Education of Tribal Children

Students in India’s Government schools struggle to achieve grade-level learning outcomes. The conventional ‘chalk and talk’ methodology does not allow for adequate student-teacher interaction time - Teachers writing or drawing diagrams on the blackboard takes away a lot of student-teacher interaction. With insufficient teaching time in the classroom and the burden of administrative responsibilities, it is difficult for Teachers to cater to the needs of students - who are anyway at different levels of comprehension. Teachers also struggle to explain complex concepts that are difficult to visualise, resulting in poor internalisation of conceptual knowledge; and ultimately resulting in poor academic performances.

There is an urgent need to transform the Government schools of Nandurbar with improved digital infrastructure, quality digital learning resources and handholding support for Teachers to shift from a ‘chalk and talk’ methodology to technology-aided education. This approach will help restore faith in the Government school education system amongst parents; and bridge the learning gap of tribal children living in the remote regions of Nandurbar.

Technoshala intends to deploy digital infrastructure in the form of smart classrooms in all Government schools. Technoshala also intends to develop teacher capacities in order to deliver technology-aided education in these schools. Further, Technoshala intends to foster adaptive leadership in the head-teachers of these schools. With these 3 interventions, Technoshala hopes to bridge the digital divide in Government schools and bring quality education, initially to the tribal children of Nandurbar; and then to the rest of India.

Technoshala shall deploy digital infrastructure in the form of Smart Classrooms and convert regular ‘chalk and talk’ teaching into technology-aided teaching-learning processes. Students and Teachers shall gain access to good quality educational content that is interactive and relevant. Access to digital content opens up avenues for information beyond the prescribed textbooks. Students are thus enabled to explore, collaborate, think critically and evaluate information independently.

Classroom learning shall manifest in the form of seeing, interacting, experiencing and learning as opposed to note-taking. Teachers transition from being narrators and lecturers to collaborative learning facilitators. Students shall be more participatory and collaborative as opposed to merely being physically present in the classroom.

Technoshala shall build Teacher capacities in order to facilitate the teaching-learning process through capacity building programs and weekly classroom support. Technology-enabled collaborative classroom spaces also help develop interpersonal relationships between students and Teachers, resulting in increased student participation & attendance and reduced dropout rates. Our interventions shall also help Teachers and students to build up their self-esteem and confidence.

A nationwide Teacher community that supports Teachers with professional development and helps solve teaching-learning process challenges is a key outcome. Best practices of the Teacher community shall encourage Teachers to learn from challenges faced by their peers. They shall also encourage Teachers to come up with new methods of engaging students.

Adaptive Leadership Programs for Head-Teachers result in developing the school ecosystem as a place of learning - a place where stakeholders from within and outside the school contribute to developing the learning abilities and skillsets of students.