The Higher Education Review

A patriotic at heart and teacher by profession, Dr Parul Kumar is a visionary administrator who holds an exquisite dream of making the nation a better place to live in through education. Born in 1968, She has been working as a teacher for about 10 years plus and has taught almost all the classes. Encouraged by the response of the children to her techniques, she did her PhD in special education. Her educational qualification includes Bachelor's in Home Science, Master's in Food & Nutrition, B.Ed and M.Ed from Annamalai University, M.Phil in Education from Madurai Kamaraj University and Ph.D. from Chowdhary Charan Singh University, Meerut. From teacher to Vice-Principal and Assistant Professor to Principal, Dr Parul has been rendering her service for many years now. Honoring her contribution in the education field, Dr Parul who is now holding the position of Principal at Navy Children School (NCS), Visakhapatnam has been awarded for being one of the 100 most effective Principals of the country by Alert Knowledge Solutions in 2017 and also conferred the Dewang Mehta Education leadership Award in 2017 and 2018.

Being a believer of the words "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use and change the world" by Nelson Mandela, and with a thirst to bring affirmative changes in the education system for the betterment of the students, Dr. Parul Kumar started her teaching career 26 years ago. She completed her B.Sc. in Home Science and M.Sc. in Nutrition before pursuing B.Ed. and M.Ed. and later joining Raksha, a learning center in Kochi for children with learning disability as a teacher.

Amid teaching students at Raksha, Dr. Parul developed prudence for the children and recognized them as 'special learners'. She wanted to know more about them and so, she pursued M.Phil. In Education on

children with learning disabilities and later, completed a Ph.D. on the same. "I got a new challenge to give these students a credible life through education and started developing newer ways for imparting education to these children on my own," says Dr. Parul Kumar, Principal, Navy Children School (NCS).

Working as principal for last 08 years, of which 04 years at NCS, Dr. Parul has recognized a new dimension of teaching by following 'Gyanen Shobhate', the motto of NCS which means 'Knowledge Embellishes'. "I was fortunate enough to complete a six days workshop on strategic leadership at the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad that gave me precious insights on leadership in education. Relating to my learning at IIM Ahmedabad, I try my level best to apply those at NCS for holistic growth and unmatched improvement of the children on every aspect including physical, social, emotional, intellectual and cognitive development," says Dr. Parul. According to Dr. Parul, NCS has been producing engineers, doctors, entrepreneurs, and officers for Indian Navy, Indian Army and Indian Air Force since 1965 under the aegis of Navy Education Society, New Delhi. It has evolved as one of the premium educational institutions in India through its presence in 12 different locations across the country.

Dr. Parul has set new stages of education leadership that powerfully directs towards making thousands of personalities that are highly honoured in society. Under her alluring leadership, NCS is the number one school both in the city of Visakhapatnam and in the state of Andhra Pradesh according to a survey conducted by C-Fore (multidisciplinary research organization). Dr. Parul says, "We offer 'Inclusive Education' where we have a learning center that includes a Special Educator, an Occupational Therapist and a Counsellor that assists and guides the students. We encounter many challenges while teaching the students where the mental health of a student plays a major role. A student needs to be emotionally stable no matter what the life situation is. Some students have problems in retaining knowledge, mastering the basic concepts and applying those in different situations.

We have designed our curriculum in a way to make them competent in achieving that," explains Dr. Parul. Like the students, teachers also need emotional stability to produce extraordinary results which she achieves by conducting monthly training sessions for teachers.

Dr. Parul has a supportive and understanding husband who is more like a friend, philosopher and a guide to her and is the reason for her success. "Being wife, mother, daughter-in-law and principal, I play different characters and my family helps in that. In fact, my mother-in-law helps me in my day-to-day chores. Also, my children are independent now and support me in all possible ways. When I face any challenge, I treat them as stepping stones. One of the challenge was my frequent transfers which me the opportunity to meet a wide range of personalities. This widened my thinking horizon and made me believe that, in life, only challenges exist, not problems," elucidates Dr. Parul.

For her immense contribution in education, Dr. Parul has received several awards like 'Avantika Atal Bihari Vajpayee Samman', 'One of the 100 Most Effective Principals of the Country' by Alert Knowledge Solutions in 2017, 'Dewang Mehta Education Leadership Award' consecutively in 2017-18. She is also recognized as the most qualified principal in Andhra Pradesh by NSA Delhi and 'Outstanding Principal' by Naval Education Society in 2018. "As awards always boosted my confidence, now I've plans to make schools nature-friendly and sway towards my dream of 100 percent literacy among the deprived by promoting 'Each one Teach one' scheme," concludes Dr. Parul.

HER FAVOURITES
Book: Positive Discipline by Jane Nelson
Authors: I read many books but appreciate Sudha Murthy for her simplicity in explaining
Holiday Destination: Kashmir - The heaven on earth
Hobby: Cooking
Gadget: IPad Movie: Chalk and Duster Quote: "Smile is the electricity and Life is a battery, whenever you smile, the battery gets charged and a beautiful day is activated, So keep Smiling", Dr APJ Abdul Kalam