All practical purposes

She is an educationist who wants to bridge the gap between rote learning and hands-on application

Educationist Fatima Agarkar’s understood the conundrum in Indian education while pursuing her MBA at the University of Birmingham. It was there that she realised that the curriculum back home lacked the practical application. However, it was at her third job as a management consultant for a Swiss executive search firm that she was convinced about bringing about a change in the Indian education system. Her interest in the education sector prompted her to join the JBCN Group of Schools. Today, she is a board member of the institution. She says, “As clichéd as it may sound, education here is a lot of rote learning. If we cannot learn the practical application of an object/product, the impact is zero. I wanted to bridge the missing link; I wanted to create an environment where students create and learn organically instead of taking it up as a task.”

Fatima’s day starts as early as 7 am and concludes only 12 hours later by evening. She admits that while juggling personal and professional tasks is difficult, it is never a chore. Her husband, and retired cricketer Ajit Agarkar’s assistance in raising their son Raj is another bonus. She says, “Honestly, juggling is always tough. There is no perfect answer to how one balances the two. Today, Raj is much more independent and understands that we are working individuals. Ajit is very supportive about my career and does his bit in raising Raj. Ajit has a disciplined routine and I have learnt that from him. It is a struggle — you can’t just put your feet up and relax when you want to. In the end, it’s about how much you enjoy doing whatever it is that you have taken up.” Fatima has made this line of thought her mantra for raising her child too. She says, “My kid played a lot of cricket initially but now he has veered his interest towards football. It has to be his calling — I have been a banker and a writer before I became a co-founder of the school. I will always encourage him to take up whatever it is that he is interested in.”

When she isn’t hosting academic programmes or culling out a curriculum, she travels to destinations to mark things off her bucket list, she makes a conscious effort to explore her adventurous side. She is elated at having scratched off skydiving from the list last month. She says, “I enjoy Europe — particularly enjoy Switzerland a lot. Next, I want to travel to South Africa to try bunjee jumping. In India, Goa remains my favourite. Since I like a lot of water-based activities, I also like paragliding, fishing and boating.”

Fatima reveals that her life as a student at University of Birmingham shaped her interests, and largely made her the person she is today. She recalls, “It was only at the University that I got a multicultural perspective. We were 250 students in a batch, and I was the only Indian in the class, so there was a lot of insightful engagement that happened. The year was an eye-opener of sorts. It taught my how to be patient and listen to everyone.” In fact, she follows a ritual of visiting her alma mater every summer.