K12 schools spread across in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
Vishnu is the Director of Spring Board International Preschools. When he joined hands with Sree Vidyanikethan Educational Trust set up by his father, it was already a well-established educational institution. He followed his dreams as he took charge of this institution and built them into model institutions offering value-based education to the students. He expanded and diversified it into Spring Board Academy, and became Founder and Chairman at The New York Academy. He believes that early childhood education would help children become well-rounded contributors to society.
Talking to educationbiz at the 8th Indian Education Congress 2018, Manchu Vishnu, Actor, director, producer, educationalist and philanthropist shares his objectives in taking Education ahead in the long run.
In the past few years, we have seen teacher education programs place greater emphasis on practice, including more time spent working in classrooms, co-teaching lessons, managing classrooms, and analyzing student work. Research has shown that hands-on, mentored experience in a classroom is crucial for not only early career success, but for career longevity.
Invest on Teachers First
Commenting on the need of the hour in the Education sector, Manchu Vishnu said,” Anybody with money can start up schools and build up the infrastructure. In fact looking at the startup schools today, they are being built by the millionaires and billionaires. But what we call the real pillars of an education institution is not the infrastructure but the teachers.”
A teacher is always a student. They have to keep evolving. “Today, when we look back there were teachers with 15 years of experience, having experienced a beautiful generation, where they have seen education, evolving from books to tabs to smart education. The ways we look at improving our teachers is bringing in educators from across the world and having teaching sessions with them, helping them upgrade their skills and investing in them”, said the educationist.
Stretching it further he said,” Yes, I invest in my teachers. It is a known fact that today teachers are well equipped in handling students but the fundamental principle of teaching is never going to change. And it shouldn’t change.”
Do your own best
“Rather than pointing out to the government and complaining about it, we should mend our ways believing that they are trying their best but their best is not good enough”, commented Vishnu when asked about the role of government in uplifting teachers.
When private players like us come in the picture, a lot many entrepreneurs and philanthropists rather than just donating money to schools, should assemble and start a system that provides quality education at a cost that is affordable. That is the aim we all should aspire for.
Talking about his next move Manchu Vishnu said,” My aim is to have 500 preschools, 100 K12 schools that impart this kind of education. The method of teaching and the system of education should differ.”
Freedom to Learn
“Also, I think that the government should give a free run for people who are good at education rather than having a red tape around it and trying to regulate education. For me, regulation is irrelevant in education. It’s unfortunate when you look at the government schools. There are great teachers but they are not able to impact it because of the red tape around it. They are our primary concern today”, said the actor & educationist.
