BENGALURU: Teachers and scientists believe that Vataara Shale, which was the predecessor to Vidyagama, which focussed on interactive learning, would be the best mode from among the options available, to impart education to children.
Vataara Shale or village school is a micro-level intervention, where around 20 students gather in an open space in a village, and each subject teacher takes class once a week, ensuring continuity in education.
With a lack of chalk and board method, there was a need for alternative methods of pedagogy -- and the 2020 pandemic gave birth to Math Mela, a hands-on activity-based math learning class that would include children from multiple classes.
As the duration of these models was short, there was insufficient time to run an outcome analysis, an official said. But the efficacy was seen with 8-10 lakh out of 12 lakh children in the Kalaburagi division engaged in learning. It had the largest number of Vataara Shales at 33,000.
The division saw other interventions -- Oduva Belaku in collaboration with the RDPR department that took activity-based learning inside panchayat libraries. With this, eight lakh students are registered with panchayat libraries, said Nalin Atul, Additional Commissioner of Public Instruction, Kalaburagi division.