Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

New generation classrooms in government schools

— Photo: S. James

EFFECTIVE LEARNING: Students of Panchayat Union Primary School at Veerapandi, near Madurai, learning through Activity Based Learning methods introduced under Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

MADURAI: T. Hemalatha, a Standard IV student of a panchayat school near Madurai, welcomes you in English. The activities in her classroom resemble those of a convent school. In the next room, Vignesh Kumar, a student of Standard II, does basic science experiments on his own while other students are engaged in learning from cards, charts and attractive display material.

This is a sample of the latest high impact learning method at Panchayat Union Primary School, Veerapandi (Madurai West), where there is a visible change among teachers/students of government schools, thanks to the Activity Based Learning (ABL) introduced under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).

“Our student strength is now 146 whereas it was only 85 a couple of years ago. Village students are now raring to come to school because of interesting classrooms,” said K. Selva Kumaresan, a motivated headmaster of this primary school.

A visit organised for presspersons on Wednesday by the SSA officials to a few schools showed the new generation classrooms in government schools. High sounding English rhymes heard in private schools are emanating from panchayat schools also where trained teachers are handling ABL and converting dull classrooms into learning laboratories.

For instance, A. Kavitha, a second standard student in the same school, is among those who are getting well-versed in English phonetics, vocabulary etc. “ABL is making a great impact in all schools where it is implemented. The resistance from some teachers and associations to this innovative teaching methodology is gradually coming down,” K. Natarajan, Chief Educational Officer (SSA), said.

Panchayat presidents, parents and villagers too seem to be enthused since government schools are able to offer what is available in private schools. “We are ready to do anything for Veerapandi school because it is providing quality education to children. In fact, the village panchayat is giving additional 10 cents of land to the school,” said P. Gunasekara Pandi, panchayat president.

Parents like R. Sharmila are a happy lot these days as their children are learning good habits and cleanliness, along with an interest to go to school without fail.

A visit to a middle school at Aalathur in Madurai West Panchayat Union revealed the effective implementation of a concept called ‘mind map’ under SSA’s Active Learning Methodology (ALM) meant for students of Standard VI and VIII.

“The regular class textbooks are taught in a different methodology. Students prepare a mind map which identifies their difficulties and they ask the class teacher for help,” according to N. Ammayappan, District Elementary Education Officer (in charge).

A sample lesson on Vijayanagar Empire taken for Standard VII students by Mary Nirmala , Headmistress of Aalathur school, showed that learning process had undergone a sea change. “It is no longer a conventional system. There are four important things done by students — Read, Recite, Review and Reflect,” explained A. John Kennedy Alexander, Assistant Elementary Education Officer.

The new learning methodologies are engineering a change in classrooms of government schools where English is one of the tools chosen to usher modernity.

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