Q: How to know or distinguish the students who need remedial teaching?

A: I hope your school has been taking unit test. If so, you will get three types of children every time you evaluate their answer scripts after unit testing -
a. Above average scoring more than 60% marks
b. Average scoring 40-60% marks
c. Below average who scored less than 40%

Now the teacher has to decide (c) group is the most poor with dire need of remedial teaching. The teacher also have to care (b) group because the students in this group also not performed well.

After finishing the grouping of students, the teacher's next activity is to analyse the answer scripts of the students falling under (c) &(b). This analysis guide the teacher to know where a child needs remediation. Suppose an answer script of a student of Class X in English subject shows very less score in Writing Section then the teacher has to focus on writing practice during remedial class. In the same way, an answer script of Class V student in Math subject shows incorrect solutions in Simplification, then the teacher has to make him practice  BODMAS.

However, in doing this the teacher should not neglect the students of group (a) because they too have to sustain their standards. So let them be in the class, participate in group activities designed for remedial teaching. This helps them to revise their lessons and ensure deeper understanding of already learned concept.

PRECAUTION: Do not reveal this grouping to students.
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(The above query is from a dedicated teacher received in my Fb messenger. I thought that other teachers as well may have same query but not being able to communicate. So this post is intended to reach such teachers)

IF YOU DO NOT HAVE SPACE TO ACCOMMODATE, CUT DOWN THE SIZES - The best option!

The children up to the age of 14 years are most vulnerable. They need continuous support and guidance to make them capable of living in the society of multifarious challenges which need a set of the best chosen human resources with ample spaces, tools and equipment. The capabilities of service providers means a lot to ensure this. Thus, if you don't have capabilities to support the children's growth, make them retard.

Although this would be a historical incidence of a country that the most intellectual group of people takes away the children’s fundamental right instead of safeguarding it and nurturing them in a changed environment.

I know the country with best education system like Finland also has the system of making child’re-take the year' who performs the poorest, but the system has its procedures. However, directly favouring the detention system advocating detention can ensure quality learning in children is really a crude and PRIMITIVE idea.

"No detention" doesn't mean that the system has to pass a child without making him/her capable of next higher grade. "No detention" implies that the system is bound to make a child capable of next higher grade compulsorily at the end of an academic session. It is the system which has to work harder to make the child pass rather than to fail a child and held back for a whole academic session. The content of the post "Review of No Detention Policy" reveals that the system has more faith on DETENTION of children to ensure quality learning than on its manpower who are meant for ensuring quality education.

Till date, we have the notion that teachers only held responsible for making a child learn. Now it's time for us to change it. As you know that the actual works of whole education department is done in the school campus. Thus, let's make everyone in the system responsible for ‘making a child learn’. It is the responsibility of Educational Administration to provide relevant logistics that support a teacher to conduct effective teaching, the teacher education institutions need to provide trainings to teachers as per their training needs, the community leaders need to provide good infrastructure that supports children's learning, the parents need to establish close coordination with teachers, so on. I dream a new education system where all sets of stakeholders are made responsible in children's learning.

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“Ahh…BaLA” – An ignored story of the most ever successful project of people’s participation

The story goes back to 2009, when a man strongly impressed by BaLA  activities of Himachal Pradesh returned to Sikkim after finishing curricular programme of Diploma in Educational Planning and Administration (DEPA) from National University of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi. He started propagating the programme in his district (South Sikkim) with utmost zeal and keenness though there was no single penny for this to happen in the schools. He presented the photographs of BaLA activities through power point presentation collected from his DEPA batch mate Mr. Yashwant Depak (Principal Kullu DIET) in every meeting of the school heads. He explained its importance in impacting children’s learning and requested all of them to initiate it through people’s participation. To start with as demo, he requested the then District Project Coordinator of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan Shri M.K.Rai to allocate fund from the component ‘Child Friendly Environment’ approved under Civil Works. He wholeheartedly supported the proposal and an exact replication of BaLA activities was created in Bhalukhop Primary School in the same year. The head of schools who supported him first and created the learner-friendly environment in their schools are Smt. Bimla Rai, the then Principal of Temi Senior Secondary School and Shri Sekhar Chettri, the then Headmaster of Melli Gumpa Secondary School.

The concept was well received by the heads of schools but due to lack of fund to execute it, the implementation became very slow. Considering the importance of fund to realize the dream, he included the proposal of BaLA activities in the Annual Plan of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan continuosly for two consecutive years i.e. 2010-11 and 2011-12 when he got transferred to State Project Office of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in 2010. However, the proposal could not get approval in both the years.

The man did not stop yet. He started writing about it in local newspapers. His article titled “School Infrastructure as Additional Learning Resources for Teaching Primary School Children” published in local daily SIKKIM EXPRESS on 8th September 2011 spread a most impacting awareness on the concept among the school heads and educational stakeholders of the state. Some of the schools started working on this by mobilizing fund from among themselves and community, some of them mobilized local panchayats for the resources. In the same year i.e. 2011, the project was named as ‘Development of School Infrastructure as Learning Resources’ – a voluntary project for making school print-rich. During the training of School Management Committees organized in all the Block Administrative Centres across years 2012 to 2016, he never forgot to talk about the project and encourage the SMC members, local authority and school heads to initiate it in their schools.

As a mark of accomplishment, almost all the government schools of the State of Sikkim are now like reputed private schools – well decorated, print-rich and pedagogically supportive.

The project in later years was recognized by some of the far-sighted officers of the department. They congratulated him for its success. Some of his senior officers have tried to appraise it in higher forum also while speaking on State achievements but after seeing the ‘school walls with content related paintings’ got very reluctant remarks ‘Ahh… BaLA’. Shri D. K. Pradhan (Respected Special Secretary) when he was State Project Director of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (Sikkim), tried to showcase it in the National forum also but the same reluctant remarks ‘Ahh… BaLA’ echoed the meeting hall.

Frankly speaking as an initiator of the project, I take it as the most ever successful project accomplished through people’s participation. I would like to thank all the good people and my senior officers who appreciated our joint efforts.

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(Published in Sikkim Express on 29.08.2017)