Students keen on studying in ZP schools, claims state educational report

Students and parents are showing more interest in admitting their children to ZP schools instead of private schools. This will help uplift the education levels in various districts of Maharashtra. It will also create more jobs for teachers and other non-teaching staff if more number of students are enrolled in ZP schools — VINOD TAWDE, State Education Minister

Students of Zilla Parishad (ZP) schools of the state have improved in their performance as per the educational report of 2018, released on Tuesday, by the state education ministry. Earlier, in rural parts of Maharashtra, parents would enrol their children in private schools. Now students, parents and teachers are enthused about ZP schools with these innovative teaching and learning methods, .

As per the annual report, students are using practical methods of learning simple concepts in the classroom. These methods are imparted by teachers to provide a different approach for learning concepts within the syllabus. They also use a lot of charts, posters, drawings and paintings in ZP schools for spreading information regarding the curriculum.

As per the report, these creative techniques have increased the interest of students in ZP schools.

Vinod Tawde, state education minister of school and higher secondary education, claimed this performance will help develop education in rural areas of Maharashtra. Tawde said, “Students and parents are showing more interest in admitting their children to ZP schools instead of private schools. This will help uplift the education levels in various districts of Maharashtra. It will also create more jobs for teachers and other non-teaching staff if more number of students are enrolled in ZP schools.”

Teachers revealed they are increasing focus on English language but are also emphasising on teaching through the mother tongue of students. Savita Kadwadkar, a teacher said, “Students of rural areas speak Marathi in their homes and with friends and relatives. We use this language to explain basic concepts to students as they understand it better when explained in their mother tongue. But we also encourage our students to read, write and speak in English so that they improve their communication skills for the future.”

Authorities of the state education department claimed ZP schools are very important in rural areas since there are lesser number of private or international schools. Mahesh Palkar, senior civic education officer said, “In rural areas, students do not have the luxury of enrolling in private or international schools. They depend only on ZP schools since it is the most economical and accessible for of education.”

Palkar added, teachers in rural areas solely rely on ZP schools for getting jobs since they cannot travel cities to seek work in private schools. “Schools in cities should learn from ZP schools which are an example of focussing more on teaching and learning through innovative traditional methods,” said Palkar.