Southern States - Andhra Pradesh

Spreading literacy resourcefully
By Our Staff Reporter

DUBACHARLA (WG dt.), FEB. 22. A Chenchu family of N Veeraswamy which has been non-literate for generations has become a test case for a batch of key resource persons (KRPs) under training at the District Institute of Education and Training (DIET) in West Godavari district.

The trial run on preparation of habitation education plan (HEP) has turned crucial when the team led by the District Resource Person (DRP), VVS Kameswara Rao, had an encounter with Durgaiah, a 10-year-old boy from the Chenchu family. Playing on a village tank bed, the boy told the team members that he had never felt the `comfort' of school-going as he spent his entire childhood in attending to his drunkard father. The skills of the KRPs came in for test when they embarked on motivating the boy to go to school.

In a similar trial run held at Gantavaraigudem near here, it has become a tough time for another batch of KRPs, headed by the Devarapalli Mandal Resource Person (MRP), Madhu Sekhar, in getting a declaration from a Dalit man in favour of sending his `paleru' son to the school.

The field trips by the KRPs in Dubacharla and Gantavarigudem habitations are a rehearsal for a rigorous training which the KRPs are scheduled to impart to over 1200 newly recruited teachers on making habitation education plans (HEPs). The DIET has planned for a six-day `induction programme' for the newly recruited teachers by the KRPs at mandal level scheduled from February 26.

The DIET Principal, Ramachandra Rao, said the training programme for KRPs was laying stress on preparing the cub teachers in making habitation education plan in such a way that it served as a road map for achieving universal elementary education (UEE).

Diagnosing the factors leading to school dropouts and striving for enrollment and retention form part of the habitation education plan, to be drawn up by the newly appointed teachers in association with representatives from school education committees, mothers committees, early child education centres (ECECs) and the sarpanch concerned. The HEP is proposed to ensure that over 27,000 out-of-school children in the district are back to the school by handling the factors leading them to be denied access to school. The cub teachers would be given orientation to ensure that HEPs would be completed during the summer vacation, community mobilisation in support of enrollment and retention and identification of school dropouts by the time of reopening of schools would be undertaken by them.

According to the DIET Principal, trainee teachers would be equipped with multi-class teaching and multi-class room management technique in a situation where there were no adequate teachers and sufficient classrooms. The techniques included designing a multi-grade or self-learning kit and promotion of `peer education' in the absence of teacher. Peer-education is aimed at hand-picking fast learners in the class and encouraging them to participate in teaching as a substitute for teachers, the DIET chief said. The DIET has programmed for preparing a `localised' multi-grade teaching kit from next academic year by sharing the experience of other districts. The DIET in Chittoor district has prepared a kit, named "Vijayavani". A similar kit, `Anandalahari', was prepared in East Godavari district. Basing on these two kits, the DIET in West Godavari district is planning to bring out a `localised kit'.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Southern States

News: Front Page | National | Southern States | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary |

Stories in this Section

• Simhadri project synchronised with A.P. grid
• 24-hour power supply for all villages from Aug.: CM
• Naidu promises sweeping prison reforms
• Governor, CM greet Muslims
• State's debt put at over Rs. 42,000 cr.
• CPI vows to resist power tariff hike
• YSR fears fresh taxes
• Laxman confident of riding out Tehelka storm
• 700-year-old project holds hope for ryots
• `Sarvapriya' scheme launch in March
• OU retired teachers allege raw deal
• Spreading literacy resourcefully

Copyright © 2002, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu