Between the Lines

Subjects can be like riddles. They taunt you with their complex packaging,implore you to solve them,dare you to read between the line and search for clues; and if you can’t,then corner you into cramming them up. The choice is ours. “To be a part of the conventional education system or to be ready for the knowledge industry,” says Taranvir of The Achievers Programme,who’s been conducting workshops in over 200 schools across the country to bring project the learning technique in a way that promotes knowledge,skills,understanding and the right attitude. With him,many others are trying hard to improve on the education system,one that not only makes the students understand the textual knowledge but also goes beyond it. “The endeavour is to bring out the overall personality of a student and to make him understand the concepts,rather than to keep a tab on his scores through knowledge that’s more bookish than practical,” says Taranvir.

Margaret Warner,an International Education Consultant and Teacher Trainer from UK,comes all the way to the city to conduct workshops on multiple intelligence for 2000 plus teachers in India. It’s her eighth visit,and her “programme talks about a whole new curriculum that includes fun activities in everyday learning,each designed to enhance one of the categories of intelligence varying from bodily-kinesthetic,interpersonal,verbal-linguistic,logical-mathematical,naturalistic,intra-personal,visual-spatial to musical,” tells Warner. She,along with other teachers,are now following the Howard Gardner model wherein teachers use different methodologies,exercises and activities to reach out to students,not just those who excel at linguistic and logical intelligence. Also researching into and writing a book on the changing education system in India for ICFAI University,“The focus of teachers now is to keep the students transfixed on learning for the knowledge industry,” reflects Warner.

While CBSE too has woken up to the concept of abiding by the “assessment system rather than the rote learning method” and is set to do away with board exam in Class X and replace it with a grading system in order to reduce unhealthy competition and stress among students,Jai De Costa,Director,Marketing and Business Development,Helix Technology Solutions,nods in agreement. “Even technology is moulding itself to bring in interesting ways to explain and teach,” he launches an innovative computer-based learning aid for CBSE students from Class VI to X; a software that packs in course matter,activity,experiments,live examples,calendar,notice board,monitoring mechanism,study plan and search engine among others. “Through this,parents can keep a tab on the number of hours a student has put in and the student too does not get bored as it is supported by aesthetic visuals with 2D and 3D animation,” reels the man,who with a team of 100 teachers fashioned the software in a span of two and a half years. “Conceptualised to keep the students hooked,next is going to be a module that will keep the teachers on their toes as well,” he promises. School suddenly seems a good place to be in!