Chitardai, Rajasthan: From numbers interspersed in scenic paintings, students try to identify hidden digits, with much intrigue. This is a first standard Maths period.
Students complete reading an English story, not from a textbook, but from placards handed out to each of them that have sentences and characters written on them. They read the placards one by one, with playfulness. This is a primary-level English period.
Names of districts and states are filled by chalk on empty maps of Rajasthan and India painted on walls. That’s an upper primary-level geography period.
These classes of playful learning are an everyday story at the government upper primary school, Chitardai village, Deogarh tehsil in Rajasthan.
At a time when the Rajasthan government mulls handing over the management of government schools to private bodies, the school sets a formidable example of how quality education prevails in government-run schools.
These methods of innovative teaching were adopted by the school’s former headmaster, Devender Singh Kachawa, post 2005, to make the best of limited resources and staff strength.
After primary students in the school are taught all the numbers from 1 to 100, their exam is conducted on an open concrete field where numbers are placed and painted randomly.
Students gather around the circle, the teacher says a number out loud and the student who gets to the number first passes the exam.
A bigger circle in the same space has numbers and alphabets painted at an every two-foot distance around which students are asked to run. The teacher asks them to stop after a few seconds and to say the number on which they stand aloud.
“In 2005-06, we had an acute shortage of teachers. There were only two teachers at the time. The circle of numbers and alphabets, that we now call Chitardai circle, evolved to teach multiple standard students at a time,” said Kachawa, who was promoted out of the school this year to a lecturer’s post in Rajsamand block.
Kachawa has a laid a strong focus on the notion of ‘learn by playing’ which is now followed by all the teachers at the school who are urged to bring new teaching ideas at regular intervals.
First standard students at the school do not learn by writing in their books. They learn the names of animals by drawing and painting them.
The English and Hindi alphabet orders are painted on the school wall with blank spaces in place of some alphabets which the students are asked to fill.
“In this process, students don’t realise they are learning. We believe that a person’s inherent nature is to play. Therefore, we decided to link studying with playing, drawing and craft,” added Kachawa, who is also a national-level basketball player.
In 2010, the school collaborated with United Kingdom-based organisation, People and Places, who sent volunteers to the school for a month every year to teach English to students.
“They contacted us after seeing the Chitardai circle video on youtube. Their involvement helped both teachers and students here a great deal,” said the 46-year-old former headmaster.
Kachawa used to shake hands with every student at the gate as they entered school, with a ‘How are you?’ and ‘What’s your name?’ every morning.
“These small gestures are important for children to feel welcome and encouraged,” he said.
The school has also stepped up to raise awareness on child marriages by putting up a big banner on occasions that states child marriage is a crime.
However, the school is now languishing with just four teachers over a student strength of 231 and against the sanctioned teacher strength of nine. Vacant posts include that of the headmaster, English teacher and three primary-level teachers.
Students complete reading an English story, not from a textbook, but from placards handed out to each of them that have sentences and characters written on them. They read the placards one by one, with playfulness. This is a primary-level English period.
Names of districts and states are filled by chalk on empty maps of Rajasthan and India painted on walls. That’s an upper primary-level geography period.
These classes of playful learning are an everyday story at the government upper primary school, Chitardai village, Deogarh tehsil in Rajasthan.
At a time when the Rajasthan government mulls handing over the management of government schools to private bodies, the school sets a formidable example of how quality education prevails in government-run schools.
These methods of innovative teaching were adopted by the school’s former headmaster, Devender Singh Kachawa, post 2005, to make the best of limited resources and staff strength.
After primary students in the school are taught all the numbers from 1 to 100, their exam is conducted on an open concrete field where numbers are placed and painted randomly.
Students gather around the circle, the teacher says a number out loud and the student who gets to the number first passes the exam.
A bigger circle in the same space has numbers and alphabets painted at an every two-foot distance around which students are asked to run. The teacher asks them to stop after a few seconds and to say the number on which they stand aloud.
“In 2005-06, we had an acute shortage of teachers. There were only two teachers at the time. The circle of numbers and alphabets, that we now call Chitardai circle, evolved to teach multiple standard students at a time,” said Kachawa, who was promoted out of the school this year to a lecturer’s post in Rajsamand block.
Kachawa has a laid a strong focus on the notion of ‘learn by playing’ which is now followed by all the teachers at the school who are urged to bring new teaching ideas at regular intervals.
First standard students at the school do not learn by writing in their books. They learn the names of animals by drawing and painting them.
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| Stencils and other paraphernalia used to teach students |
“In this process, students don’t realise they are learning. We believe that a person’s inherent nature is to play. Therefore, we decided to link studying with playing, drawing and craft,” added Kachawa, who is also a national-level basketball player.
In 2010, the school collaborated with United Kingdom-based organisation, People and Places, who sent volunteers to the school for a month every year to teach English to students.
“They contacted us after seeing the Chitardai circle video on youtube. Their involvement helped both teachers and students here a great deal,” said the 46-year-old former headmaster.
Kachawa used to shake hands with every student at the gate as they entered school, with a ‘How are you?’ and ‘What’s your name?’ every morning.
“These small gestures are important for children to feel welcome and encouraged,” he said.
The school has also stepped up to raise awareness on child marriages by putting up a big banner on occasions that states child marriage is a crime.
However, the school is now languishing with just four teachers over a student strength of 231 and against the sanctioned teacher strength of nine. Vacant posts include that of the headmaster, English teacher and three primary-level teachers.
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