THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Tiny tots walking to kindergartens with slates or textbooks are soon going to be a thing of the past. In a first, the pre-primary schools in the state will open doors to a fresh curriculum, including digital contents. The government has given approval for the project as part of making the pre-primary education system more scientific and activity-based rather than relying on textbooks. However, the new curriculum will be implemented only from the next academic year 2020-21,
Education Minister C Raveendranath has decided to approve the project worth `25 lakh. The curriculum will be implemented jointly with the Social Justice Department as the anganwadis will also be made as pre-primary schools. The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has been entrusted to revise a new curriculum. Besides children, the new programme will also benefit pre-primary teachers.
Mobile app
As part of the project, the government will also introduce a state-of-the-art mobile app for all teachers in pre-primary schools with quick and easy learning methods for children. The app, that is at the initial stage, is being developed with the technical assistance of the State Institute of Educational Technology (SIET).
According to SIET director B Aburaj, the app will have the syllabus contents in the form of animations and games so that the children could grasp the subject easily and in an interesting manner.
“The new curriculum will be redesigned in such a way that the pre-primary students could digest the study portions easily. The teachers will be trained to teach the digital contents through the app. The app is still at the development stage and we will add more features in it based on the requirements. We have one year’s time and this will be a first-of-its-kind in the country,” Aburaj said. Once the new curriculum is implemented, the schools can educate pre-primary students through activities, games without using textbook or slate. The schools will focus on a unified child-friendly curriculum encompassing the physical, social, intellectual, and emotional development of the child. The General Education Dept has also decided to provide space for anganwadis in govt schools.
Kalithoni
Apart from the mobile app, SCERT has already implemented activity cards named ‘Kalithoni’ in pre-primary schools. The cards have 30 different themes and the first part is the collection of 10 themes. The cards aim at children’s physical, creative, linguistic, scientific, social and emotional development