Rural School in Nagaland Wins Pallikkutam National Award for Innovation in Education
Kochi: The first ever Pallikkutam National Award for Innovation in Education instituted by Rajagiri Media was won by St Christopher School, Chessore, Village, Nagaland. The Silver Award was won by DAV Public School, Haryana and the bronze award was won by CMI Christ School, Iritty in Kerala. The awards carrying a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000/-, Rs 50,000/- and Rs 25,000/- respectively was meant to honor the education leadership for their frugal and disruptive innovations that help them to cross over the Covid-19 induced academic lockdownsand it wassponsored under the CSR initiative of the Federal Bank Ltd.
The award winners were chosen byan expert jury set up by theIndian Institute of Management, Kozhikode (IIM-K). The award committee deeply appreciated the effort of all the school leaders and teachers who ensured that students continued to learn in spite of Covid-19 crisis. In all 55 schools submitted entries in the form of a 1000-word write up and 5-minute videos. The awards were announced through Zoom in view of the Covid crisis and was addressed by Prof RudraSensharma, Dean of IIM-K, Raju Hormis, CSR Head of Federal Bank and Dr Varghese Panthalookaran, CMI, Director of Rajagiri Media, the initiator of the award.
The Awards committee noted that Christopher School in Nagaland ensured smooth running of classes despite the limited infrastructure and resource constraints in a rural area. The school has done a great job of balancing online and offline activities relying mostly on WhatsApp. Students found the sessions enjoyable and even took part in talent and literary competitions.
Fr. Loyola Antony,Headmaster, St. Christopher School, Chessore Nagaland said, “we are so honoured that you have chosen us for this prestigious award. Our school was established just five years ago. Also it is located in a village with not many avenues available unlike schools in urban areas. However we have been trying our best to do everything possible for society with the support of our teachers, students and parents.”
DAV Public School, Haryana, the Silver Award winner, used simple but innovative approaches based on available apps to drive learning. These included Virtual Labs, MIT App Inventor, STEM@Home, 2xcell and learning 3D design. They leveraged the capability of online tools to imitate a regular offline learning experience and also provided interesting activities across areas like coding, astronomy, robotics and yoga.
CMI Christ School, Iritty got the bronze award for their emphasis was on physical activities gardening, dancing, art etcwhich kept students creatively engaged throughout the day. The school has put in place an innovative approach that increased the involvement of students with their environment.
The Schools that received special mention of the jury were
1) Miles Bronson Residential School, Guwahati, Assam for innovative use of digital tools 2) Fountainhead Senior School, Surat, Gujarat for for a wholesome blend of academic and extra- curricular activities, AEM UP School Moorkkanad, Kerala for being a role model in the use of Augmented Reality and making available the school magazine digitally through QR code scanning and finally Delhi Public School, Kollam for their integrated approach during Covid pandemic to engage studetns for overall development.