The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : ABL method facing practical problems

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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

ABL method facing practical problems

Meera Srinivasan

‘It can work only when class strength does not exceed 30’

CHENNAI: It has been more than a year since the Activity Based Learning (ABL) methodology was introduced in the primary sections of the nearly 40,000 government and aided schools in the State.

While the methodology is certainly welcome, several practical problems in the implementation remain unaddressed, say educationists.

A report on the methodology, which is being implemented by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) wing of the School Education Department, was released here on Saturday. It was earlier presented to the Department.

V. Vasanthi Devi, former Vice-Chancellor, Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, and S.S. Rajagopalan, senior educationist and education activist, along with R. Jayakumar, physicist, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, University of California, prepared the report at the request of the Department for a “credible and independent review.”

Since the methodology was implemented in Chennai Corporation schools before it was extended to other institutions, the committee considered it useful to study Corporation schools where the methodology had been in place for more than two-three years.

Traditional hierarchy

Besides breaking the traditional hierarchy of the classroom, the methodology has made classrooms more child-friendly, the report notes. Stressing that the methodology must be strengthened, continued and made irreversible, the report highlights the need for more attention to certain aspects of implementation.

“ABL can successfully work only when the class strength does not exceed 30 students,” says Prof. Vasanthi Devi. In the absence of any baseline study prior to the implementation, the current ability of students could not be directly linked to the methodology, the committee members clarify.

The findings of their study of 10 Corporation schools and a few suburban schools have brought to light the deficiencies in fundamental skills, including reading and basic math.

“The activity cards by and large have what were already there in students’ textbooks. The material has not been made simpler or livelier,” said Prof. Rajagopalan.

“If NCERT books are considered good, it is because they are field-tested with children and edited later. But these activity cards were not field-tested, and teachers were not involved in the process enough,” he said.

The report also points to what it calls a disturbing factor: the reluctance of teachers to frankly discuss their experience during the study. However, on Saturday, representatives of teachers’ associations voiced their concerns about the methodology.

The report suggests that teachers revisit certain concepts periodically to help students retain them, and design special remedial lessons for slow learners. It also suggests that students of Std. I and II and those of Std. III and IV be grouped separately. It recommends an independent baseline study of the current skills and proficiency of students be commissioned.

Senior officials of the SSA wing told The Hindu that all the suggestions were being considered.

A letter had recently been sent to all schools permitting them to group the students according to the strength, a senior officer said.

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