TIRUPATTUR: It was a scorching summer afternoon and the eyes of V Nivetha, a Class 7 student of Ambur’s Government Municipal Middle School in Bethlehem, were glued to the iPad. “Hurray!” she cheered, celebrating yet another win in the game before passing the device to the next eager student. Watching from behind, their dedicated teacher, C Saravanan, didn’t scold them. Instead, he just asked how the game was, to which Nivetha replied, “It was really fun!
This is their English class and the students are learning vocabulary through an augmented reality game on an iPad, in which they have to drag the letters scattered inside a virtual class to a spot to form a word. The classroom, where the curious kids are seated, is also one-of-its-kind with bright yellow walls adorned with phonic wall charts, a cursive writing board, a podcasting space, a projector, speakers, smart board, computers, English dictionaries, and magazines — everything needed to hone reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills in English. A QR code is also pasted in the classroom, providing access to a range of online resources, and a word wall where 10 new words would be displayed and learned, every day. The 42-year-old teacher established this lab three years ago at a cost of Rs 5 lakh, pooled in by some donors and the remaining amount was spent from his own pocket.
“Government school students are often scared of learning English. Since they find it difficult to master the language, I started teaching them using games,” he explained, adding that his personal struggles in learning the language when he was doing a teacher training course in Bengaluru also motivated him to make English comprehensible for government school children.
“When I joined the course after my B Ed, there were students from various states in the class. However, only those from Tamil medium schools had difficulty comprehending English. It took us almost six months to get a hang of the language. I don’t want anyone else to experience that,” he says in a firm voice. Saravanan also noted that many parents prefer private schools over government schools as the opportunity for learning English is better there. He believes this should change. In addition to teaching English and Tamil in the school, Saravanan regularly engages students in conversations with peers across the world to improve their speaking skills.
He has initiated a programme called Global Classroom Exchange for this purpose, through which students from various countries will connect with the kids of Bethlehem Middle School via Skype and speak on a topic that is of relevance to them. “So far, we have spoken to students from 20 countries,” he says. The teacher has also incorporated various tech tools like AI, Kahoot, Microsoft, Autodraw, Diksha, Wakelet, VR Headset, and MergeCube to teach English.
He also enhances their general knowledge by taking them on field trips to post offices, banks, and railway stations, and encourages them to ask questions. He provides online training to teachers to use technology tools in education and spreads awareness on girls’ education. He also visits the houses of people whose children had dropped out school because of financial conditions and convinces them to enroll again. Through his efforts, about 50% of the students returned to school.
Saravanan also runs a website called Kalvi Murasu, which offers study materials for teachers and attracts 24 lakh daily views. His students have participated in the International Spelling Bee competition, and two years ago, three of them won prizes too. Last year, three students won elocution competitions during Kalaignar’s 100th birth anniversary celebrations. Students from the school also won prizes at the 7th Korea-India Friendship Quiz.
The school’s headmaster S Joe Sathiyakumar says, “The English lab is entirely his (Saravanan) initiative. The children are slowly developing an interest in learning English and all credit goes to him.”
Born and raised in Ambur, Saravanan holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in English, Tamil, and Physics, in addition to BEd. He began teaching in 2005 and has received the Dr Radhakrishnan Award in 2021. In 2018, he won the Dream Teacher Award for his innovative use of technology in education.
When asked what drives him to do so much, Saravanan says, “As a teacher, I must keep learning new things each day to make education interesting. If we don’t update ourselves, we get stuck. I want to teach children to keep learning too.”
(Edited by Sneha Joseph)