Wednesday, August 13, 2014

One additional stride in ‘Learning Friendly Environment’ in Sikkim’s school…

It was in 2008, I got the chance to undergo DEPA (Diploma in Educational Planning and Administration) at National University of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi. In that 29th Batch of DEPA, we were altogether 32 participants from 16 different States/UTs.

One day, in the computer lab working on a group work, I saw some interesting photographs in a pendrive. The photographs were so fascinating that I could not resist myself and began to inquire about the owner of the pendrive. Mr. Yashwant Deepak, a participant from Himachal Pradesh was the owner of that pendrive. Later I realised that thorough gentleman was the vice-principal at Kullu DIET (now he is promoted to principal in same DIET). He told me at length about those photographs. Those were the photographs of the on-going BaLA (Building as Learning Aids) Project in Himachal Pradesh. At the end of our course work, on my request, he gave me some of the selected photographs from his pendrive.  

As soon as I came to Sikkim in 2009, I started sharing those photographs in every meetings of education officers, BRCCs, CRCCs, school heads, teachers and school management committees. I shared it with SCERT (then SIE). I kept it in office computer so that anyone interested can take the soft copies, wrote articles on it in local newspaper, shared in Facebook. I even included proposal of BaLA activities, proposed exposure visits of administrators including head teachers and teachers to Himachal Pradesh under annual work plans and quality education plan of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan.

Though the proposals under SSA plans could not get the endorsement, the results of those sharing meetings have begun to reap gradually in some of the schools of the State. The education workers working in the fields began to give thrust on learning friendly school infrastructure. Some innovative education officers, school heads and teachers added more learning friendly elements in those models shared by my Himachali friend.  

Now we have many schools with decorated, vividly coloured learning friendly walls and pillars though we have not officially implemented BaLA activities in the State.

Thank you Yashwant! Please come to Sikkim to see the changing faces of my schools.

[Photo - Lower Perbing Government Junior High School, South Sikkim]

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