BMC teachers promote creativity with own websites

Teachers of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) schools are being trained to create their own websites to establish interactive ways of teaching. The civic education department has trained teachers to create videos, audio, presentations, charts and graphics to add creativity to basic curriculum.

The websites will enable teachers to create unique ideas and make it accessible for other teachers and education personnel. Teachers can also share these videos to incorporate different methods of teaching in their respective schools. These websites will be managed by the BMC and are in line with the Maharashtra in Service Teachers Resources App (MITRA) developed by the state government.

The civic education department aims to go beyond classroom teaching and textbooks. Mahesh Palkar, Education Officer of BMC, said, “We want to add creativity and interaction in our ways of teaching. A students should be interested in what is being taught. We aim to go beyond basic curriculum and methods of classroom teaching, textbook knowledge and syllabus.”

Teachers were also recently trained to increase focus on English language. A teacher said, “Often BMC teachers are looked down upon but by these innovative ways of teaching we get to learn new methods of teaching. Teaching can be made interesting by making it interactive and creative. Students are more keen about videos, animation and graphical presentation and it helps them to memorise lessons easily.”

Lessons can also be uploaded on MITRA where teachers of other schools can have access.

“Teachers can upload it on their own website or on MITRA. It is a holistic move where we want to encourage creativity in education by working with teachers from different backgrounds. The motive is to improve the quality of education,” Palkar added.