<div dir="ltr">Dear Anu, thank for you sharing this information. I am not too aware of the Makkal Palli program, but I can also confirm that in Kerala, similar tasks are being given to high school students - eg teachers send them some "notes" on earlier lessons through WhatsApp, and students are supposed to copy them and submit them. If the students don't submit them, they may not be allowed to enter the class (though I suspect that won't be enforced as many children are not doing this). The submission of these copied out "notes" is somehow taken as evidence of children having "learnt" the prior content. The whole thing is a charade and a complete travesty of what is meaningful learning. <div><br></div><div>I agree that the main change has to come through clear directives of the govt on what teachers should be doing, supported by teacher training, well chosen resources etc ... how we do that might vary by state, depending on who is willing to listen and act.</div><div><br></div><div>But at the very least, I think we have to surface publicly (in the media, with our social mobilization groups, and others etc) what is happening on the ground in the name of school re-opening, and also contrast the practices in the govt schools with what is going on in the elite private schools. Even if the information is qualitative, it needs to be collected systematically and be credible. We would be really happy for any suggestions on this. For instance, would people be willing to enter information in a simple Google form in a semi-structured way, capturing information on aspects of the implementation of school re-opening. </div><div><br></div><div>Sajitha</div><div><br></div><div> </div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Fri, Oct 15, 2021 at 11:52 PM Anuradha S <<a href="mailto:anu.sittilingi@gmail.com">anu.sittilingi@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="auto">Dear all, <div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Thank you, Ranjani, for calling and involving Thulir in this process inspite of us not being able to attend most meetings! </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Ranjani was telling us that some of you are meeting with the SCERT and asked for our suggestions too. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">All the class 6 to class 12 government school students in our villages are being flooded with an overload of tests and long assignments the last 2 months! The questions and answers ( highlighted in the textbook )are sent by what's app and the children are under pressure to submit within an immediate deadline! <span style="font-family:sans-serif">No teaching of concepts has happened! </span>The only emphasis the teachers place is on the size of the paper, what colour ink to use, which portions should be underlined etc. Children are exhausted and have stopped attending even our evening village classes which usually have a huge game/ fun practical activity component! In fact we are thinking of temporarily stopping our village classes when schools reopen on November 1 st. so that we don't overburden the children. </div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family:sans-serif">The first step on the part of the government should be to curb its teachers from giving such mechanical assignments and tests. </span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family:sans-serif"><br></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family:sans-serif">As Rajaram has written, we too are not clear what this Makkal Palli is for! Why can't all the activities proposed for this be part of the day in the govt.schools itself? Makkal Palli will not work if the school teachers continue with their rote learning and tests and assignments at school. </span><br></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family:sans-serif"><br></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family:sans-serif">Teacher workshops should be conducted and teachers trained to conduct all the activities we have talked about which enthuse children and encourage learning. </span><span style="font-family:sans-serif">Short videos on how to actually conduct many of the activities and worksheets in this resource repository can be included if possible. </span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family:sans-serif"><br></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family:sans-serif">So much of effort and training has gone into this repository. Training for teachers to actually use the resources in this repository effectively and easily is necessary. This should not become an additional resource in addition to the textbook. That would burden both the teacher and the students. I know this is not easy and might not work but still... Can the SCERT specify that this be the only resource they use atleast for the first 6 months after schools reopen? </span><br></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family:sans-serif"><br></span></div><div dir="auto"><font face="sans-serif">All the best, </font></div><div dir="auto"><font face="sans-serif"><br></font></div><div dir="auto"><font face="sans-serif">Warm wishes, </font></div><div dir="auto"><font face="sans-serif"><br></font></div><div dir="auto"><font face="sans-serif">Anu</font></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family:sans-serif"><br></span></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family:sans-serif"><br></span></div><div dir="auto"><span style="font-family:sans-serif"><br></span></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto"><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, 11 Oct 2021, 5:05 pm Rajaraman Krishnan, <<a href="mailto:rajaram@solnet.in" target="_blank">rajaram@solnet.in</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr">I am not sure if any of the NGOs that recommended the "Makkal Palli" program to the TN govt are part of this group. If so, can you clarify how you intend it to work along with the schools? When I talked to HMs in various schools, most of them were not clear on that matter.
I am baffled about what the purpose of this "Makkal Palli" announcement is after they have already announced that the schools will open on Nov 1st.<div><br></div><div>My serious concern is the following. As you may be aware, there has been a huge shift in enrollment from private schools to govt schools among the poorer sections of the population (meaning the buttom 80% or more). Private schools are losing money and are trying to influence the govt to help their cause. Govt may help them by not opening the govt schools which will force the people to pay up the fees and return the children back to the private schools. Govt may be using the "Makkal Palli" as a fig leaf to cover up this huge act of betrayal. They may say that because of Corona fears, they will postpone the opening of the govt schools and instead have the "Makkal Palli". Whereas the private schools will open and start operating normally.</div><div><br></div><div>I sincerely hope this fear is unfounded. I would really like the NGOs which appeared in the press release recommending the "Makkal Palli" to the govt to clarify their position and clearly dissociate themselves from this move if it were to occur.</div><div><br clear="all"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr">Rajaram<div>Check out <a href="https://schools92665243.wordpress.com/" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">my blog</a> on education.</div></div></div></div><br></div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, 11 Oct 2021 at 07:03, Sriranjani Ranganathan <<a href="mailto:sriranjani.ranganathan@gmail.com" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">sriranjani.ranganathan@gmail.com</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div>Dear friends</div><div><br></div><div>We will be having our meeting of the Education Support Group on Tuesday, October 12th, from 5.00 - 6.30 PM.</div><div><br></div><div>The following is the proposed agenda:</div><div>5.05 - 5.30 - Updates from members (wrtschool reopening in their contexts)</div><div> - TN initiative of "Makkal Palli", a program to bring together community centers and the schools <br></div><div> - School reopening and guidelines in Karnataka</div><div> - Any other updates from other states<br></div><div>5.30 - 6.20 - Suggestions from the group to take forward to these (and any other) programs. Broadly, these could be along the following lines...<br></div><div> - Inputs on how the academic program could be - what and the how</div><div> - What kinds of resources are needed and what can be shared by the group (an initial compilation contributed by all of us is <a href="https://teacher-network.in/OER/index.php/Educational_resource_repository" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a> ) <br></div><div> - How do we support teachers and initiate conversations with them</div><div> - What are the kinds of training programs that may be needed<br></div><div> - Suggestions on how to re-imagine assessments</div><div> The resources compiled so far will also be shared for us to review and share how best these could be curated / made available<br></div>6.20 - 6.30 Way forward and next steps (and requesting for volunteers to take up specific tasks for the resource creation)</div><div dir="ltr"><br><div>Request all of you to attend. The meeting link is <a href="https://b3.teacher-network.in/b/gur-g94-hyn" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">https://b3.teacher-network.in/b/gur-g94-hyn</a>.</div><div><br></div><div>Best regards</div><div>Ranjani</div></div></div>
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