Andhra trains teachers, gets students back

Anew trend is visible in two districts of Andhra Pradesh: Srikakulam and Nizamabad. Students have left private schools in large numbers to join government run schools.

In fact, so strong has been the migration that some private schools have been left with no option but to down their shutters.

Much of it has to do with a unique strategy of re-educating teachers adopted by the state government under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan. In the first instance, it gets experts and university teachers to give talks to primary school teachers on various topics. Second, it brings together teachers from primary schools in an area, called nodal school for the school complex, to devise teaching strategies.

"It has provided us a platform to share our thoughts," says Aqsa Imrana, who teaches at the Government Primary Urdu Medium School in the Nampally area of Hyderabad. Teachers like Imrana from government schools in the block met last month on 28 June in the Gandhi Bhavan Government High School. Amongst other things, they shared thoughts on how to tackle children who have come to school for the first time.

"We learnt how we have to create a good environment to make new kids comfortable," says Imrana.

The school complex, which is usually organised on the second of every month, also provides tips on language orientation and teaching methodologies for particular subjects.

Sarva Siksha Abhiyan officials say the programme has brought about an improvement in the quality of education imparted in government schools. Consequently, there has been a sharp decline in the drop out rate amongst students. "The programme saw government schools outdo private schools in some areas," K Chandramouli, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Project Director, said.

According to officials, the state has 6,970 school complexes dispersed over 1,129 mandals. Thus, on an average, there are around six school complexes in each mandal.

"The sessions aim at arriving at solutions to be taken up for practice in the respective schools of the teachers," Chandramouli says.

Through the televisions provided in the nodal schools, video classes are arranged from Hyderabad, where some eminent teachers take up the classes for the cluster teachers.

"The monthly meeting also gives an opportunity to monitor the working of different schools and ways to improve the performance as a mood of competition is generated among the teachers," he adds.

The teachers, on their part, are happy with the model. "The school complex provides some excellent solutions through discussions between the teachers," says Manikyala Rao, the headmaster of a government-run high school in Hyderabad.

But some teachers suggest some changes. "Care should be taken to see that the nodal schools are within reach as sometimes the teachers have to travel around 20 km for the session," one upper-primary school teacher in Kothakota village of the of Mahbubnagar district says.

"In some cases the nodal school authorities themselves are not aware of what has to be done in the session, which is causing confusion among the teachers," the teacher adds.

Also, while Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan officials say they give Rs 70 to every teacher who attends the training session, several teachers deny getting any money.

Still, a beginning does seem to have been made.