To prevent the lack of preparation for unforeseen circumstances like those brought about by the pandemic, a group of government school teachers got together and continue to brainstorm ways to improve education for their students.

While the government and private companies launch various initiatives to help education, teachers on the ground, as part of a collective called Shikshana Ilake, have tried to combat issues brought about by digital education, especially lack of attention. Taking advantage of online platforms and the prevalence of tech in education, the teachers help each other brainstorm ideas, train each other on better methods of teaching and also use crowdfunding to help organise workshops and seminars to make learning interesting for their students.

“We started with an intent to integrate all government school teachers and share all the necessary information to the teachers across the state, and to keep connected with all the teachers and work together for the betterment of the education system,” Prabu Gowda, a government teacher and community head for Shikshana Ilake told TNIE.

The teachers had seen a need to bring each other together to allow better transfer of information in the digital age of education ushered in by the pandemic. “We wanted to get government school teachers familiar with the latest online teaching methods and motivate students to attend classes with more interest. We focused on keeping the classes interactive, regularly talking to the students and asking them questions, and showcasing informatory videos related to the classroom topics, giving interesting assignments to the students,” Gowda told TNIE.

Even after the pandemic, the teachers still see the benefits of tech in schools, especially when used properly. Apart from interacting with teachers from across the country, they also make use of crowdfunding to organise workshops and seminars for the students, which would have been impossible previously due to a lack of funds.

The community had, in particular, made use of the Indian-made social media app, Kutumb, which allowed them to gather funds. The teachers also noticed that the use of videos in teaching helped garner interest in students when it came to learning, combating the lack of attention.

“There were a lot of hits and misses that happened initially. We have also been able to get experts to conduct workshops and organize training sessions for the teachers to better engage with the students and also improve their own skills in terms of new teaching methods,” Gowda told TNIE.