E-Paper
Now, UP kids to learn through song and drama
PRAYAGRAJ: Kids aged between 3 and 6 years will now learn to read, write and study through an interesting mix of songs, story-telling and drama in government-run
PRAYAGRAJ: Kids aged between 3 and 6 years will now learn to read, write and study through an interesting mix of songs, story-telling and drama in government-run pre-primary schools in Uttar Pradesh.
Much like the convent schools that lay stress on strong foundation for kids at Nursery, LKG and UKG levels, government-run institutions will also focus on making education entertaining, said education department officials aware of the move.
As step one, the state government has already begun efforts to design books for tiny-tots of pre-primary level in Uttar Pradesh.
The task of preparing books with interesting content, attractive pictures and fun activities have been given to Prayagraj-based English Language Teaching Institute (ELTI) and State Institute of Education besides Rajya Hindi Sansthan in Varanasi functioning under State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT), UP, said Skand Shukla, principal, ELTI-Prayagraj.
The move is in accordance with the state government’s plan to convert around 1.87 lakh Anganwadis functioning under the Basic Shiksha Parishad in state having over 10 million kids to pre-primary schools from the next academic session, they said.
“Orders dated February 10 have been issued in this regard by SCERT asking the three selected institutions to prepare learning material and teacher handbook for teaching pre-primary level kids. A copy of the new curriculum has also been provided along with the missive so that the learning materials and the teacher’s handbook can be prepared based on it,” he explained.
“Work at ELTI has already begun. We are taking help of experts specializing in pre-primary level teaching and hope to complete the task within a month,” said Shukla.
As the books are meant for 3 to 6 year olds, more pictorial content have been recommended to keep the tiny tots interested. We will also be providing QR or Quick Response codes that a teacher can scan using his/her smart mobile phone and access additional information of a topic. Video and audio materials are also being prepared as part of this exercise for the kids, said the ELTI principal.
The various exercises would be designed in a way to help achieve the learning outcome targets while also keeping the kids curious and interested. Once ready, the learning material and teacher’s handbook would be formally presented before the SCERT in the second week of March.
If all goes as per plan, the government hopes to kick-start teaching in pre-primary government-run schools across the state from 2021-22 academic sessions.
To make this transformation effective, there are also plans to accord special training to the workers of the 1.87 lakh Anganwadis functioning under the Basic Shiksha Parishad in the state, official claimed
Box
Hindi, English and maths to be key subjects
Kids in government-run pre-primary schools of UP will primarily learn Hindi, English and Mathematics as part of their studies. These kids will each day have classes for just three hours with specially trained anganwadi workers as teachers.
