Organised by the District Education Office, Gujarat New Era Education Trust and Centre for Cultural Resources and Training, New Delhi, the workshop has drawn participation from 34 teachers of various city and district schools. What appeared an encouraging sign following extensive talks with the participants was their resolve to make learning a more fruitful experience for both themselves and the students.

Workshop convenor Kalpana Barot, also a trained teacher from the CCRT, told Express Newsline, ``The present school syllabus is purely informative and not culturally creative. Students learn by rote what is taught from the text books but none of the learning is ingested into their lifestyles or thinking. We wish to help them mould their personality and channelise their thinking so that they feel an affinity for their own culture instead of shying away from it''.

Principal, New Era Girls High School, Neela Pandya pointed out that a majority of the teachers themselves lacked the basic knowledge or information about ancient Indian concepts. ``Take vedic mathematics, for instance. Few teachers know that certain methods of calculation put forth in the vedic treatises can help them solve problems faster than a computer. If teachers are acquainted with our culture, they can instruct our students in a more effective manner instead of sticking to the text book routine,'' she said.

Teacher of mathematics and science, Kalpana Shah of New Era High School, Makarpura said, ``While social sciences and languages do imbibe some degree of the cultural aspect, one was curious to know if it was possible to integrate cultural values into technical subjects like maths''.

According to maths teacher J K Patel of V R Patel High School, social and cultural heritage was directly or indirectly related to social processes. ``The real potential of the student can be brought out by work experience, by applying learning to daily living. We can do this to a certain extent in mathematics, but the advantages will mostly go to other subjects,'' he added.

Ajit Dashandi of Vasant Vidyalaya stressed that priority should given to inclusion of cultural aspects through infotainment. ``Most students cannot recite shlokas properly because they do not know the Sanskrit pronunciation. But add the element of music to the recitation and they not only show keen interest but also retain the shlokas in their memory for a longer time,'' he said.

Moksha Bhatt on Pratap High School concurred, ``Language teachers, especially, can make their subjects more interesting by including the cultural elements. Tune a poem to a raga instead of merely reciting it and see the students take more interest''.

A Class XI and XII language teacher, Uma Dharwadkar of Sayaji Girls High School stressed that the process had to be started with the younger students. ``Seventy per cent of my students do not know much about Gautam Buddha. They can't recognise national symbols. If this knowledge had been imparted to them while they were young and in an effective manner, there wouldn't have been the need to tell them now,'' she said.