Kenya, a country in East Africa bordering the Indian Ocean is known for its beauty and wildlife. Tourist destination, indeed one of the best in the world. Anil was born in this beautiful country on November 2, 1952.
Financial conditions of the family were not good and they just about managed to keep the home fuels burning. The boys in the family would just about manage to reach the secondary schooling stage while the girls were permitted only to pursue primary education. Not a great progressive outlook on this front indeed. However, circumstances were such.
In the 1960s when war broke out between Israel and Iran, many were leaving the country. Anil Ambasana’s family too decided to leave the country. However, they were so badly off financially that they could not afford to buy tickets for the entire family. Hence they borrowed money and send part of the members back while the Father and Uncle decided to stay back at earn some money to complete financial responsibilities.
Anil, managed to study up to grade 6 in Mombasa’s British School. On return to India he joined a Gujarati medium school in class 6. A tough transition for him to move from English to Gujarati and he found it difficult to cope up. Anyways he managed to complete up to 11th grade and then took admission into B.Sc – Chemistry. A professor guided him to take math and learn it through an innovative new concept. Few professors were real mentors who looked for the benefit of the students rather than make education a business. Anil completed a course (externally) in Fine Arts from C N Sheth Institute , Ahmedabad.
As all kids he too had the fascination to enter the medical field to become a Doctor, but later changed that to work in a bank. A turning point for Anil was when he got a call from one Government school for Fine Arts as a drawing teacher in 1974. He did feel it was not his cup of tea, and managing students was not an area he could cope with. However, due to financial constraints he had no option but to accept the job and use innovative methods to find solutions to managing them. It is rightly said that experience and exposure taught much more than what books and classrooms imparted. He found and implemented student friendly methods to brainstorm and teach. He, over a period of time enjoyed teaching and student management. He had a knack to make weak students perform and improve their grading. He felt he could do better and in order to tap his potential further he quit the job to pursue B.Ed to contribute towards the education arena. Not one to stop he completed his M.Ed while working for the same institutions due to the comfort level and long term benefits. In the year 1982 he changed his school and did his PhD on “Aesthetic sense” where he was first in India and 3rd in the world.
“Aesthetic sense” research requires skills of ability, statistics, and art and at the same time tests constructions combination skills. Anil Ambasana’s background of Art, Science and research helped him here. After successful completion of his research work he sent brochure of his research work to 82 educational institutes, colleges and universities. He did this so that they could benefit from the research but unfortunately did not get a great response.
The year 1989 a job opening as a Lecturer at Saurashtra University came up, Dr. Ambasana applied and got selected, thanks to his experience and research background. Though the subjects were not always those of his choice, nevertheless he took it positively as a chance to explore many other subjects. Being part of the education department in the multi-disciplinary category got him a wide exposure. Dr. Anil Ambasana undertook one Major Research Projects and 4 Minor Research Projects. The subjects he was involved were Educational Research, Experimental Research and Data Analysis. He was also considered an individual with great deal of knowledge and consulted on Instructional Technology, Construction of Teaching-Learning Materials, Information and Communication Technology for Education, Art Education, Psychological Testing and Test Construction.
Dr. Anil Ambasana has a knack to write well and authored many articles in his subject. He believed in being original with thoughts that were his own – phishing or using another’s content was never his line of writing. He believed promotions were best done when others read about your real achievements and follow you. He has the credit of changing many lives along the way.
With an effort of returning to society he got involved in counselling of students and with the references of his students many more. Dr. Anil Ambasana is a trustee for Shree Kadvibai Virani School and also associated with Gujarat Vidhyapith, and the Sister Nivedita School’s “school on wheel” project. The school on wheels gives training to 80-90 schools of rural areas, teachers and students. Dr. Ambasana’s association with the Institute of Quality Education, his contribution to the Science Centre, Rajkot since its foundation is commendable. He has been a part of the quiz programs of our very own Doordarshan.
Dr. Anil Ambasana has a message for all, something he believes in totality –“Don’t contribute where you get treated as an option. Reject such a place and work towards always spreading positivity.“
