Juhi Chawla at ITC Sonar. Picture by Anindya Shankar Ray

After films and cricket, Juhi Chawla is now dabbling in education too. The actress recently attended a presentation on UBQOOL.COM, an online education portal, at ITC Sonar. “Why do we have so much of studies?” she asked, adding, “I am the kind of mother who says, ‘Ok it is 6pm, close your books, go out and play,’ because nowadays all that the kids do is study or sit at the computer.” Young Metro catches up

What do you feel are the areas in education that need improvement?

As soon as exams are over, my children throw out their books. It is like a burden for them! The amount children are expected to learn is increasing everyday. They are burdened with tuition... I feel there is just too much information being fed. Most of what they are learning now will be forgotten. They need to learn practical things too. Like the maths we learnt... most of it is gone unless we want to excel in that particular field. I feel studies should be at a basic level.

Another thing I feel is that we are neglecting the wisdom and culture of India. Yoga should be made compulsory for children. Also Sanskrit as a language should be included in the curriculum as it is the most complete language. We must not lose something that is so rich. These are very enriching for life.

I feel parents are under tremendous pressure now. The kid getting 97.7 per cent is not getting through the university.

Having a site that literally maps the curriculum helps. I am a mother and I can see how mothers get involved and want their children to perform in studies. There is so much of homework, tests. Like the other day my nine-year-old (Arjun) came to me to ask about Rabindranath Tagore, so I went to Google but there is so much of information. I then took out things that I thought were relevant but how do I know how much is relevant? In UBQOOL, by mapping the curriculum, just the amount of information that is required for a particular class is made available.

What do you feel about going abroad to study?

These days, children are thinking of studying abroad from Class V. Even parents are designing things in a way that their kids can study abroad. What we might miss out on is what is your child is meant for, what is his or her interest. Let your child grow in the field he or she is good in. If the child is a good singer, stop forcing him or her with science and maths, because finally to be a Sachin Tendulkar you only need a bat and a ball and need to know cricket and not maths and golf.

How much time do you get to spend with your kids?

I think my priorities are my family and my work and what I miss out on are the things that are not so important. So the socialising goes out. I teach my kids as and when I can. We are either playing something or fighting or studying.

What are the subjects you teach your kids?

Hindi and maths. These days we all are talking too much in English, so my children’s Hindi is very weak. Maths is all about practice, if you do not practise, you are struggling. I even help them with their projects.

What are your plans for your kids?

I would leave it to them. I would want parents to realise that they finally have to not just make their child one more person going into that university. Let your child flower and develop what is in him or her.

Any school memory you would like to share with us?

Many actually! I was a very conscientious kid. I was not very naughty as I was not very brave. To be naughty, you need to be very brave. I was the school captain. As a student I just wanted to see my report card looking nice so that my parents would be happy. I used to work only for that. I wanted to learn singing, stitching and those other things that are not study-oriented. I loved playing games in school like table tennis, throw ball, running. It was so much fun and easy.

Shubhi Tandon