District gears up for a watershed event in teaching of subject primary level

A total of 52 teachers from the district are participating in the first phase of the special training module (SMART PT 2000) which commenced at Pune on Monday. They form a part of the 810-strong contingent from all over the State which would undergo special training to learn the skills of teaching basic English in a `play-way method’ to (Marathi-medium) students of primary level.

These 52 teachers are expected to act as resource persons at the second phase training camp to be held at local Mahatma Gandhi Centennial School, Jaripatka, from June 1 to 6. A total of 507 teachers coming from various taluka places in the district would participate in this camp. These 500-odd teachers would, in turn, conduct block-level training camps for 5,077 primary school teachers and headmasters at 127 centres all over the district.

The main thrust of the training is to remove the inhibitions regarding English from the minds of the primary teachers, who have long been out of touch with the subject.

Thus, when schools in the state reopen on July 1, 2000, the Marathi-medium primary school students, along with these teachers, would be in for a new experience. Apart from other subjects on the regular curriculum, about 4 crore students from Standard I to IV would be learning basic English from a textbook called `My English Textbook’, specially designed with an aim to bring the children closer to the subject by giving it a local touch.

At the initial levels, the harp would be on conversation (understanding and speaking) skills rather than reading and writing. "The aim is to teach English as an additional language and not as a medium," Shivani Kokardekar, headmistress of the local R S Mundle School and a member of the special State-level Curriculum Committee for English, said while speaking to The Indian Express.

During this academic session (2000-2001), students from Standard I to IV will learn English from this single textbook. The motive is to give all of them a feel of the basics of the subject. "The students who are in Standard IV now will at least know something of English when they move on to Standard V next year," Kokardekar said. New books would be introduced for Standard III and IV in the coming years, when the students, presently in Standard I and II, move up to higher classes.

To make it easier for the teachers to tackle the subject, for the first time, `teachers pages’ have been provided in the textbook. These pages, preceding each unit, gives teaching guidelines about the particular unit. Five periods a week have been provided for the subject.

However, one of the problems which is already causing concern is that the new textbook will become available only by October this year. Although the syllabus and design has been finalised, the process of printing and publishing the book is expected to take a long time. Until then, the teachers would have to depend upon their newly-acquired teaching skills.