Education

The following are excerpts (from Times of India, today's edition) of an interview of Peter McLaughlin who took over as the headmaster of the Doon School in July 2009. He was a lecturer in modern history at the then University of Rhodesia, a post-doctoral research fellow at London School of Economics and, from 1983, a teacher, housemaster and headmaster in several British public and international schools. I wish, all of us connected to academics - the students, the teachers, the guardians take his words seriously, as a service to ourselves if not anything else.

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What is the role of education?
The role of education is to ensure that children become lifelong learners. Today, a narrow and stifling academic curriculum in most countries has led students to disengage themselves from the testing regime of the education system. Students are no longer intellectually robust. We need to create a critical mass of thinkers. True learning often takes place outside the classroom. I, therefore, encourage my students to excel in sports, arts, also recently we launched the Model UN, and so on.

What is your vision for the Doon School?
It is to create thinking individuals. I would request parents to come to us only if they want to develop their child’s character and creativity. On the way, we will also help the child to get decent grades. It is important to remember that your life is not over if your academic scores are not high.