At a time when both the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and the state board are trying to find an alternative to the present system of examinations,educators from the Sheffield Hallam University,UK,are pitching a solution to the problem. Mark Windale,principal lecturer,Centre for Science Education,Sheffield Hallam University and Sandeep Joshi from Apollo Mission,a city-based organisation,have started the active learning pilot projects in the country,beginning with Pune. As of now five schools in the city Abhinav School,Vikhe-Patil School,Shamrao Kalmadi School,Indira International and Huzurbaug School have come forward to work with Windale. Windale who has been involved in such activities in the UK for the last 25 years,said,The concept is to make the system of education student-centric rather than the traditional teacher-centric approach. Although the system of examination has been done away with,some form of assessment is needed. We are trying to help evolve the concept of continuous assessment. As part of the programme,teachers have taken up various innovative approaches to teaching. At present,teachers are experimenting on their own,later they will be provided with a teachers manual or guide that will suggest ways and means to improve the scenario,such as evaluating students from worksheets at the end of each class and so on. Joshi said,We began with some short programmes in January,followed by a month-long training programme for four coordinators and 16 teachers from each school. Then the coordinators went for a week of advanced training in Sheffield. On the basis of our observations and evaluations of these activities for a year,we will submit a report to the state and central boards. In October 12 we will meet Union HRD Minister Kapil Sibal in this regard. When asked about how the system will work out with the abysmal student-teacher ratio in India,or whether teachers would be able to adopt new activities despite being hard pressed for completing the syllabus at the end of the academic year,Windale said students could also work in pairs or groups of fours or fives. Also the system will ensure that teachers do not need to spend more time on a lesson than they normally do,he added.
