MUMBAI: Tune in and learn on. Teachers missing classes to attend training sessions will soon be a thing of the past. Doing away with the age-old system of face-to-face group training programmes, the Maharashtra State Board for Secondary and Higher Secondary Education has now started airing lessons for teachers on the radio.
Loss of teaching days due to training sessions has been a problem area in several states. While some states have recently put in place plans to use Edu-sat for teacher training, Maharashtra doesn't have the wherewithal for this.
Loss of teaching days due to training sessions has been a problem area in several states. While some states have recently put in place plans to use Edu-sat for teacher training, Maharashtra doesn't have the wherewithal for this.
"We realised that block level or district level training meant loss of school hours and that eventually hurts students. So we have started training sessions on radio," said Vasant Kalpande, state board chairman.
The decision has come at a time when the board has introduced a new curriculum for Stds I, V, IX and XI. This requires teachers to undergo training, but since staying away from school for training sessions would entail loss of teaching days, the board of studies has begun to promote the idea of handing out tips on daytime radio shows.
The practice has started with teachers of Std IX.
The board informs the school about the date, time and subject of each training session beforehand, so all teachers need to do is tune in for their classes and keep their handbooks ready.
The schedule provided by the state board also sets aside one day each week for teachers to send in questions. "As radio is a one-way medium, a day is set aside for answering teachers' queries.
The teacher could mail, fax or post the query and the experts answer the same on that day over the radio," Kalpande added. Depending on the response the board will receive from schools and teachers, radio sessions will be introduced for more classes, he said.
School managements and teachers on their part have welcomed the move saying the training has brought with it a lot of flexibility. "With the new radio training, teachers can swap lectures among themselves as per the timings of their training. Also, they don't need to travel anymore to attend workshops," said a principal in a suburban school.
Next year, when the board releases new textbooks for Stds II, VI, X and XII—which will necessitate further training for teachers—these radio sessions are expected to catch on. Subsequently, books for Stds III and VII will be out in 2008 and in the following year, for Stds IV and VIII.
The decision has come at a time when the board has introduced a new curriculum for Stds I, V, IX and XI. This requires teachers to undergo training, but since staying away from school for training sessions would entail loss of teaching days, the board of studies has begun to promote the idea of handing out tips on daytime radio shows.
The practice has started with teachers of Std IX.
The board informs the school about the date, time and subject of each training session beforehand, so all teachers need to do is tune in for their classes and keep their handbooks ready.
The schedule provided by the state board also sets aside one day each week for teachers to send in questions. "As radio is a one-way medium, a day is set aside for answering teachers' queries.
The teacher could mail, fax or post the query and the experts answer the same on that day over the radio," Kalpande added. Depending on the response the board will receive from schools and teachers, radio sessions will be introduced for more classes, he said.
School managements and teachers on their part have welcomed the move saying the training has brought with it a lot of flexibility. "With the new radio training, teachers can swap lectures among themselves as per the timings of their training. Also, they don't need to travel anymore to attend workshops," said a principal in a suburban school.
Next year, when the board releases new textbooks for Stds II, VI, X and XII—which will necessitate further training for teachers—these radio sessions are expected to catch on. Subsequently, books for Stds III and VII will be out in 2008 and in the following year, for Stds IV and VIII.
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