In order for India to truly hold its own on the global stage, there is a need to improve the quality of education imparted to children from under-privileged backgrounds, and also to improve their ability to communicate in English. India’s problem is not just unemployment – but also un-employability of a vast majority of the people of our country who are unable to communicate proficiently in English.80% of students attend state run schools where English is not the primary medium of education. A larger supply of confident, English speaking workforce would improve income levels and buying power for faster economic growth of our country. To reduce this shortcoming, Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) along with Bombay Community Public Trust (BCPT), NGO Muktangan and Learning Space Foundation have collaborated to provide high-quality standardized interactive English teaching aids based on the government prescribed curriculum to help children in state-run and private vernacular medium schools overcome the English barrier and become employable, with a program called ‘e-teach’.
DVDs were created by TIS for teaching students from Std. 1- 4.The DVDs are closely aligned with the government prescribed curriculum and presents the concept from textbook in an interesting manner. Although, there is a significant effort involved in the development and distribution, these DVDs are being distributed free of cost in municipal and village schools. These DVDs provide teachers a powerful teaching-aid and enable children’s to learn easily and in a fun way. Each of the 4 members of the collaboration has a specific role to play in this initiative:
- Tata Interactive Systems (TIS) is responsible for creating the instructional approach, graphics, integrating and testing the DVDs.
- Muktangan is responsible for guiding the teaching methodology used in DVDs and providing a platform for user-testing,
- Bombay Community Public Trust (BCPT) is responsible for fund raising, administration & accounting and project coordination.
- Learning Space Foundation is responsible disseminating the e-teach methodology in the rural areas in Maharashtra.
This project won the eMaharashtra 2012 Awards for the best multimedia content for K12.
For detailed information on this initiative, please refer: http://www.afternoondc.in/epaper/EpaperPost.aspx?id=107161