Guidelines, funds for innovative teaching methods
NEW DELHI: Seven months after the Delhi government announced a scheme to encourage innovative practices in teaching, Directorate of Education (DOE) on Monday allocated funds and issued guidelines for the scheme in the city government schools.
“The main objective of the scheme is to encourage innovation and creativity among teachers which is expected to lead to overall quality improvement in school education,” the directorate said on Monday. The practices can be taken up by all teachers, by one teacher or a group of teachers to seek funds.
“Our teachers are being trained by the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in innovative teaching practices. The financial support will help them execute their ideas,” said a senior DOE official. “They can research on teaching experiments from other countries and see how they can be implemented here.”
The innovative teaching practices can be in the form of functional models, projects, activities, teaching tools and proposals. The government will allocate as per the number of students in the schools. Rs 75,000 has been allocated for each Delhi government school with 1,000 students or less; Rs 1 lakh for each school having between 1,001-2,500 students; and Rs 1.25 lakh for each school with more than 2,501 students.
The manner and frequency of release of funds for selected projects will be decided by a School Level Committee — headed by the Head of School — which will receive and examine proposals from teachers. Schools have also been asked to maintain a record of all innovative practices along with measured outcomes.
The directorate has suggested a list of innovative practices focussing on new pedagogical initiatives and techniques, integrating subjects with arts, reducing absenteeism and drop outs, identification and prevention of substance abuse, water and energy conservation, and waste management.
Sanjiv Jain, a government school teacher at Shalimar Bagh, welcomed the move. “This will help schools establish dedicated laboratories, if they want to. Teachers and students can collaborate and develop innovative ideas on waste management. For instance, waste answer sheets could be recycled but we don’t get enough opportunity. Moreover, students’ involvement will ensure sensitisation on innovation—an exposure which is often found missing in government schools.”
Manu Gulati, an English teacher at a government school in Punjabi Bagh, said, “Innovation in teaching is given a lot of importance in developed countries as it enhances creativity. This, so far, is missing in our country. This scheme will ensure that money is no longer a hindrance in innovation and if teachers want to go ahead with certain projects, they will be motivated to generate ideas and empower the community. Schools can take decision as per their own needs.”