[Educationsupport] Next meeting of the Education Support Group - October 12, 2021 (5.00 - 6.30 PM)
Sajitha Bashir
sajitha.bashir at gmail.com
Sat Oct 16 19:02:52 IST 2021
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.
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.
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.
Sajitha
On Fri, Oct 15, 2021 at 11:52 PM Anuradha S <anu.sittilingi at gmail.com>
wrote:
> Dear all,
>
> Thank you, Ranjani, for calling and involving Thulir in this process
> inspite of us not being able to attend most meetings!
>
> Ranjani was telling us that some of you are meeting with the SCERT and
> asked for our suggestions too.
>
> 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! No teaching of concepts has happened! 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.
>
> The first step on the part of the government should be to curb its
> teachers from giving such mechanical assignments and tests.
>
> 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.
>
> Teacher workshops should be conducted and teachers trained to conduct all
> the activities we have talked about which enthuse children and encourage
> learning. Short videos on how to actually conduct many of the activities
> and worksheets in this resource repository can be included if possible.
>
> 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?
>
> All the best,
>
> Warm wishes,
>
> Anu
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, 11 Oct 2021, 5:05 pm Rajaraman Krishnan, <rajaram at solnet.in>
> wrote:
>
>> 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.
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> 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.
>>
>> Rajaram
>> Check out my blog <https://schools92665243.wordpress.com/> on education.
>>
>>
>> On Mon, 11 Oct 2021 at 07:03, Sriranjani Ranganathan <
>> sriranjani.ranganathan at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Dear friends
>>>
>>> We will be having our meeting of the Education Support Group on Tuesday,
>>> October 12th, from 5.00 - 6.30 PM.
>>>
>>> The following is the proposed agenda:
>>> 5.05 - 5.30 - Updates from members (wrtschool reopening in their
>>> contexts)
>>> - TN initiative of "Makkal Palli", a program
>>> to bring together community centers and the schools
>>> - School reopening and guidelines in
>>> Karnataka
>>> - Any other updates from other states
>>> 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...
>>> - Inputs on how the academic program could be
>>> - what and the how
>>> - What kinds of resources are needed and what
>>> can be shared by the group (an initial compilation contributed by all of us
>>> is here
>>> <https://teacher-network.in/OER/index.php/Educational_resource_repository>
>>> )
>>> - How do we support teachers and initiate
>>> conversations with them
>>> - What are the kinds of training programs
>>> that may be needed
>>> - Suggestions on how to re-imagine assessments
>>> The resources compiled so far will also be
>>> shared for us to review and share how best these could be curated / made
>>> available
>>> 6.20 - 6.30 Way forward and next steps (and requesting for
>>> volunteers to take up specific tasks for the resource creation)
>>>
>>> Request all of you to attend. The meeting link is
>>> https://b3.teacher-network.in/b/gur-g94-hyn.
>>>
>>> Best regards
>>> Ranjani
>>> --
>>> Educationsupport mailing list
>>> Educationsupport at educationemergency.net
>>>
>>> http://educationemergency.net/mailman/listinfo/educationsupport_educationemergency.net
>>>
>> --
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