PANAJI
The Education Department has already geared up to train pre-primary teachers, Anganwadi and balwadi teachers in a step towards implementing the National Education Policy at the foundation level. The training modules in English and Marathi will be translated into Konkani.
“This endeavour is not without challenges but we are determined to overcome them to provide quality basic skills and friendly ambience to our young learners... The transformation will happen, but gradually,” Education Director Shailesh Zingade said.
He further said that the department is ready with the training modules for teachers of government, aided and unaided schools as well as those covered by the Women & Child Department.
The NEP’s foundation level does not have an official nomenclature assigned to it; therefore, it will currently be referred to as ‘foundation level 1.’
Early development
Recognizing the importance of early childhood development and its long-term impact on a child's overall growth and future learning, the first stage of learning will be curated without a structured syllabus or books for all-round growth.
“We will focus on cleanliness, motor skills, how to express ourselves in different situations, etc. It will be more of playful learning and to make the children comfortable in schools,” he said.
New methodology
The Department is also working tirelessly to create an enabling environment for teachers to adopt the new teaching methodologies and strategies. Education Secretary Prasad Lolyekar recently stated that a total of 100 master trainers are being trained by the State Council of Educational Research and Training. These master trainers will further impart training to the teachers.
The Foundation Stage consists of three years of Anganwadi/ pre-primary/ nursery and first and second-grade covering students in the age group of three to eight years from the upcoming academic year 2023-24.
“We have tentatively decided to complete the training by June 25 as the pre-primary reopens on July 3,” the director said.
