The primary goal of our work in education is to support teachers in government schools teach better
Our endeavour is to build their capacity in subject content, pedagogy and perspective.
We conduct interactions with teachers at the Teacher Learning Centres (TLCs) we have set up in the major towns of the districts we work in.The TLCs, located in either government schools or private spaces, provide teachers with a place where they can participate in multiple modes of engagement such as workshops, discussions, Voluntary Teacher Forums, melas and sharing sessions.
TLCs also have extensive and well-stocked libraries with books, journals, textbooks, newspapers, learning resources, science laboratory apparatus, computers with internet connection and teaching-learning materials.
Our areas of focus include sustained engagement with teachers, head teachers and education functionaries, and work that supports and enables our functions on ground such as school curricula, textbook development, learning materials, and developing modules for in-service teacher training at the state level. We work with head teachers to bring changes in everyday practices in the school environment: the conduct in morning assemblies, the creation of Reading Corners in libraries and the inclusion of sports, to name a few.
We also seek to enhance the capacity for action among officials in the education department – joint directors, SCERT/DIET faculty and others – by focusing on pedagogy, perspectives, policy and research.
Another significant area of our direct and sustained work with teachers is in Early Childhood Education (ECE).
In 2012, the Foundation began the ECE initiative with Anganwadi centres in the Sangareddy district of Telangana. The initial focus of the ECE programme was capacity-building of Anganwadi teachers, to help them work towards better quality early childhood education – for children in the age group of 3 to 6 years – under the Government of India’s Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) Scheme.
An ECE curriculum is based on the principles of holistic development of children, attending to interests and themes close to their lives, and the curricula are built in-house and implemented in the Anganwadi centres.
The experience in Sangareddy spurred the expansion of this work to states and districts we operate in. Our teams are now working pan-India to help deliver quality ECE.
We have also completed significant curricular work in ECE and developed Early Learner Assessment (ELA), a handbook for developmental assessment of children 3-5 years.
