Yogi's 'Happy Schools' make learning fun for students

Lucknow, April 16

The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh is making learning 'fun' in schools.

The state government, in collaboration with HCL Foundation, has launched the State Open Resources Programme (SORP) to enable teachers to develop a student-friendly pedagogy and make learning fun at government primary and upper primary schools. Under this initiative, as many as 517 state-run primary and upper primary schools have been transformed into 'Happy Schools'.

The concept of 'happy learning' is giving importance to all-round grooming of the students during their stay at the government schools, including physical, social and mental development. Teachers in around 350 primary schools in Hardoi district have been making use of open resources, such as audio and audio-visual presentations, animated videos, e-books and more to enhance the students' learning experience.

Apart from this, the government schools in Sonbhadra, Shravasti and many other districts are also being converted into 'Happy Schools'.

According to Yogesh Kumar, Operations Head - CSR Project, HCL Foundation, several initiatives and campaigns have been launched to bring economic and social development to rural areas through a sustainable and scalable model.

"The UP Basic Education Department had launched an education programme in collaboration with HCL- 'Happy School' under the umbrella of its Samuday initiative, where the foundation is working in rural areas of Uttar Pradesh for social and economic development of the people. The foundation, in partnership with the state government, is working in areas like education, agriculture, infrastructure and health and hygiene," he said. Under the guidance of the directorate of basic education, HCL has developed a huge repository of open resources containing around 800 e-materials and has converted a total of 517 primary and upper primary schools in Hardoi into 'Happy Schools'.

According to Kirti Karamchandani of HCL, the Happy Schools have been employing ICT-aided learning techniques loaded with video-based learning tools that have increased the student-teacher interaction in the classroom and have made students more attentive and proactive in their response.

According to Kirti, as part of the e-learning initiative under this intervention, a repository of more than 1,000 small videos and stories mapped with month-wise textbook curriculum and expected learning outcomes from different Open Educational Resources was created.

The state syllabi for classes I and II had been converted into animated and interactive audio-visual materials.

By introducing technological solutions to ensure ICT-enabled classrooms, along with training of teachers and capacity building of community members, the school education ecosystem was strengthened with an increased focus on child development and participation. So far, more than 55,000 students from 387 Primary and 130 Upper-primary schools have benefitted from the intervention. The concept of Happy Learning has also enhanced the receptivity and understanding of the students.

"The content is now being prepared for students up to class 5 which will then be approved by the board," said Kirti. Kirti informed that the government schools in other districts of the state are also set to be transformed into 'Happy Schools'.

The district magistrates of many districts including Shravasti, Sonbhadra and Shamli have also asked for the e-learning materials in this regard. IANS

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