'Teachers' Training Project' is an ongoing Global Grant project of Rs. 34 lakhs. Targeted beneficiaries are 1200 teachers. Aim: To conduct a series of sessions for training of primary school teachers from schools run by Pune Municipal Corporation and other such type of schools in Mathematics, using Universal Active Maths - MathLab concept. Project Outlay: Rs. 34 Lakhs Area of Focus:Education Objectives of the project: - To reduce the rate of “Drop Out” of students from primary schools run by Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), - To enable and arm teachers with advanced teaching skills using Universal Active Mathematics method and MathLab kits to improve their teaching abilities. Need of the project: Fear of Mathematics in students’ mind is known and this phobia is to be removed at early age. Students will be given to understand the utility of Mathematics in general life and that will drive away fear from their minds. Teachers will be trained in effective methods which use colourful blocks and ask the students to do calculations by using these blocks. This excites the students and they start enjoying learning Maths. Scope of the project: The project involves following activities - No. of primary schools selected (run by PMC or other):150 - No. of teachers to be trained:1,200 (8 primary teachers per school) - No. of batches: 30X3 days each, plus 30X2 1-day follow-up workshops with gap of 6 months - Provide MathLab Kits: 300 nos. (2 kits per school) - Assessment of training (process, effectiveness & other parameters) through feedback. - At the end of the project,all 1,200 trained teachers will use acquired expertise year after year. Description of the project: - Navnirmiti Learning Foundation (NLM) or other similar expert faculty imparts the training to all the teachers using “MathLab” concept. There are subject matter experts, who conduct this training. - Selected teachers undergo a three day extensive training session in a batch of 40 teachers at a time, and 2 one-day follow-up sessions after a gap of 6 months. - RC Pune Pride acts as the coordinating body between school authorities, education dept., teachers and NLF or other faculty, to plan, & execute training program. Beneficiaries of the project: - About 50,000 students every year through the 1,200 trained teachers. - Schools will be benefited by improving quality of education and passing percentage. - We are already seeing the results. Teachers who attend this training become very highly involved in the 'learning by doing' method of traching Maths. They become very eager to practice these methods in their schools. We have conducted Refresher workshops and in these we have got excellent feedback about how the primary school students take interest in learning Maths by use of colourful blocks! So far 1000+ teachers have undergone this training and we have received positive feedback from at least 150+ teachers, at the end of the workshops, in which they have expressed their tremendous gratitude towards Rotary for making this training available to them at zero cost! As a result the Public Image of Rotary, in the minds of 1000+ teachers, in about 200 schools, has been created as a highly respectable and helpful international as well as Indian service organization! Partners in the project: - Navnirmiti Learning Foundation is a self reliant social enterprise with a vision, registered as a Section 25 company. It works for the Universalization of quality education. Navnirmiti has been an active participant in mass science campaigns by All India People’s Science Network. They have sufficient manpower to facilitate this training. - Pune Municipal Corporation has its education department to look after primary and secondary education. It is running more than 200 schools in city area. Now, we have started conducting workshops for Non PMC teachers because there is no response from PMC for further workshops. Schedule of Execution: Identification of schools and selection of teachers for the training is done in consultation with schools. The project has started from July 2016 and will be completed around December 2019 . Cost of the project: Total Rs. 3400000. Funding for the project: This is a Global Grant project which has been funded in major part by constituents of Rotary like Rotary clubs, The Rotary Foundation and Rotary Districts.