From correspondents in Maharashtra, India, 10:13 AM IST

In a unique and first-of-its-kind initiative, Landmark International Institute for Empowerment (LIFE Trust) has introduced a path-breaking technique of teaching English to the Anganwadi school teachers of Dharavi. LIFE Trust is conducting a 2-month pilot project in the slums of Dharavi for 25 Anganwadi teachers. Based on the success of the project, LIFE Trust plans to extend the same to 950 teachers during the year.

Anganwadis are pre-school centres established by the Central Government to engage children upto 6 years in an integrated manner, to ensure the proper growth and development of children in rural, tribal and slum areas across India. The eligibility criterion for an Anganwadi teacher is a mere Std. X degree. LIFE Trust identified a need to further empower the teachers in language usage and as a start developed a project around the global language – English.

LIFE Trust together with its team of 2D Animators has created a unique ‘English DVD’ for this initiative and the teachers will be trained on ultra-modern portable DVD players! LIFE Trust has created these DVDs with visuals and a voice over so as to make English learning interesting. The classroom sessions would be interactive with discussions, role-plays and quizzes to sustain the interest of the teachers and deliver quality learning.

Mrs. Poonam Lalvani, Managing Trustee, LIFE Trust said, “Technology is revolutionizing available education techniques and at LIFE Trust we are driven by the idea that this can be used to redefine the public school education system in the country. Our newest initiative replaces the traditional blackboard with a modern, technologically advanced medium of education, and we are confident that this will produce constructive results. For us, this project is a foundation of a dedicated effort to make every child in India school-ready, in a more fun-filled and modernised atmosphere.”

LIFE Trust will also conduct oral and written tests by the end of the course so as to acquire a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the project. Additionally LIFE Trust will also record all the teaching sessions over the 30-day period which will help enhance the module when they introduce it to the 950 Anganwadi teachers later this year.

“We currently monitor 475 Anganwadis in Bandra and Dharavi slums, which cater to 9500 students and 950 teachers. Our endeavour is to equip the Anganwadi teachers with the necessary skills to develop interesting teaching aids for their students, and create a level playing field for pre-primary students from private and public education institutions. With support from like-minded people and corporates, our project has the ability to reach over 5000 Anganwadi teachers in Mumbai,” added Mrs Lalvani.

Over the years, LIFE Trust has formed a close association with the Education Department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Council (BMC) in Mumbai in providing non-formal and creative teaching aids. LIFE Trust undertakes multiple projects for the 49 BMC secondary schools such as Career Counselling, Effective Study Habits, Math Made Easy, English Made Easy, Value Education, Education on Wheels, Chill-Zone, Industrial Trips and Intervention with schools for the Mentally Challenged.

All these initiatives have been extremely successful, and the constantly improving mark sheets of the class 10 students in BMC schools are a testament to this. LIFE Trust is confident that their newest initiative will be equally effective – empowering children to embark on an exciting journey of education and school life.

Source: Press Release Distribution via India PRwire