This teacher gives lifelines of fun, learning to kids
LUCKNOW:Taking a cue from popular television game show ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ (KBC), a teacher of a government upper primary school in Barabanki is making learning a fun experience for students.
Donning the role of show’s host Amitabh Bachchan, teacher Ashutosh Anand Awasthi enacts the game show in the classroom, much to the delight of children.
The school, located in Miyanganj area of Barabanki, has 168 students.
Awasthi begins the game asking one question to the entire class and the one who answers it is invited to take the hot seat and play the game – ‘Kaun Banega Padhaku’. On the lines of KBC, the students are given four lifelines – Ask your friend, open your book, change the question and visit your classroom.
Talking about the activity, Awasthi said: “Every time the new season of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ was aired on television, I found the students very excited about it. They used to talk about the show during school hours. It was from here that I picked the idea of starting the game show to test the general knowledge of students.”
Awasthi says he started the initiative about a year ago and holds the quiz in the school every Saturday.
Awasthi, who is a recipient of ICT award for teachers, had no knowledge of computer and technology till a few years ago. “I learnt all of that to make classroom teaching more interesting and interactive,” he says.
To propagate the initiative, Awasthi recorded a video clip of his ‘Kaun Banega Padhaku’ and uploaded it on You Tube on November 27.
In the video, Awasthi is seen asking the students his own version of ‘fastest fingers first’ – “What do we call the square box on a book which is scanned using a mobile phone?”
Harikesh, a student of class 7, is the first to raise his hand and give the correct answer: QR Code.
Awasthi invites Harikesh to take to the hot seat and briefs him about the rules of the game.
Harikesh, who wants to become a pilot, answers the first five questions correctly keeping all his lifelines intact.
Like Bachchan in KBC, Awasthi keeps encouraging the contestant by repeatedly telling him that he has answered first five questions correctly and he should continue to play with caution. Not only this, a “commercial break” is also introduced wherein a boy shows a poster to the class which informs students about traffic rules and its significance. Harikesh is asked questions like which means of transport will not be used if one wants to go to Andaman & Nicobar and to identify the image printed on the backside of the Rs 2000 currency note. Harikesh uses three lifelines to answer all the questions correctly and win the title of ‘Kaun Banega Padhaku’.
Hailing the initiative, students Durgesh and Pankaj say it is a good initiative which keeps them engaged in the right direction.
Azra and Mansa, students of Class 8, say that being a part of question-answer session is a good experience as it helps them gain knowledge. According to director, basic education, Sarvendra Vikram Bahadur Singh, Awasthi is a harbinger of change. “I have heard about the initiative ‘Kaun Banega Padhaku’. Awasthi is a bright teacher who always looks to do new things,” he says.