Opening a whole new world
SANTOSH PATNAIK
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There are no assignments, no textbooks and no corporal punishment for the tribal kids who are being educated through the Waldorf Method.
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PHOTO: K.R. DEEPAK
EXILARATING EXPERIENCE: New approach to learning
Though born and brought up in the interior tribal areas of Visakhapatnam district, Majji Rekha, 6, can now qualify in the entrance test for any posh convent school.
Rekha, from Vadiavalasa hamlet of Sobba panchayat in Durmriguda mandal and Vemala Siva Ratna Kumari, 10, of Polavanda hamlet in Vantlamamidi panchayat of Paderu mandal, are the beneficiaries of Waldorf education.
For 30 children admitted to a residential school here, it's a lifetime experience. Belonging to primitive tribal groups of Kondh and Poraja from areas bordering Orissa and Andhra Pradesh, the children are into a happier mode of learning for the past two years.
The students got a major boost when a teacher from Germany employed at Tuesseldo for past eight years spent four months with them.Kristina Doring, 30, is floored by the response from the students at Bala Mitra (friends of children) school during her short stint as a guest faculty.
She has undergone specialisation in Waldorf education also known as Steiner education. This is based on the philosophy of Rudolf Steiner and the education envisages imaginative approach to learning.
Holistic thinking
It aims to develop holistic thinking that includes creative as well as analytical skills - to mould the children into free, moral and integrated individuals. There are more than 1,000 Waldorf educational institutions spread over 60 countries.
Notwithstanding the fact that the school here was set up by Samata, an NGO, about two years ago near Sagarnagar, the tribal children brought from remote areas are now able to communicate their feelings confidently in English. They have learnt traditional dance of Dhimsa, make crafts and soaps and take part in discussions on environment.
No assignments, no textbooks, no corporal punishment are the hallmarks of Waldorf education. Here teachers are creative by involving students and getting answers from them with illustrations made on the basis of birds, animals, trees, graphs and toys.
Kristina, who is on a year-long vacation and is ready to leave for Italy, says, "The experience I had here is quite amazing. Here we are teaching with their active involvement through participatory mode. So they are fed not beyond their digestion level unlike modern schools where everything is imposed.
In fact, being keen observers of flora and fauna in the jungles, they are able to understand lessons pretty easily."
She says none of the students feels any burden to study unlike the conventional schools.
The interesting part of the school is that teachers stay with the children.
Samata is running 40 such schools in the agency area of Visakhapatnam district with student strength of 1500 in partnership with Adivasi Mitra, Sanjivini, Rythu Coolie Samkshema Sangham and Tribal and Rural Development Society.
The students are taught by qualified jobless local youth by training them on Waldorf education.
"We are very much impressed with the feedback so far and planning to open more such schools in future as they are experimential, imitative and sensory-based," says Bhanumati of Samata.
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