Tribal students in Amravati & Ahmednagar receive customised workbooks for fun learning

In order to keep tribal students from leaving school following the COVID-19 outbreak, the schools in Maharashtra’s Amravati and Ahmednagar districts distributed workbooks to students that were promised to be fun.

In the last week of April and early May, the teachers in Amravati delivered workbooks to tribal students which had puzzles, a few quizzes and some activities that would encourage them to hunt for answers in their surroundings until the schools reopen.

For day 1, students of classes 3 to 6 were asked to study three trees in their village, write down their names and their unique characteristics. The second activity was to draw a picture after joining the numbered dots. The content of the books was based on Math and English. Those in classes 7 to 10 were given another workbook.

READ | Study Finds Finances Of School Teachers Severely Impacted Due To Coronavirus

Since then, nearly 7,000 tribal students across 20 schools in the district used such workbooks a part of their routine, ensuring the continuation of learning and self-study. In case they had any difficulty in performing a task, the students were encouraged to call their teachers or seek the help of elders or seniors.

Project Coordinator and Amravati Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Mitali Sethi said that the authorities wanted to make learning inclusive for village students by bridging the Internet divide, and by keeping it simple. Since online education model is not suitable for this area, creating these workbooks helped in promoting reading among tribal children.

READ | Maharashtra: Tribal Women From Palghar Are Working Towards 'Atmanirbhar Bharat'

‘Unlock Learning’

Two months down the line, this method of administering education during lockdown has opened the way to a large-scale project titled ‘Unlock Learning’ that will be implemented across all tribal schools in Maharashtra. The state has 1,060 such schools where 4.2 lakh tribal students study.

Teachers at Rajur in Ahmednagar district took the Amravati model of education a step further. The workbooks created by them targeted two classes at a time. Students of Class 1 and 2 have been given a workbook exclusive to their needs.

READ | From Darkness To Light: Maharashtra Village Finally Gets Electricity

The workbooks, which focused on language, math and science all in one, were handed over to 4,919 students across the 20 schools in Ahmednagar in the first week of June.

The department had set up a core committee of 20 educational consultants who assessed the contents of the customised workbooks and approved for the first phase of the project. Along with this, “co-curricular activity book”, focusing on arts, craft and music, has also been created by the department, said teacher and coordinator Amruta Bhalerao.

The project is expected to formally launch on August 9 – on World Adivasi Day, said Commissioner (Tribal Development) Dr Kiran Kulkarni.

READ | Maha Permits Online Classes For Pre-primary & Standards I, II

(Image credits: Pixabay)