AHMEDABAD: For Sevak Chaudhari, a teacher in tribal village of Dhanora in
Vadodara district of central
Gujarat, teaching was not as big a challenge as getting students to the school. The handful of students who reluctantly attended classes would flee as soon he began the maths lessons. “The conventional way of teaching maths was obviously not working for tribal students,” Chaudhari said.
Chaudhari, who has BSc and BEd degrees, was forced to put on his creative cap and assembled a basic computer. The idea, which produced a ‘rural laptop’ for only Rs 850, has won national and international acclaim.
“I used the circuit board of an FM radio, a data card, an LED, laminate waste, switches, and a discarded mouse and assembled a ‘computer’ system,” Chaudhari said. “The system explains mathematical concepts with definitions and drawings.”
‘Can address various issues with just a smartphone’
The laptop turns into FM radio at the switch of a button, endearing itself to students by playing blockbuster songs.
“The idea worked like a charm as children took a fancy to the assemblage and started learning by just pressing switches,” said Chaudhari.
“The students could memorize concepts and fared better in exams.” This is one of the 90 instances of indigenous technological innovations enriching the toolbox of a teacher working in rural areas, which have been documented in three books prepared by IIM Ahmedabad’s Ravi J Matthai Centre for Educational Innovation (RJMCEI).
Another innovation featured is an LED microscope. Chirag Sachania, a primary teacher in
Jamnagar, decided to build an apparatus that could enable the entire class of 60 to see the dissection slide under a microscope. Taking tips from a DIY video on YouTube, Sachania assembled a system that projects the slide’s image on a large screen. “If a dissection is going on, only two students paid attention, ” he said. “We did not know what the kids actually saw and learnt. Thus, we built a system, costing under Rs 1,000, with a webcam.
Chandan Rathod, a teacher from the remote Movan village in coastal Devbhoomi Dwarka district, runs his own YouTube channel which plays his classroom lectures.
“Internet and technology has proved to be a great leveller for rural teachers like us,” Rathod said. “We can deal with problems such as low attendance, attendance deficit and the lack of awareness about basic concepts using a simple smart phone.”
Prof Vijaya Sherry Chand of IIM-A said that a lot of good work is happening in rural schools as the teachers find their own methods to engage and educate students. “Documentation and dissemination of such innovations along with training of teachers can help improve education in rural India,” Chand said.
Children at Movan village in coastal Devbhoomi Dwarka
