Teaching as we all know is perhaps one of the noblest of professions, which, not only helps children gain knowledge but also helps them find a route to pursue on, in their respective lives. Moreover, India having been known for having a deep-rooted history as far as the field of education is concerned and the contribution, talent, and skills of our very own educationalists, teachers, and lecturers, as a nation, education has always been our forte and will continue to be so. Thereby, making our country stand tall when compared to other countries and nations, women educational leaders have had their due share of contributions towards societal upliftment and growth. Understanding the fact that as an educational leader, it’s important to understand and feel responsible towards playing a very important role in influencing lives with an aim of creating future leaders, personalities like Dr. M. Mala have involved themselves in the journey of imbibing quality education, contributing to society one student at a time.
Aiming at personalizing the learning for students by identifying their inherent talents, in turn, creating pathways, and clearly not generalizing the aspect of one teaching-learning process for all, Dr. M. Mala, operating as the Chairperson of Tagore Group of Education promotes positive outcomes for students, irrespective of the socio-economic backgrounds they come from. Additionally, wearing the hat of a Figure Head at Tagore, Dr. Mala stated – “I define My Institutional success with the success of my students, which we are really proud of”. She also added about her influential role, by saying – “I work on with an objective to assess our students’ short-term objectives relative to their long-term goals and to provide the right curricula, academic supports, and services to help them achieve these goals”.
Also, a holistic individual with the right amount of people skills, her main concern during the pandemic was the well-being of everyone around her, be it the teaching staff or the helping staff across all the campuses of Tagore. By focusing on understanding the challenges from the student perspective, she made sure an active student-teacher relationship existed irrespective of the medium of teaching used, thereby, also participating personally in the Emotional Skill Development initiatives, organized for both students and the faculty members. Furthermore, keeping all the parents informed and in the loop about the ongoings at the educational group, an individual advisor was assigned to each student, to gauge how students and families are doing and provided them with one-to-one counseling. Dr. Mala also ensured that knowledge feed was provided to students & teachers, via 120+ webinars for students and 50+ training programs for the teachers, in time frame of 4 months, with an objective of enhancing knowledge, skills, and emotional development.
A Passionate influencer for all
Striving on the lines of Rabindra Nath Tagore, and a firm believer of his ideologies, Dr. Mala has been serving as the main facilitator at the educational group, to take teaching out of the confines of the four walls, making students excel as trained all-rounders. Also, having learned the value of focus in everything we do, during the ongoing pandemic and the lockdown, she felt privileged that she holds the responsibility of holding the flagship of the Tagore Medical Society, and gave in her best to support the Front Line Workers. Likewise, having understood the concept of how a shut down works, she involved herself with the management of Tagore, in pursuit of realizing and bestowing with the medical community service, preaching the aspect of – “Live the life to our best”.
As living proof of her excellent work towards society and the educational fellowship in general, she has been awarded – Best Women Edupreneur Award & Asia’s Greatest Leader. In addition to being a prime role model for many, she’s a staunch supporter of women empowerment in all sectors of our country. Having had a pivotal role in shaping many lives, as an educational leader – Dr. Mala builds the capacity of educators by inspiring, motivating, affirming, challenging, and extending their practice and pedagogy. Knowing thoroughly that this joint endeavor involves inquiry and reflection, thereby, she involves her extended family – all the stakeholders of the Tagore Group into this endeavor and, in turn, supports the ongoing learning and professional development of many on the campuses.
Finally, in an open message addressing the current state of affairs of gender equality in our country, Dr. Mala states – “Empowering women is essential to the health and social development of families, communities, and countries”. She also added – “When women are living safe, fulfilled, and lead productive lives, they can reach their full potential, contributing their skills to the workforce and can raise happier and healthier children”. Also, knowing the fact that women are completely capable of leading sustainable economies, perhaps serving as better leaders than men, the key part of empowerment is and always has to be through education, and thus, leaders like Dr. M. Mala and many others have started on their meaningful careers of benefiting societies and humanity at large.
