VILLUPURAM: Technology is an inseparable part of education for 40-year-old S Dhileep, a government school English teacher in Gingee. Now, his belief has gotten recognition from the highest quarters as he is among the two teachers from Tamil Nadu who have been selected by the Centre for the coveted National Best Teacher award.
When the news went viral in Dhileep's village on Friday evening, his friends and relatives were not surprised as they had all expected that he would be winning accolades one day.
With an advanced approach to teaching methods, Dhileep has completed two decades in his profession and is working at the Government Higher Secondary School in Sathyamangalam.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Dhileep says, "I dedicate this award to my students and share the moment with my colleagues who supported me in my efforts and the headmaster for encouraging me. I also thank the district officials for nominating my name for the award. People call us 'teachers' family' as my father Sriraman is a retired headmaster, mother Rathnammal is a retired middle school teacher and my wife Saritha is also a government school teacher. This immensely helps me to think and research about teaching at my home itself."
"I research about the shortcomings that could occur in classroom teaching and work out solutions to overcome them. Since I am very interested in computers and other gadgets, I integrated technology in my classes. Even before the Tamil Nadu government came up with the initiative, I had set up a smart classroom in my school in 2012. This enhanced both the teaching methodology and the learning experience for the students," he adds.
Dhileep continues, "When I found that phonetics improves reading ability, I developed a 48-day fast track programme called 'Everyday English' with learning material. The CEO of the district printed one lakh copies of it and distributed them to all schools in the district. I also introduced 'Gamified Grammar' for which I got approval from NCERT to carry out the project in the school for one year. Grammar was taught to the children through virtual games and interactive white board models."
He says that when local students have virtual sessions with students from foreign countries, it helps them develop their English accent. "I was also a part of the textbook making team which brought in the idea of printing QR codes on books."
When signing off, he earnestly dedicated his award to all teachers who are working hard for the upliftment of students.