The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Pilot project a success, extended across State

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jun 13, 2007
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Pilot project a success, extended across State

Meera Srinivasan

ABL improves students' knowledge of language, maths

PLAYWAY METHODS: Children of the Corporation Primary School in Tiruvanmiyur Kuppam engrossed in a group activity. — PHOTO: N. SRIDHARAN

CHENNAI: `Brazil..pro..poses.. proposes... G5 summit...' — When K. Sathish of the Corporation Primary School in Tiruvanmiyur Kuppam reads out the front page headline from The Hindu dated June 11, one cannot but be impressed.

The eight-year-old not only reads English and Tamil fluently, but also attempts to reply in English with little inhibition. "My father is a coolie... and my mother is a house wife," he says.

When Local Administration Minister M. K. Stalin inaugurated Activity-Based Learning (ABL) in all schools on Tuesday, it was the beginning of what could possibly facilitate lakhs of students to read like Sathish.

Observing the impact of ABL modules introduced in all the Corporation schools three years ago, the School Education Department decided to extend it to the nearly 40,000 government and aided schools across the State to benefit students in classes one to four. The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) wing of the Department has been implementing the project.

Remarkable performance

Speaking at the function, Mr. Stalin said Tamil Nadu's performance in education, compared to other States, was remarkable.

Giving a detailed account of the initiatives taken by the DMK government, he said, "It is heartening to find schools in rural areas doing well." The State Government allocated Rs.135 crore for local body schools this year. Mr. Stalin commended SSA's State Project Director M.P. Vijayakumar, who was present at the function, on the effort.

It was during Mr. Vijayakumar's tenure as Chennai Corporation Commissioner that ABL modules were introduced in all the Corporation Schools. ABL, with its inputs drawn extensively from the Montessori system, enables the students to strengthen their basics in language, mathematics and science.

Colourful learning cards, activities performed by groups of children sitting in circles, interaction with the teacher and self-assessment replaced the conventional classroom set up, where teachers taught students seated in rows.

A revolution

Minister for School Education Thangam Thennarasu said this was the beginning of a revolution. As part of the testing phase, ABL was introduced in ten schools in each block. The drastic change it brought about in performance prompted the department to extend it to all the schools.

"We have been addressing the quality issue. We now find Government and Corporation school students competing closely with their counterparts in private schools," he said.

Sathish's school in Tiruvanmiyur is one of the models that would now be emulated by other schools. Children leave their footwear outside the classroom in a straight row, systematically pick up and leave their learning material in its place and work in teams.

Each child's performance level is assessed and he or she is put in the appropriate group irrespective of age. Once they master a particular skill, they move to the next activity.

By the time they complete class four, they would have gained, apart from the academic skills, a lot of confidence, too.

Chennai Mayor M. Subramanian, School Education Secretary M. Kutralingam, Director of School Education R. Kannan and Director of Elementary Education J. Uma Maheswari participated in the function.

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