BENGALURU: To help teachers impart knowledge better and simplify concepts, an NGO based out of Bengaluru is transforming the way teachers teach in government schools in the state. Caring With Colours (CWC), a Manasi Kirloskar initiative, has trained over 10,200 teachers in Tumakuru and Ramanagar districts by introducing experiential learning in classrooms. Started in 2016, the NGO has made an impact on teachers teaching classes 4-7 in government schools.
Focusing on English, maths and science, the organisation has collaborated with the education department to train teachers and has also developed Teachopia, an app for experiential learning that can be accessed free of cost in three languages -- English, Kannada and Urdu.
Rajeev Annaluru, COO of CWC, said, “We want to imbibe students with skills of the 21st century. Already the unemployment rate is high because skills needed for employment are very low in these young individuals.” The traditional rote learning ideas needed to be developed in government schools to create joyful, experiential teaching methods, he added.
“Over 70% of children in India are studying in government schools, and most of their parents don’t have time to focus on what or how their wards are understanding concepts. We wanted to focus on that,” he said. The NGO trains teachers online and offline. Every Saturday in Hobli centres teachers are invited and asked which chapters or sections of the textbooks are difficult to explain.
The teacher-mentors then take them through a series of explanations and suggest no-cost-low-cost demonstration ideas that help teachers make their lesson plans easy and also make learning more fun for students. Calling it the ‘Tumakuru model’, where 7,800 teachers have been trained across 3,280 schools in the district, and another 2,500 teachers in 1,200 government schools in Ramanagar, CWC aims to take it to every government school in the country. Shashidahar, a science teacher in Tumakuru, said, “The training opened a new dimension for teachers to learn and teach. Activities and explaining through animation, and pre and post-tests on lessons pushed teachers to do better.”