State yet to schedule school exchange event

Mumbai:

Teachers are worried that the new government might do away with Shikshanachi Vari, an initiative started by the previous Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)-SHIV Sena government wherein teachers from across different schools in the state displayed their innovative teaching practices. The exhibition, which is usually held at the beginning of the year, is yet to be held, thus leading to the speculation.

The initiative, which was started in 2016 in the backdrop of the government’s Pragat Shaikshanik Maharashtra programme, was held in different parts of the state every year. As part of the exhibition, teachers and schools from across the displayed various methods and innovative ideas used by them to make teaching more interesting and effective. Some of the projects displayed in the exhibition spoke about possible solutions to address dropouts, poor learning outcomes and improving teaching-learning processes.

Teachers said that it was disappointing to find that the event was still not planned.“thousands of teachers and schools visited the exhibitions and were motivated to do more after seeing innovative ideas. Irrespective of the government in power, this was a good idea and should be continued,” said the teacher from a suburban school in the city.

While some said that the delay was owing to a funds crunch, officials from the education department denied commenting on the issue. “More details need to be obtained in the issue before commenting,” said a senior official who did not wish to be identified.

Recently, the education department issued a circular to schools asking them to visit some model schools that it has identified to see the good teaching practices there.