A model for learning with fun
By Asha P. Nair
08th February 2010 11:43 AM
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Brightly coloured walls, chic and cute furniture, well-kept gardens, home theatre and lots of pets. A government school could not look better.
The lab school of Manacaud Teachers Training Institute (TTI), which is all set to rise to the status of a ‘model’ school in the state for pre-primary education, is a sight to behold. The Chief Minister will declare the school as a model one on February 15.
It’s as part of the school renovation project of the City Corporation that the Manacaud TTI has been given a new look. Earlier, Nedumcaud UPS was spotted in this new fashion, but Manacaud school went a step further by not just adopting the external beauty, but a totally new concept of learning too.
“We want every child to come to school with a smile. The learning activity must be fun. We know that means not just the ambience but good teachers too. So, we picked the best of teachers for pre-primary section. This year, as our pre-primary section is fully packed with 140 students, we have closed admissions now, which rarely happens in a government school,’’ says Vijayakumar, vice-principal of Manacaud TTI.
The beauty of the concept lies in knowing the fact that 20 percent of the students in the school come from broken families. “For them, school had remained just a safe place to be away from their broken families. With the ambience we have provided, they will start loving to learn,’’ says G.R. Anil, Education Standing Committee Chairman, who, along with Committee member Karamana Hari, took stock of the preparations ahead of February 15.
While construction work is still going on in full steam, the painting works of the resource room for children with special needs and for the pre-primary classes are almost over. The classrooms will be separated by aquariums in between. The chairs carry the images of various animals like zebra or tiger. There is a pond and neatly dressed lawns and pets like rabbits, birds and doves will arrive soon.
Garden speakers have been installed in the gardens, which will play nursery rhymes or poems from their textbooks while the children are out playing there. Giant figures of giraffe, frog and a school-going boy can be spotted in the garden. The setting up of a home-theatre is in the initial stage, while a library with a child librarian will come up alongside it. There is a road running from the entrance to the main building. There will be traffic signals put up here and kids will be given bicycles and taught the basics of traffic rules.
There are almost 550 students in classes I to IV and another 80 in the pre-primary section. They have already fallen in love with the ambience. “We don’t want to pass out was what some class IV students told me yesterday. We are sure kids are going to love the school after this,’’ says Abdul Sammad, PTA president. Headmistress Amminikutty is also in excitement, for she had never expected a change like this.
The fund was pooled in from the City Corporation, SSA and some outside agencies. Brushing aside all controversies regarding receiving donations from outside agencies in the name of school renovation, Corporation officials say that the new ambience created in the school and the positivity of the new learning culture they have tried to instil there will answer all controversies.
asha.nair@expressbuzz.com
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