BHU’s centre for teachers’ training, NCERT to work for quality education in UP schools

The Inter-University Centre for Teacher Education (IUCTE) of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), in collaboration with National Council for Educational Research and Training (NCERT), will conduct interactive sessions with teachers to enhance their creativity, understanding and reasoning to improve education quality at government-run upper primary schools in Uttar Pradesh.

The motive behind the move is to ensure that students in government run schools can compete with those in convent schools.

Roped in by the Union HRD ministry under its ambitious project: Promoting quality learning in science and mathematics, IUCTE-NCERT experts have already identified causes of declining education quality—especially science and mathematics teaching— through an extensive survey that included interactive sessions with teachers, students, district institute of education training (DIET), Basic Shiksha Adhikari (BSAs) in seven districts of Varanasi and Mirzapur division during the last few months.

The project aimed at transforming quality of education at government-run upper primary schools, was launched in November 2016 in Varanasi. On pilot basis, it covers 88 upper primary schools in seven districts including Varanasi, Ghazipur, Chandauli, Jaunpur and Mirzapur, Bhadohi and Sonbhadra.

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IUCTE director Prof B K Tripathi told HT, “Our team of experts identified the causes of declining quality of education at upper primary schools through an extensive survey that included interaction with students, teachers, classroom monitoring, discussions with block education officers and BSAs.”

The causes include lack of focused interaction with students, lack of inclusiveness in classes while teaching, teachers lacking knowledge about innovative ways to teach science and mathematics, lack of infrastructure in certain schools, Prof Tripathi said.

On the basis of findings, experts have devised a strategy to bring in desired transformation in education at upper primary schools, Prof Tripathi said, adding that as part of it IUCTE and NCERT experts will apprise teachers from 88 upper primary schools to enhance their understanding, reasons and creativity in a five-day long interactive session scheduled from June 12 at BHU.

Prof Tripathi reveals that teachers would also be given some materials and kits used for teaching science and mathematics. IUCTE and NCERT will monitor the teaching at the classes after the session begins. In September, science and mathematics teachers will be invited for a three-day session wherein they will be apprised about the shortcomings and also methods to improve their teaching. They will also be apprised about innovative ways of teaching science and mathematics.

The final interactive session will be held in December for three days. On the basis of results of the year-long efforts, a final draft the strategy for improving the quality of education in government runs will be prepared and submitted to the Union HRD ministry.

Prof Dinesh Kumar of NCERT said, “The whole process, which includes periodic interaction with teachers followed by classroom transaction, is going to bring a transformation in the way teachers teach and the way students learn at the governments schools. This effort will yield desired results and quality of education will certainly improve in the upper primary level.”

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