Chitrakoot Education Department & Square Panda India’s Educator Empowerment program trained teachers
A first-of-its-kind educator empowerment program initiated by the Chitrakoot Education Department in association with leading Edutech company Square Panda India concluded on Saturday. Launched in December 2020 in line with the National Education Policy 2020 vision to build a more literate India, the program has successfully trained primary and pre-primary teachers from the government run schools in the Chitrakoot district, Uttar Pradesh in the last two months.
As part of the program teachers received 60 hours of extensive hands on virtual training from Square Panda team in capacity building on Early Childhood Care & Education (ECCE) and its impact on learning outcomes for children, teaching methodology for literacy & numeracy, classroom management, English language proficiency (i.e Speaking, Reading and Writing in English) and usage of technology for teaching and learning.
The closing ceremony was held in the presence of Honorable Minister Shri Chandrika Prasad Upadhyay, Honorable Member of Parliament Shri R K singh Patel, District Magistrate, Chitrakoot Shri. Sheshmani Pandey and Shri. Omkar Rana, Basic Education Officer, Chitrakoot.
“The National Education Policy 2020 highlights the need to upskill educators, making them future-ready, equipping them with technical know-how and language acquisition skills to promote lifelong learning. This novel hands-on educator empowerment program aligns perfectly with the policy’s vision, using the best global practices to meet the challenges of today’s early childhood education system,” said Shri. Omkar Rana(PES), Basic education Officer, Chitrakoot.
The project in Chitrakoot is part of Square Panda India’s educational programs that use neuroscience backed learning through it’s early learning initiative, ‘Aarambh’. Aarambh aims to develop the ECCE ecosystem in every state, which includes the Anganwadi workers, ECCE educators, and the children. Through this initiative, the organisation works closely with government schools, communities and organisations across the grassroots levels, to provide NEP 2020-focused foundational learning and educator empowerment programs.
Talking about the impact of the educator empowerment program Ashish Jhalani, Managing Director- Square Panda India said, “In the teachers, overall we have seen a 30% improvement in pedagogical knowledge (specialised knowledge of teachers for creating effective teaching and learning environments for all students) and teaching methodologies and skills to be used effectively in the classroom. We also saw a spike in their knowledge on ICT (information and communications technology) for teaching and English language proficiency.”
In Chitrakoot a robust qualitative and quantitative mechanism was implemented to provide transparency, measure progress and continuously monitor the program. A team of coordinators conducted regular observations and gathered feedback from teachers, for actionable insights and prompt decision making on the required areas of intervention.
The instruction seamlessly wove practical application alongside theory, teaching educators activities that can be conducted with their students to enhance foundational literacy and numeracy skills. For a smooth implementation, a project management team was created, comprising stakeholders from the Government and Square Panda India. This team ensured an effective and timely roll-out of the program.