3 ‘pioneering’ teachers from Maha win national awards
MUMBAI: Over the last one year, a quaint little zilla parishad school in Pargaon, Beed, has transformed itself completely. With a fully-operational recording studio, a state-of-the-art virtual classroom and 24-hour electricity back up, the school that was once struggling to sustain itself has become a model for other schools to follow.
Thirty-six-year-old Somnath Walke, a teacher at the school, who is the brain behind the school’s transformation, has been awarded the 2017 National Award for teachers using information and communications technology (ICT) for innovation in education awarded by the Government of India.
Two other teachers from small zilla parishad schools in the state — Vikram Adsul and Ravi Bhapkar from Ahmednagar — have won the award along with Walke for their use of technology to transform their schools.
“I realised that students who come from rural backgrounds have difficulty in learning poems. A couple of years ago, I thought of making a recording studio where children could record these poems in the tunes they like so that they can memorise them well. I had no funds at the time but a simple social media appeal was helpful and a recording studio was made within the next few months,” Walke said.
Until a few years back, the Bandgar Vasti School in Ahmednagar’s Karjat taluka was struggling to address the issue of high dropout rates. As most parents, belonging to the shepherd community, often migrated for work, they took their children along to make some extra bucks.
“We tried convincing parents but that did not seem to work. In 2015, we decided to get a couple of laptops and computers to arrange virtual lessons for students. For most of our students who did not even have a TV in their homes, the school was suddenly a fun place,” said Adsul.
In the last year, the school has started conducting online tests, uploading question banks and digital content for its students.
Bhapkar, a teacher at the Sharadwadi municipal school, won the award for his informative blogs and android applications to help students and teachers.
“Through my blog, I have tried to simplify concepts in various subjects for students. There are also a set of guidance lectures for teachers who can use the concept-based learning in classrooms,” said Bhapkar.