A novel initiative to improve the quality of education imparted by teachers introduced in the 2017-18 academic year has become popular in schools across the State. The Department of Primary and Secondary Education had asked government teachers to choose modules they want to be trained in, rather than assigning these to them.
Kannada training modules proved to be the most popular. One Kannada module that was most sought after was ‘Alternative perspectives in grammar learning’.
The least chosen were those on Hindi. Statistics show that a majority of the teachers are picking subjects that they teach rather than signing up for new training modules. This is an indication that government school teachers want to upgrade their skills rather than choose new subjects, say officials. The team involved in designing the programme said that most of the teachers employed in government primary schools fall in the general category, in that they teach Kannada and Social Studies. Hindi was the least chosen module as there are very few teachers in the subject.
The programme has been designed so that the teacher decides what inputs are needed. Classroom relevance is crucial. “I am extremely glad that the department has given us the option to pick modules that we are interested in. Usually, we are assigned to workshops that do not add value to our classroom teaching. This programme will certainly help teachers like me hone our teaching methods,” said Basavaraj Gurikar, president, Karnataka State Government Primary School Teachers’ Association.
H.N. Gopalkrishna, director, Department of State Educational Research and Training (DSERT), said out of 1.65 lakh primary government school teachers, 1.4 lakh had enrolled for the programme. He added that 71,000 teachers had already been trained. While the department has not made it mandatory for teachers to select modules, Mr. Gopalkrishna said that 10 days of training is compulsory for each teacher as per government norms.
As many as 28 modules across seven subjects were developed for the 2017-18 academic year as part of Guru Chethana – an initiative by the State government in teacher professional development. The department plans to develop as many as 200 modules in a span of five years.
It was developed after the department realised that the existing teacher training programmes had little connection with their real requirements. Teachers will receive training in modules they chose in the form of workshops, seminars, study groups, videos and online material. It includes a combination of self-learning, peer learning and sessions by experts.
Beyond the syllabus
From the coming academic year, the DSERT plans to include several training modules pertaining to school and child safety, waste management and financial literacy. Mr. Gopalkrishna said these topics were included as they were becoming extremely relevant. Many modules can be completed by reading the online material provided and don’t require face-to-face interaction.
