New teaching methods boost school attendance
: An initiative to make learning engaging for children in government schools has resulted in an increase in attendance in Banswara district – from 74.4% in 2016-17 to 76.44% in 2017-18.
The Banswara district administration launched the initiative, called Alakh, in August 2017 to improve attendance in schools.
“Absenteeism, low learning levels and lack of awareness about quality education prevail in tribal district Banswara. We initiated this project to create awareness about quality of education, attract students towards studies, and increase their presence in classrooms,” said district collector Bhagwati Prasad.
The project has four major components -- developing teaching, learning material (TLM), minimum level of learning, creating awareness about education quality, and creating a sense of community ownership about human resources.
Expression ability and confidence of students were found to be low during inspections. The need for teaching tools was felt to make studies interesting, Prasad said.
Apart fro using existing TLMs, new materials -- charts, posters, paintings, cartoons, models (eye, heart, skeleton) -- were developed for Class 1 to 12. The new materials, prepared by a team of teachers and experts, were shown to principals, who were then told to go for such TLMs in their schools, the collector said.
“The general understanding among the teaching community is that completing the course will enhance exam result. It may be true where parents are aware about children’s education or society is aware about quality of education but it is not true in tribal district Banswara, where literacy rate is 56%.”
Prasad said the government has implemented SIQE (State Initiative for Quality Education). “We made a questionnaire and one-page format for attaining the minimum level of learning (MLL) not related to exam results. For senior classes, topics were chosen to enhance board results,” he said.
“For creating awareness about quality of education, we created a platform on which every Wednesday parents and teachers sit together and discuss education and report cards of students.”
When parents are invited to discuss the progress of children, they feel a sense of ownership of resources in their villages. “Every other person who is not a parent becomes aware of quality of education in their village,” Prasad said.
“Rounds of meetings make teaching community responsible because when the same report is shown to parents, they will definitely ask questions to teachers. This model bounds teachers and parents for education quality.”
JAIPUR